Publications

November – December 2007
Article

Fundamentally Flawed Indexing

By: Andre F. Perold

A new theory of finance is being advanced as providing definitive proof that holding stocks in proportion to their market capitalizations is an inferior investment strategy. The claim is that capitalization weighting necessarily invests more in overvalued stocks and... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Capital Markets; Financial Strategy; Stocks; Financial Management; Valuation

Article

The Market for Catastrophe Risk: A Clinical Examination

By: K. A. Froot

Keywords: Catastrophe Risk; Corporate Finance; Cost Of Capital; Banking And Insurance; Asset Pricing; Hedging; Banking; Insurance; Decision Choice And Uncertainty; Financial Markets; Policy; Risk Management; Natural Disasters; Insurance Industry

April–May 2021
Article

Labor Mobility and Antitakeover Provisions

By: Aiyesha Dey and Joshua White

How do firms protect their human capital? We test whether firms facing an increased threat of being acquired strengthen their antitakeover provisions (ATPs) in order to bond with their employees. We use the adoption of the Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine (IDD) by U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Labor Mobility; Antitakeover Provisions; Trade Secrets; Implicit Contracting; Employee Bonding; Corporate Governance; Acquisition; Human Capital; Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Intellectual Property; Safety

Teaching

Overview

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

Professor Bernstein currently teaches a second-year MBA course in Managing Human Capital (MHC). He is also the faculty chair for the Harvard Business School Online Developing Yourself as a Leader course and teaches in a variety of executive education... View Details

Eva J. Sudol

Eva Sudol is a Senior Lecturer in the Finance Unit at HBS, teaching Finance 1 in the required curriculum of the MBA program. She is also a Retired Partner at the Capital Group, a global investment management company, where she worked from 1994 – 2023 as an... View Details

March 1999 (Revised October 1999)
Case

Tufts Health Plan

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Nancy D. Beaulieu

Describes the introduction of capitation by a managed care company and the challenges of managing financial risk in the Medicare population. Focuses on the relationship between the health plan and physicians. View Details

Keywords: Health; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Risk and Uncertainty; Insurance; Health Industry; Insurance Industry

June 1992
Supplement

General Electric: Jack Welch's Second Wave (B)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

In the annual report, Welch indicates a new priority for the company--developing a cadre of managers who can lead GE in implementing its strategy in a new organizational context. The question facing Welch is whether his bold new human resource vision is realistic and... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Design; Competitive Strategy

Ethan Bernstein (@ethanbernstein) is an associate professor in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School. He has spent his career researching novel talent management practices and their effect on employee behavior, collaboration, and performance.... View Details

June 1993 (Revised May 1997)
Case

SKA (Sweden)

By: David F. Hawkins

Management is debating a proposal to capitalize R&D. While Swedish GAAP permits capitalization, the general practice is to expense R&D as incurred. View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Financial Reporting; Framework; Balanced Scorecard; Policy; Accounting Industry; Sweden

01 Dec 2020
News

Steady as She Goes

observes. For the $17 billion retailer, the dual crises were a reminder that the services the company provides are necessary ones. There were very human moments of fear and panic—when store managers in... View Details

Keywords: April White; COVID-19; change management; leadership; women; grocery stores; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade

Hüsnü Özyeğin

Keywords: Financial Services

October 2018
Article

A Theory of Intergenerational Mobility

By: Gary Becker, Scott Duke Kominers, Kevin Murphy and Jorg L. Spenkuch

We develop a model of intergenerational resource transmission that emphasizes the link between cross-sectional inequality and intergenerational mobility. By drawing on first principles of human capital theory, we derive several novel results. In particular, we show... View Details

Keywords: Intergenerational Mobility; Inequality; Complementarities; Equality and Inequality; Human Capital; Income; Family and Family Relationships

13 Nov 2019
Research & Ideas

Don't Turn Your Marketing Function Over to AI Just Yet

the model cannot systematically predict is much larger. In other words, there’s lots of noise in human behavior.” Instead of working to create the virtual market, marketers and marketing researchers are trying to break it down into more... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

February 2011
Case

Jamie Turner at MLI, Inc.

By: John J. Gabarro and Colleen Kaftan

The case describes the evolution of an interpersonal mismatch between a previously successful manager, Jamie Turner, and his new boss, Pat Cardullo. Turner, a 32-year-old MBA graduate, has been recruited by Cardullo to be vice president of marketing and sales at Modern... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Interpersonal Relations; Superior ＆ Subordinate; Micro Organizational Behavior; Performance Management; Personal Strategy ＆ Style; Management Style; Conflict Management; Interpersonal Communication; Employee Relationship Management; Rank and Position; Performance; Communication Strategy; Personal Development and Career; Acquisition; Distribution Industry; Consumer Products Industry; San Diego; Chicago

Working Paper Summaries

Determinants of Early-Stage Startup Performance: Survey Results

Keywords: by Thomas R. Eisenmann

November 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Away: Scaling a DTC Travel Brand

By: Jill Avery and Joseph B. Fuller

Away, a direct-to-consumer, digital native e-commerce seller of travel luggage, is debating how to invest its latest round of venture funding. How quickly could and should Away scale and what were the most promising growth trajectories to maximize its potential? Three... View Details

27 Jan 2014
News

Why I Hired an Executive with Mental Illness

Keywords: mental illness; employee management; competititve advantage; workplace diversity

November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Marv Tseu at Active Reasoning

By: William A. Sahlman and Christina Darwall

Describes a set of decisions confronting the management team of an early-stage software company. The company has made considerable progress in developing its software but will need additional capital to move forward. Unfortunately, conditions in the capital market are... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Financing and Loans; Capital; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry

May 1993 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Friendly Cards, Inc.

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Involves analysis of a major capital investment proposal, an acquisition of another company, an estimate of the funds required for these two possible outlays, and a recommended course of management action. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital; Capital Budgeting; Investment