Publications

01 Jan 2024
Blog Post

Answers to Your Top Questions about Financial Aid at HBS

At HBS, we are committed to ensuring that an MBA is both affordable and accessible to students from all backgrounds. First off, don’t worry, you do not need to apply for financial aid until after you have applied and been admitted to the MBA Program. That being said,... View Details

02 Jun 2025
Video

HBS Alumni Career Video | Nicole Ledoux (MBA 2008)

October 1993 (Revised March 2023)
Case

Conflict on a Trading Floor (A)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Jerry Useem

A junior salesperson on FirstAmerica Bank's trading floor is assisting a top salesperson, Linda, on a deal to finance the construction of a new cruise ship for Poseidon Cruise Lines. While the terms of the deal are being worked out, he realizes Linda has taken... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Profit; Knowledge Use and Leverage

09 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Clayton Christensen’s “How Will You Measure Your Life?”

2010) and Karen Dillon, the book uses meaningful corporate and personal anecdotes to extoll the value of theory in finding and creating happiness. "You'll see that without theory, we're at sea without a map or a sextant,"... View Details

22 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 22

decision-making is successful. Using plausibly exogenous variation in exposure to state-mandated personal finance and mathematics high school courses, affecting millions of students, this paper answers the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

21 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

Buy Now, Pay Later: How Retail's Hot Feature Hurts Low-Income Shoppers

Online shopping features that let consumers pay for goods in interest-free installments exploded during the pandemic, but new research questions the riskiness of such services: Are people getting in over their heads? Buy now, pay later (BNPL) View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Retail; Financial Services; Technology

22 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

Does Spirituality Drive Success?

spirituality in business. Can Spirituality Drive Success? Should It? In a session exploring how spirituality can lead to business success, panelist Tony Schwartz confessed to one distinction: he was perhaps the only person in the world... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace, Sean Silverthorne & Wendy Guild

November 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Artisan Entertainment Inc.

Geoff Rehnert and Marc Wolpow have left Bain Capital to launch Audax Group. As part of their separation, they have been granted 90-day options to purchase Bain Capital's stake in a number of portfolio companies at Fair Market Value. As they conside whether to exercise... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Investment Funds

Find at Harvard

Mihir A. Desai is the Mizuho Financial Group Professor of Finance at Harvard Business School and a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. He received his Ph.D. in political economy from Harvard... View Details

29 Jan 2021
Blog Post

My HBS Student Loan Story: John Cortines (MBA 2015)

their student loans. Still, taking-on student debt to finance an MBA is a significant commitment, and we recognize that personal circumstances influence how each student approaches that commitment. To better... View Details

12 Feb 2008
First Look

First Look: February 12, 2007

analysis. Then, you'll learn how to apply these tools in a variety of decision contexts, including securities analysis, credit analysis, corporate financing policies analysis, mergers and acquisitions analysis, and governance and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 1982 (Revised September 1988)
Case

Steven B. Belkin

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Richard O. von Werssowetz

Steven Belkin, 26 years old and 2 1/2 years out of HBS, has decided to leave a group travel company he has run for the last year to start his own similar business. In the course of several months he has written a business plan, attracted several partners and employees,... View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Business Startups; Decisions; Equity; Investment; Personal Finance; Recruitment; Resignation and Termination; Failure; Partners and Partnerships

16 May 2023
In Practice

After Silicon Valley Bank's Flameout, What's Next for Entrepreneurs?

status and manage tricky processes under pressure. For example, how to get a timely board resolution to temporarily tap into personal funds to make payroll during the SVB situation could translate into how to fast-track a decision on how... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Technology; Financial Services

January 2000 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Heidi Roizen

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Nicole Tempest

Heidi Roizen, a venture capitalist at SOFTBANK Venture Capital and a former entrepreneur, maintains an extensive personal and professional network. She leverages this network to benefit both herself and others. The case considers the steps she's taken to build and... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Personal Development and Career; Power and Influence; Social and Collaborative Networks

October 2016 (Revised January 2017)
Background Note

The U.S. Health Club Industry, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2015, the U.S. health-club industry generated revenues of $25.8 billion, up from $14.8 billion in 2004. Members of health clubs accounted for 17% of the population, up from 14%. The number of clubs had grown from 26,830 in 2004 to 36,180. In the process, the list of... View Details