Publications

2014
Article

Corporate Governance and the Financial Crisis in Italy

By: Dante Roscini

The financial crisis hit Italy harder than many other Eurozone countries. In part this was due to the fact that the crisis came upon a system that was weakened by years of sub-par economic growth. One of the several endogenous factors that explain the stagnation of the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Financial Crisis; Italy

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20 Mar 2012
Working Paper Summaries

The Stock Selection and Performance of Buy-Side Analysts

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Paul Healy, George Serafeim, Devin Shanthikumar & Gui Yang; Financial Services

Research Summary

Financial Incentives

My research examines how the performance effects of internal governance and the design of compensation vary by managerial position. For example, I document links between innovation and stock options for corporate R&D heads;... View Details

March 2012
Article

Macroeconomic Policy and U.S. Competitiveness

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Matthew Weinzierl

The United States is on a glide path to fiscal disaster, with experts projecting that the federal government will take in far less money than it spends-indefinitely. Our current fiscal policy is eroding competitiveness in several ways, and business conditions in the... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Government and Politics; Financial Crisis; Policy; Competition; Public Administration Industry; United States

2025
Working Paper

Impact Investing and Worker Outcomes

By: Josh Lerner, Markus Lithell and Gordon M. Phillips

Impact investors claim to distinguish themselves from traditional venture capital and growth equity investors by also pursuing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives. Whether they successfully do so in practice is unclear. We use confidential Census... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Private Equity; Venture Capital; Wages

SSRN

May 2009
Article

Synchronicity and Firm Interlocks in an Emerging Market

By: Tarun Khanna and Catherine Thomas

Stock price synchronicity has been attributed to poor corporate governance and a lack of firm-level transparency. This paper investigates the association between different kinds of firm interlocks, control groups, and synchronicity in Chile. A unique data set... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Price; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Governing and Advisory Boards; Resource Allocation; Emerging Markets; Ownership Stake; Chile

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24 Jan 2012
Working Paper Summaries

What Do Development Banks Do? Evidence from Brazil, 2002-2009

Keywords: by Sergio G. Lazzarini, Aldo Musacchio, Rodrigo Bandeira-de-Mello & Rosilene Marcon; Banking

June 2025
Case

Vail Resorts: Responding to Activist Pressure (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Edward A. Meyer

On January 27, 2025, the head of a relatively small hedge fund named Late Apex Partners sent a highly critical letter to the board of directors of Vail Resorts, the world’s largest ski resort operator. In his letter, and the 88-slide presentation that accompanied his... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Finance; Capital Budgeting; Corporate Governance; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Leading Change; Valuation; Investment Activism; Climate Change; Management Succession; Financial Management; Risk Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Travel Industry; United States; Australia; Canada

March 2016 (Revised August 2018)
Case

JPMorgan Chase after the Financial Crisis: What Is the Optimal Scope of the Largest Bank in the U.S.?

By: David Collis and Ashley Hartman

When Jamie Dimon took over as CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPMorgan Chase) in 2005, he reaffirmed the commitment to pursue a "universal bank" strategy—providing a full range of products and services to both retail and wholesale clients. Yet the merits of the universal... View Details

Keywords: Scope; Regulatory Reforms; Universal Banking; Synergy; Optimization; Simplification; Finance; Strategy; Business Strategy; Financial Crisis; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

September 24, 2024
Article

4 Steps That Can Optimize Your Sales Process

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Scott Peterson and Daniel Weinfurter

Sales is a performance art where outcomes matter, so most advice here focuses on closing the sale. But a close is the result of actions and choices that occur earlier in the process: how much time and effort to spend on customer discovery (understanding what and to... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Customer Satisfaction; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Advantage

October 2004
Case

Continuing Transformation of Asahi Glass, The: Implementing EVA

By: Mihir A. Desai, Masako Egawa and Yanjun Wang

This case explores the use of EVA--economic value added--methodology at Asahi Glass. EVA is among the changes initiated by the CEO aimed at transforming Asahi Glass from a traditional Japanese company to a global firm. Other changes included a corporate reorganization... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Change Management; Global Strategy; Corporate Governance; Recruitment; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Performance Evaluation

September 2008 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Ocean Tomo: Building a Market for Intellectual Property

By: Peter A. Coles, Andrei Hagiu and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Ocean Tomo's management team sought to turn the company into the leading intermediary for intellectual property. Despite its increasingly important role in the global marketplace, IP remained a notoriously illiquid asset—difficult to value, harder to trade, and often... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Markets and Industries; Intellectual Property; Resource Allocation; Auctions; Market Design; Service Operations

2016
Working Paper

Pay Now or Pay Later? The Economics within the Private Equity Partnership

By: Victoria Ivashina and Josh Lerner

The economics of partnerships have been of enduring interest to economists, but many issues regarding intergenerational conflicts and their impact on the continuity of these organizations remain unclear. We examine 717 private equity partnerships and show that (a) the... View Details

Keywords: Partnerships; Leveraged Buyout; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Partners and Partnerships; Leveraged Buyouts

SSRN

November 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Rebuilding Puerto Rico

By: Laura Alfaro, Laura Phillips Sawyer and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason

On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria swept over Puerto Rico, devastating the island’s infrastructure and agriculture. The natural disaster was layered atop years of mounting financial distress. Before the hurricane, Puerto Rico had accumulated $74 billion in debt and... View Details

Keywords: Natural Disasters; Financial Crisis; Infrastructure; Borrowing and Debt; Economy; Strategic Planning; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Puerto Rico

June 2018
Teaching Note

Zurich Insurance

By: Boris Groysberg, David Lane and Joni Coughlin

This teaching note addresses six cases in the Zurich Insurance series, the overview case (HBS No. 417-035) and five cases focused on particular change efforts (HBS Nos. 417-036 through 417-040).
Zurich Insurance was undergoing organizational change after... View Details

Article

Are Buybacks Really Shortchanging Investment?

By: Jesse M. Fried and Charles C.Y. Wang

It’s no secret that the American economy is suffering from the twin ills of slow growth and rising income inequality. Many lay the blame at the doors of America’s largest public corporations. The charge? These firms prefer to distribute cash generated from their... View Details

Keywords: Economy; Investment; Stocks; Business and Shareholder Relations; Equality and Inequality; United States