Publications

20 Apr 2009
Research & Ideas

Misgovernance at the World Bank

According to the study, each developing country on the intergovernmental aid organization's Board of Executive Directors receives a significant boost in loans and grants—effectively a doubling of their funding, equivalent to a $60 million... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

October 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Masdar City: Aiming for Sustainable and Profitable Real Estate

By: Boris Vallee and Fares Khrais

Masdar City broke ground in 2008 and was conceived by the Abu Dhabi government to be an international beacon of innovation in sustainable energy and real estate. It was also to be a profitable investment for the government. At first glance, the two goals pulled in... View Details

June 1991
Case

Continental Carriers, Inc.

By: W. Carl Kester

A U.S. trucking company is considering using debt for the first time to acquire another company. The directors of the company are divided in their opinion of the likely impact of leverage on Continental Carriers' performance. Their differences must be reconciled and a... View Details

Keywords: Debt Securities; Financing and Loans; Acquisition; Borrowing and Debt; Equity; Transportation Industry; United States

October 2009
Case

Noble Group

By: C. Fritz Foley, Michael Shih-ta Chen, Matthew Johnson and Linnea Meyer

What role does trade finance play in facilitating global supply chain management? Richard S. Elman, founder and CEO of Noble Group Ltd., a global commodities trading company based in Hong Kong, must raise capital to support the firm's working capital and investment... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Capital; Financing and Loans; International Finance; Globalized Firms and Management; Risk Management; Supply Chain Management; Hong Kong

January 2010 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Savage Beast (A1)

By: Noam Wasserman and LP Maurice

For several months, things had been spiraling downwards at Savage Beast, the music-recommendation company started three years before by Tim Westergren. The company's founder-CEO recently left due to pressures both at home and within the venture. Dozens of investors... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Lawsuits and Litigation; Management Teams; Partners and Partnerships

01 Jun 2023
HBS Case

A Nike Executive Hid His Criminal Past to Turn His Life Around. What If He Didn't Have To?

and loved reading, often devouring two books a week. He was a responsible child who eagerly volunteered for the school’s safety patrol to guide young students across the street. But Miller’s surroundings would change for the worse—and so... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Apparel & Accessories

18 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Are Banks the ‘Bad Guys’? Overdraft Fees Are Crushing Low-Income Customers

checks, or use convenient banking products and services, like debit cards and direct deposit. This possibility induces some low-income customers to pay back the bank with high-interest loans from payday lenders, the researchers suggest.... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

04 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

When Founders Recruit Friends and Family as Investors

have enough career experience? (About 5 percent of students at HBS decide to leap into entrepreneurship immediately upon completing the MBA program, but up to 50 percent will have founded a company within a decade of graduation, according... View Details

Keywords: by Noam Wasserman

15 Jan 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, January 15, 2019

two very different alternatives as to which direction to take Bausch & Lomb. Essentially, she can either stay the course or terminate the management team she originally selected to run Bausch & Lomb only two years beforehand. At the end of the (A) case, View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

16 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 16

an older case study, Deaver Brown and Cross River Inc. (HBS No. 394-042). It concerns two entrepreneurs, Andrew Sullivan and Hope Abasi, who have designed an innovative pushchair (baby stroller) and, a year later, are looking for an order from a large retailer. The... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

April 1990
Case

Philip Morris Companies' ""Bill of Rights"" Sponsorship Program

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Norman Klein

Describes the new policy of the National Archives of inviting corporate cosponsorship of historic exhibits and commemorations. In November 1989, Philip Morris Companies (PM) became the first cosponsor of the bicentennial commemoration of the Bill of Rights, and used... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Brands and Branding; Decisions; Advertising; Marketing Strategy; Risk and Uncertainty; Financing and Loans; Reputation; Nonprofit Organizations

March 2009 (Revised November 2016)
Case

Washington Mutual's Covered Bonds

By: Daniel Baird Bergstresser, Robin Greenwood and James Quinn

Washington Mutual issued 6 billion euro of covered bonds in 2006. The objective of the case is to ask whether these bonds are mispriced in late 2008. The case is set in September 2008, and Washington Mutual is facing considerable distress due to mounting losses in its... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Financial Liquidity; Bonds; Mortgages; Price; Banking Industry; United States

04 Mar 2009
Op-Ed

Credit is Not the Bogey

to loan Americans money. In the housing sector, an explosion of subprime lenders gave borrowers deals that were truly too good to be true, trapping them in impossible loans. In the retail sector, credit card agencies flooded mailboxes,... View Details

Keywords: by Nicolas P. Retsinas & Eric S. Belsky; Construction; Real Estate; Financial Services

November 2009 (Revised October 2010)
Case

AME Learning Inc.

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Ann Leamon

Justin Joffe is about to graduate from HBS in Spring 2009. He must decide whether to join his father's company, Toronto-based AME Learning, as president working alongside his father who will be CEO. AME has been in business for 12 years, mostly as a small consulting... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Family Business; Age; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Growth and Development Strategy; Family and Family Relationships

Find at Harvard

July 1984 (Revised September 1986)
Case

CML Group, Inc.: Going Public (A)

By: William A. Sahlman

Describes a series of decisions confronting Charles Leighton, co-founder and chairman of the CML Group. CML is a successful participant in the leisure time industry with two lines of business: specialty retailing and recreational consumer products. The key issues in... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Going Public; Strategy; Business or Company Management; Cost vs Benefits; SWOT Analysis; Investment Banking; Financing and Loans; Planning; Corporate Finance; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry

Find at Harvard

January 2005 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Stonewall Kitchen

By: Myra M. Hart, Victoria Winston, Kristin Lieb, Kenna Wyllie Baudin, Alison Bell and Leslie Simmons

Jonathan King and Jim Stott, the founders of Stonewall Kitchen, started out in 1992 with a simple business selling jams and jellies at local farmers' markets. By 2004, they had grown the company into a $25 million organization with 250 employees. They expanded their... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Food; Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States