Publications

November 1991 (Revised September 1993)
Case

Oak Industries Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman and Burton C. Hurlock

Describes Bill Antle's proposed restructuring plans for Oak Industries, a company composed of nine divisions which seem to be experiencing operating difficulties. During the last ten years the company has been involved in a number of acquisitions and divestitures, as... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Operations; SWOT Analysis; Organizational Structure; Restructuring; Financial Management; Acquisition; Financial Markets

July 2004 (Revised January 2007)
Case

H&R Block and "Everyday Financial Services"

By: Peter Tufano and Daniel Schneider

H&R Block, the U.S. market leader in tax preparation services, must decide whether to offer financial services to its low-income clients. H&R Block is facing increased competition from branded and nonbranded tax preparers, and the number of returns prepared by the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Income; Taxation; Product Development; Financial Services Industry; United States

May 1979 (Revised August 2013)
Background Note

Financial Analysis of Real Property Investments

By: William J. Poorvu

Develops a conceptual framework for financial analysis of real estate investments, taking into consideration the necessity for baseline data, project trends, and forecast discontinuities. View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Investment Return; Trends; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry

August 1995 (Revised October 1996)
Case

IDS Financial Services (Condensed)

By: John A. Deighton

Highlights the decision that must be made on balancing customer acquisition and retention and de-emphasizing the structural issues involved in administering the independent contractor sales force. View Details

Keywords: Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decisions; Corporate Governance; Salesforce Management; Financial Services Industry

04 May 2009
Research & Ideas

What’s Next for the Big Financial Brands

Wal-Mart and even Google in the United States to do the same. After all, the financial services industry is crying out for a brand that promises to "do no evil." Join the discussion on Harvard... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Financial Services; Financial Services

January 2024
Case

The Financial Times (FT) and Generative AI

By: Andrew Rashbass, Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Jordan Mitchell

In September 2023, John Ridding, CEO of the Financial Times, was considering the possible impact of Generative AI on the industry and his business. Having navigated successfully the seismic shift from print to digital, and reporting record results, the company... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Technology Adoption; Change Management; Journalism and News Industry

March 1994
Case

Fremont Financial Corporation (B)

Fremont has a third option to finance its loan portfolio, which involves securitizing and selling the small-business loans into the capital markets. Emphasizes asymmetric information and moral hazard problems involved in designing an asset securitization. When used in... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Financial Markets; Corporate Finance; Financial Services Industry

April 1986 (Revised February 1988)
Case

Batterymarch Financial Management (B)

By: Andre F. Perold

Keywords: Financial Services Industry

January 2012 (Revised June 2015)
Background Note

Inventory-Based Lending Industry Note

By: C. Fritz Foley, Ananth Raman and Nathan C. Craig

Inventory-based lending is a form of asset-based lending used by retailers and wholesalers. This note describes the development and the current state of the inventory-based lending industry. View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Banking Industry

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: Financial Crisis; Corporate Governance; Italy; European Union

January–February 1994
Article

Financial Engineering at Merck

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

Keywords: Finance; Engineering; Health; Pharmaceutical Industry

September 2018
Case

The Financial Management of Harvard Business School

By: C. Fritz Foley and F. Katelynn Boland

In the spring of 2018, the Senior Associate Dean for Strategic Financial Planning at Harvard Business School considers potential refinements to the School's financial management practices. He faced questions about whether the metrics that had been used to evaluate... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit; Financial Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Education Industry; United States

April 2025
Case

Thrivent: From Insurance Agents to Financial Advisors

By: Hubert Joly, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Tom Quinn

Thrivent, a midwestern financial services company with a centuries-long history rooted in Lutheranism, had reached $10 billion in revenue mostly by selling life insurance. In the 2020s, however, CEO Terry Rasmussen began a transformation process centered around the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Talent and Talent Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Forecasting and Prediction; Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Job Design and Levels; Human Capital; Leading Change; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Insurance Industry; Insurance Industry; United States; Minneapolis

April 1986 (Revised February 1988)
Case

Batterymarch Financial Management (A)

By: Andre F. Perold

Keywords: Financial Services Industry

September 2011 (Revised November 2011)
Supplement

Longtop Financial Technologies (C)

By: David F. Hawkins, Annelena Lobb and Aldo Sesia

Chinese government raises barriers to U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board auditing Deloitte's Chinese auditing firms. View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Business Ventures; Public Ownership; Government and Politics; Financial Services Industry; China

September 2011 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Longtop Financial Technologies (A)

By: David F. Hawkins, Annelena Lobb and Aldo Sesia

Keywords: Financial Services Industry

May 2020 (Revised June 2020)
Case

TransDigm's Acquisition and Integration of Arkwin Industries

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel W. Fisher

In May 2013, TransDigm, a company that manufactured a wide range of highly engineered aerospace parts for both military and civilian aircraft, announced it was buying Arkwin Industries for $286 million in cash (3 times Arkwin’s sales of $91 million). Having acquired... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Value Creation; Strategy; Acquisition; Integration; Talent and Talent Management; Aerospace Industry

January 2014
Case

Steven Carpenter at Cake Financial (Abridged)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Joseph B. Fuller and Shikhar Ghosh

Steven Carpenter reflects on the successes and failures of his recent venture, Cake Financial. Carpenter had just sold the four-year-old startup and was at work on a new business plan. But first, he wanted to understand why Cake Financial, a service that allowed users... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

February 2002 (Revised September 2002)
Case

Competition in Japanese Financial Markets, 2002

By: Tarun Khanna and Louis P. DiLorenzo, Jr

In early 2002, Japan, the world's largest economy, had been mired in a decade-long recession. A range of stimulus packages had failed to work their magic. The "Big Bang" financial deregulation reforms announced in 1998 had not quite produced the economic boom that the... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Competition; Investment Banking; Financial Markets; Globalization; Financial Crisis; Commercial Banking; Banking Industry; Japan