Publications

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October 1991 (Revised October 2004)
Case

Hilton Manufacturing Company

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

A professional manager is hired by a small manufacturing company after the president discovers he made poor decisions. One product appears to be unprofitable, whereas the product sold in highest volume is under competitive price pressure. A crude cost accounting system... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Asset Pricing; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Decisions; Governance Controls; Performance Effectiveness; Business Strategy; Two-Sided Platforms; Fair Value Accounting; Manufacturing Industry

December 2001
Case

Qwest Communications International Inc.

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Christopher Hackett

Describes the evolution of Qwest from a small fiber-optic construction firm in 1996 to a global telecommunications giant in 2001. Focuses on Qwest's pivotal acquisition of "Baby Bell" US West, a regional Bell operating company many times Qwest's size. Discusses the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Asset Pricing; Business History; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Organizational Culture; Partners and Partnerships; Vertical Integration; Telecommunications Industry

07 Dec 2016
HBS Case

Why Millennials Flock to Fintech for Personal Investing

asset accumulators of the future” A new breed of financial technology companies, known collectively as fintech, has taken advantage of these traits to disrupt an unexpected industry: personal investing. Just as manufacturing companies... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

19 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Unlocking Your Investment Capital

Many companies can double or even triple their capacity to invest in strategic assets and competencies by properly managing their "risk balance sheet," argues Harvard Business School professor Robert C. Merton. In a provocative... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

17 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Companies Detangle from Legacy Pensions

interest rates have fallen to historic lows, increasing the funding that companies must set apart to make up for the lower yield on the assets already in place. "Companies have had to increase their contributions exponentially as... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Aerospace; Financial Services

December 2003 (Revised November 2015)
Background Note

The Fiduciary Relationship: A Legal Perspective

By: Lynn Sharp Paine

Discusses the concept of a fiduciary, as developed in the Anglo-American common law tradition, and outlines the principal differences between the legal standard applied to fiduciaries compared to ordinary arms'-length contractors. View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Assets; Financial Management; Common Law; Standards

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

Rebuilding Commercial Real Estate

viewed as a new asset class that competes with stocks and bonds for investment capital. It earned that newfound status on the strength of market-stabilizing structural changes that took root after the last crash. "Everything we do... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Construction; Real Estate

31 May 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Stock Price Synchronicity and Material Sustainability Information

Keywords: by Jody Grewal, Clarissa Hauptmann, and George Serafeim; Accounting; Financial Services

April 2012
Case

Man Group (A)

By: Robert C. Pozen and Thomas M. Clay

The Man Group was a huge and successful UK-based hedge fund and fund of funds manager. Through acquisitions, the company had consciously diversified its portfolio of investment products. In 2007 Man had to decide whether or not to spin off its brokerage business. Man... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Investment Funds; Financial Crisis; Decisions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Diversification; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Strategy; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom; Europe

Find at Harvard

04 Aug 2014
Op-Ed

Why Small-Business Lending Is Not Recovering

and residential real estate, which represent two-thirds of the assets of small-business owners and are often used as collateral for small-business loans, were decimated during the financial crisis. On the supply side, banks remain more... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills; Banking; Financial Services

24 May 2004
Research & Ideas

When Reputation Trumps Regulation

U.S.-listed foreign firm. Siegel collects evidence from a core sample of Mexican firms to show that some insiders from foreign-listed firms exploit this lax enforcement and run off with the firm's assets with impunity, while others learn... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

24 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

Financial Meltdowns Are More Predictable Than We Thought

research by Harvard Business School Professors Robin Greenwood and Samuel G. Hanson begs to differ. Financial crises, even ones as calamitous as the 2007-2008 banking meltdown, are surprisingly predictable to those who know the warning signs. “Three years of rapid... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services

24 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 24

divisions. Our two studies allow us to demonstrate that spontaneous within-game dialogue and manipulated pre-game talk lead to the same results. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-039.pdf PublicationsCost Structure Patterns in the View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2015
Case

Credem: Banking on Cheese

By: Nikolaos Trichakis, Gerry Tsoukalas and Emer Moloney

Credem, an Italian regional bank, grants loans to Parmigiano Reggiano producers and holds the cheese as collateral in its own warehouse during the maturation process, essentially replacing part of the operations for the cheese producers and gaining deep operations... View Details

Keywords: Banks And Banking; Assets; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Operations; Financing and Loans; Commercial Banking; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Italy

July 1991 (Revised August 2000)
Case

California PERS (A)

By: Jay O. Light, Jay W. Lorsch and James O. Sailer

Examines California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), the world's fourth largest pension fund. Dale Hanson, CEO of CalPERS, has a problem; how does he use CalPERS' influence as the holder of a small percentage of 1,300 American companies to put pressure on... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Retirement; System; Asset Pricing; Performance Improvement; Corporate Governance; Investment Funds; Investment Return; California

December 1989 (Revised April 1997)
Case

Destin Brass Products Co.

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

A specialized manufacturer of brass valves, pumps, and flow controllers is troubled by competitive pricing in pumps and higher than expected margins for flow controllers. Managers suspect that cost accounting and cost allocations to products may be to blame. Two... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Activity Based Costing and Management; Five Forces Framework; Customer Value and Value Chain; Competition; Business Strategy; Design; Inflation and Deflation; Asset Pricing; Governance Controls; Manufacturing Industry