Publications

25 May 2011
HBS Case

QuikTrip’s Investment in Retail Employees Pays Off

It's a much believed assumption in the retail world: If you're going to compete on the basis of low cost, then you can't afford to invest in your employees. Extensive training—who has the time to give? Regularly scheduled hours?—way too... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

2022
Working Paper

The Stock Market Value of Human Capital Creation

By: Matthias Regier and Ethan Rouen

We develop a measure of firm-year-specific human capital investment from publicly disclosed personnel expenses (PE) and examine the stock market valuation of this investment. Measuring the future value of PE (PEFV) based on the relation between lagged... View Details

Keywords: Intangibles; Market Valuation; Human Capital; Stocks; Financial Markets; Valuation

SSRN

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10 Nov 2003
Research & Ideas

The Hard Numbers on Social Investments

110 of the 128 IC investments, collecting both the valuation at the time of the initial investment and the current valuation at the time of the study for privately held companies, or the exit value for those... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

01 Dec 2016
News

Recognizing the Value Proposition

the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, a nonprofit that takes a venture capital approach to finding a cure for the disease, with which his wife, Allison, was diagnosed in her late 50s. Emphasizing the parallels between venture investing and... View Details

November 2017 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Fair Value Accounting at Noble Group (A)

By: Siko Sikochi, Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher

Noble Group was a large commodities trader based in Hong Kong and listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. In 2012, Noble shifted its business strategy towards an asset-light model. Under this model, Noble did not own mines or farms to produce commodities but built... View Details

Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; Policy; Goods and Commodities; Contracts; Valuation

5 Nov 2005 - 8 Nov 2005
Conference Presentation

New Perspectives on the Business Value of IT

By: David James Brunner, Bradley R. Staats and Marco Iansiti

We sought to unravel the link between IT investment and firm performance by examining deployed IT functionality (ITF). First, ITF appears to be an important link in the IT spend to business value chain. Second, ITF does not seem to be a commodity and has... View Details

Keywords: Perspective; Value; Performance; Investment; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry

June 2012
Article

The Economic Value of Celebrity Endorsements

By: Anita Elberse and Jeroen Verleun

What is the payoff to enlisting celebrity endorsers? Although effects on stock returns are relatively well documented, little is known about any impact on sales—arguably a metric of more direct importance to advertising practitioners. In this study of athlete... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Value; Advertising; Sales; Brands and Branding; Decisions; Economics; Marketing Strategy; Investment Return

Find at Harvard

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29 Aug 2018
News

The Value of Valleys

discovered a company that I thought was amazing. Sodexo is a French company, Global French Company. I just fell in love with their mission and their values and their lens of the world, and their role in it as a corporate citizen. So, I... View Details

June 2007 (Revised December 2007)
Case

AFL-CIO: Office of Investment and Home Depot

By: Rakesh Khurana and James Weber

Describes the AFL-CIO: Office of Investments activities in their campaign to improve governance at Home Depot by calling attention to Home Depot CEO Robert Nardelli's compensation package and the company's poor performance. The AFL-CIO Office of Investments advocates... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Labor Unions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Shareholder Relations

22 Apr 2024
Research & Ideas

When Does Impact Investing Make the Biggest Impact?

impact investing companies with data from Revelio Labs, for an 83 percent match rate, to study what effect the investments had on target companies. Additional value to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

19 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Unlocking Your Investment Capital

undertake positive net present value projects. These projects typically reflect the comparative advantages of the firm and are the raison d'être of the firm. "Passive" risks are risks associated with View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

Generating Higher Value at IBM

This case analyzes IBM's financial performance and its capital allocation decisions over a 10-year period from 2004-2013, during which IBM returned more than $140B to shareholders through a combination of dividends and share repurchases. During this time, CEO Sam... View Details

June 2008
Teaching Note

Transparent Value LLC (TN)

By: Sharon P. Katz and Krishna G. Palepu

Teaching Note for [108098]. View Details

Keywords: Agreements and Arrangements; Valuation; Stocks; Price; Performance Expectations; Cash Flow; Revenue; Business Startups; Investment Funds; Product Launch; Financial Services Industry

January 2002 (Revised December 2002)
Background Note

A Note on the Value of Information in an Entrepreneurial Venture

By: Paul W. Marshall

Uses a decision analysis framework to analyze the value of gaming information before making a full investment in an entrepreneurial venture. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Framework; Business or Company Management

03 Sep 2020
News

Social-Impact Efforts That Create Real Value

23 Jan 2008
Op-Ed

A House Divided: Investment or Shelter?

Dictionaries are not static. Some words go unused for so long that lexicographers dub them archaic. Definitions also gravitate to that catch-bin. The plummeting housing market has forced a reevaluation, not just of the financial value of... View Details

Keywords: by Nicolas P. Retsinas; Banking; Construction; Real Estate

June 2015 (Revised September 2017)
Supplement

Generating Higher Value at IBM

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Scott Mayfield

This case analyzes IBM's financial performance and its capital allocation decisions over a 10-year period from 2004-2013, during which IBM returned more than $140B to shareholders through a combination of dividends and share repurchases. During this time, CEO Sam... View Details

Keywords: Dividends; Share Repurchases; Earnings Guidance; Financial Statement Analysis; Financial Ratios; Payout Policy; Earnings Per Share (EPS); Earnings Management; Change Management; Leadership; Transformation; Financial Strategy