Publications

August 2008 (Revised July 2011)
Case

Consumer Payment Systems — United States

By: Benjamin Edelman and Andrei Hagiu

In 2008, the U.S. consumer payments landscape was characterized by the ongoing prevalence of credit and debit card networks, the decline of checks, the rise of stored value cards, and the growth of new payment methods such as PayPal, Bill Me Later, and decoupled debit.... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Financial Management; Personal Finance; Digital Platforms; Motivation and Incentives; Competitive Strategy; Internet and the Web; United States

2010
Working Paper

A Brief Postwar History of U.S. Consumer Finance

By: Andrea Ryan, Gunnar Trumbull and Peter Tufano

This article describes the consumer finance sector in the US since World War II. We first define the sector in terms of the functions delivered by firms (payments, savings/investing, borrowing, managing risk, and providing advice.) We provide time series evidence on... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Borrowing and Debt; Mortgages; Personal Finance; Business History; Innovation and Invention; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Services Industry; United States

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November 2000 (Revised May 2002)
Case

FleetBoston Financial: Online Banking

By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

As the ninth largest bank holding company in the United States in 2000, FleetBoston Financial Corp. provided a myriad of financial services, including retail banking, loan origination, and brokerage accounts. This case explores how FleetBoston responded to the Internet... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Borrowing and Debt; Cost Management; Banks and Banking; Consumer Behavior; Service Operations; Competition; Online Technology; Banking Industry; United States

06 Nov 2012
First Look

First Look: November 6

Xuan Publication: Journal of Financial Economics (forthcoming) Abstract This paper examines the relation between a borrowing firm's ownership structure and its choice of debt... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2006 (Revised December 2013)
Case

Hexcel Turnaround — 2001 (A)

By: Paul W. Marshall, James Quinn and Reed Martin

Hexcel's new CEO is faced with deciding how to "take out" $60 million in cash costs in fiscal 2002, as two of the company's end markets—electronics and commercial aerospace—are expected to decline precipitously. Options include closing plants, exiting a business, or... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Negotiation; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy; Change Management; Crisis Management; Borrowing and Debt; Aerospace Industry; Electronics Industry; United States

March 1983 (Revised March 1986)
Case

Mexico: Crisis of Confidence

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Keywords: Crisis Management; Borrowing and Debt; Mexico

Find at Harvard

June 2007
Exercise

EZAmuse Negotiation Background (A)

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

This is the background to an exercise in negotiation. A promising venture-capital-backed company, EZAmuse Communications, is raising a B round. Its existing backer, Reality Venture Partners, would like it to raise enough for six or nine months, when it will have... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Negotiation Deal; Valuation; Leadership Style; Venture Capital; Partners and Partnerships; Product; Germany

14 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

Time that Government Reopens for Business

problems, and that the simple answers were always wrong. There are a lot of people out there who sincerely believe that the government is borrowing and spending too much money... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

Web

2024 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

potential credit rating downgrade, reflecting concerns over “funding, liquidity, and profitability” which factored in substantial unrealized losses on SVB’s debt securities. To strengthen its balance sheet,... View Details

March 1998 (Revised August 1999)
Case

Band of Angels, The

"The Band of Angels" is a well-organized but independent group of wealthy entrepreneurs. This case details the principles and processes used by the band and offers two perspectives from entrepreneurs who have been financed. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Borrowing and Debt; Venture Capital; Perspective

06 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 6

standard deviation increase in the divergence increases the average loan spread by approximately 18%, or 35 basis points. The effect of the excess control rights on the cost of bank debt is more pronounced when the View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

31 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

Why Competition May Not Improve Credit Rating Agencies

In the run-up to the global financial crisis, credit rating agencies gave high marks to such risky financial vehicles as collateralized debt obligations, which few people understood. It has been argued that these ratings misled investors... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

March 2016 (Revised October 2018)
Case

Project Deutschland: Unpeeling the Onion of a Distressed Real Estate Portfolio

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Ricardo Andrade

James Tallest analyzed the opportunity to invest in a distressed portfolio of high quality properties in Germany by acquiring one or more non-performing loans from Deutschland Bank. While he considers the many aspects of the deal that is about to unfold, he must decide... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Distress Investing; Non-performing Loan; Borrowing and Debt; Capital Structure; Private Equity; Negotiation Deal; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; Financial Services Industry; Germany; Europe

August 1988 (Revised October 1988)
Background Note

Business Plan

Describes the various uses for a business plan and focuses on writing a business plan to attract financing for a new venture. View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Business Startups; Borrowing and Debt; Venture Capital; Management

April 1999 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Be Our Guest, Inc.

By: Dwight B. Crane and Penny Joseph

Be Our Guest is a rapidly growing equipment rental company with substantial seasonality in its revenues and profits. In the spring of 1998, the senior management team is reviewing its financial plans in preparation for a meeting with the company's bank. The case... View Details

Keywords: Financial Strategy; Borrowing and Debt; Banks and Banking; Revenue; Management Teams; Business Plan; Forecasting and Prediction; Utilities Industry; Service Industry

June 1986
Teaching Note

Prentice Stevens, Inc.: Rating Industrial Debt, Teaching Note

By: David F. Hawkins

Keywords: Investment; Borrowing and Debt

June 2024
Case

Caesars Entertainment: Governance on the Road to Bankruptcy

By: Kristin Mugford

Caesars Entertainment was a large casino operator in the United States that had been purchased in a 2008 leveraged buyout by Apollo and TPG. In January 2015, Caesars Entertainment Operating Company (CEOC), its largest subsidiary, filed for Chapter 11. This set up a... View Details

Keywords: Gaming; Chapter 11; Fraudulent Conveyance; Apollo; TPG; Bankruptcy; Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Private Equity; Financial Management; Lawsuits and Litigation; Negotiation; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Borrowing and Debt; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Las Vegas