Publications

November 1994 (Revised March 1995)
Background Note

Capital Projects as Real Options: An Introduction

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

Introduces a framework for evaluating corporate investment projects as call options. Presumes readers are familiar with basic option pricing and basic capital budgeting rules. Explains the motivation for viewing projects as options; presents a mapping between a capital... View Details

Keywords: Financial Instruments; Capital Budgeting; Corporate Finance

18 Apr 2016
News

How to Take the Bias Out of Interviews

18 Nov 2022
HBS Case

What Does It Take to Safeguard a Legacy in Asset Management?

in a business environment awakening to equity and inclusion. One of the first Black portfolio managers, Eddie Brown, founded the eponymous firm in 1983. It was only the second Black-founded investment firm... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

Career Coach

Jonathan Shepherd

Jonathan is CPD's Corporate Relations Director overseeing principal investing: VC/PE, investment management and real estate. Since 2007, he has coached thousands of students & alumni and forged recruiting relationships with hundreds... View Details

December 2013 (Revised February 2014)
Supplement

Reinventing Brainlab (B)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Karol Misztal

The management of Germany's Brainlab AG, a leading provider of software-driven oncology and surgery solutions, needs to evaluate strategic options for proceeding without an exclusive hardware partner in its most profitable business segment. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Medical Specialties; Information Technology Industry; Health Industry; Germany

November 1989 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Automatic Data Processing: The EFS Decision

By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston

Illustrates how ADP's top management uses formal planning and control systems to establish strategic boundaries for its business units. Top management has developed a detailed list of strategic criteria that ADP managers use to evaluate products and business units, as... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Strategic Planning; Management Systems; Accounting; Acquisition

April 2003
Background Note

Sunk Costs: The Plan to Dump the Brent Spar (E)

This case summarizes the technical evaluation methodology Shell employed to evaluate the alternative proposals submitted to its engineering competition for disposing of the Brent Spar. It also details the results of the evaluation process. View Details

Keywords: Natural Environment; Business and Community Relations; Projects; Energy Sources; Energy Industry

Find at Harvard

March 2019 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Philips Lighting: Light-as-a-Service

By: Mark R. Kramer, Thijs Geradts and Bhanuteja Nadella

As LEDs with a 25-year lifespan replace incandescent lightbulbs, Philips Lighting faced major disruption and began to explore a new shared value business model of selling light as a service. Although it offers better profit margins and a reduced environmental... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Business Model; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy

Erik Stafford joined the faculty at HBS in July 1999, where he has taught finance in the required and elective curricula of the MBA Program and in the CFA Investment Management Workshop.

Erik's research efforts focus on investment management, capital... View Details

Keywords: financial services

Jacqueline Ng Lane

Jackie Lane is an Assistant Professor in the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School and a co-Principal Investigator of the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard (LISH) at the Digital Data Design Institute (D^3) at Harvard. She... View Details

June 2018 (Revised April 2021)
Supplement

Valuing Snap After the IPO Quiet Period

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Marco Di Maggio and Greg Saldutte

June 2018
Supplement

Valuing Snap After the IPO Quiet Period (B)

By: Marco Di Maggio and Benjamin C. Esty

Analyzes Snap’s value and analyst recommendations following the events described in the (A) case. View Details

28 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

Billions of Entrepreneurs in China and India

these processes are unfolding not just in the mainstream business sector but in society writ large and even in politics and civil society," says Khanna. Khanna's book Billions of Entrepreneurs: How China and India Are Reshaping Their... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

September 2007 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Compass Box Whisky Company

Compass Box Whisky Company is facing a changing supply situation and is evaluating switching to a business model with high inventory and long lead times. The company must consider what the change will mean for operations, risk, and measuring profitability. View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Business Model; Profit; Product; Supply Chain; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Risk and Uncertainty

July 2014
Case

Thompson Asset Management

By: William Fruhan and John Banko

Thompson Asset Management (TAM) is a small investment advisory and asset management firm in Jacksonville, Florida, with about $100 million in assets under management in two different funds. Since starting the firm in 2009, the CEO and founder Allison Thompson has had a... View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Asset Management; Expansion; Investment Portfolio; Financial Services Industry; Florida

September 2012 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Reinventing Brainlab (A)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Vincent Dessain and Karol Misztal

The management of Germany's Brainlab AG, a leading provider of software-driven oncology and surgery solutions, needs to evaluate strategic options for proceeding without an exclusive hardware partner in its most profitable business segment. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Medical Specialties; Health Care and Treatment; Information Technology Industry; Health Industry; Germany

George Serafeim is the Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he co-leads the Climate and Sustainability Impact Lab within the Digital, Data, and Design Institute. He teaches in the General Management Program of... View Details

Keywords: asset management; insurance industry; automobiles; industrial goods; fashion; food; green technology

01 Aug 2022
News

What Happens When Your Boss Sends You a Friend Request?

April 2012
Case

Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation

By: Willy Shih and Margaret Pierson

Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation (DNATF), a government agency, invests in public-private partnerships to stimulate commercialization of Danish scientific research within the country's industry. DNATF established a process for evaluating proposals, making... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Commercialization; Management Practices and Processes; Experience and Expertise; Innovation and Invention; Public Ownership; Business and Government Relations; Technology Industry; Denmark