Publications

26 Feb 2008
First Look

First Look: February 26, 2008

Working PapersAn Investigation of Earnings Management through Marketing Actions Authors:Craig J. Chapman and Thomas J. Steenburgh Abstract Combining new, hand-collected data with a widely studied dataset, we examine how firms use View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2018
Case

EmQuest: Travel Distribution in the Digital Era

By: Karim R. Lakhani and Gamze Yucaoglu

EmQuest, Emirates Group’s travel distribution company, must decide what to do with its contract with the global distribution system it uses, Sabre. Since its founding in 1988, EmQuest was servicing travel agents in the MENA region by providing a connection to over 400... View Details

Keywords: UAE; Decision; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Business Strategy; Value Creation; Change Management; Emerging Markets; For-Profit Firms; Competitive Advantage; Travel Industry; United Arab Emirates

February 2022
Case

NFX Capital and Moov Technologies

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Nicole Tempest Keller

In July 2019, James Currier, a general partner at San Francisco-based NFX Ventures, was considering a seed stage investment of $1.5 million in Moov Technologies, a B2B marketplace for used industrial equipment. NFX was a venture capital firm focused on seed-stage... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Network Effects; Marketplace Matching; Digital Platforms; Market Design; Applications and Software; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; San Francisco

28 Aug 2017
Research & Ideas

Should Industry Competitors Cooperate More to Solve World Problems?

disadvantage. Third, increasing wages or selecting suppliers with better environmental practices might bring a financial benefit in the long term; however, short-term pressures on the firm might make business leaders averse to making such investments. The View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services; Financial Services; Financial Services; Financial Services

December 2007 (Revised April 2008)
Case

Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners

Selling an intangible like advertising services is a difficult task. The first step is to understand how brands buy these services. What are they looking for? What do they need to learn? How do they go about assessing things like creativity, trust, and loyalty? This... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Advertising; Sales; Advertising Industry

04 Sep 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Why Do Intermediaries Divert Search?

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu & Bruno Jullien

December 2014 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Alibaba Goes Public (A)

By: Krishna Palepu, Suraj Srinivasan, Charles C.Y. Wang and David Lane

In 2014 Alibaba debuted on the New York Stock Exchange, creating not only the largest IPO in history but this initial desire to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was denied due to the company's desire to preserve its partner's control over decision rights. Why did... View Details

Keywords: Dual-class Share Structure; Alibaba; IPOs; VIE; Corporate Governance; Financial Services Industry; United States; Hong Kong; China

2008
Working Paper

Variation in Experience and Team Familiarity: Addressing the Knowledge Acquisition-Application Problem

By: Robert S. Huckman and Bradley R. Staats

Prior work in organizational learning has failed to find a consistent effect of variation in experience on performance. While some studies find a positive relationship between these two variables, others find no effect or even a negative relationship. In this paper, we... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Learning; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Organizational Culture; Performance Improvement; Groups and Teams; Familiarity; India

Read Now

April 2008
Case

Campbell and Bailyn's Boston Office: Managing the Reorganization

By: Anne Donnellon and Dun Gifford Jr

Ken Winston, the regional sales manager at a securities brokerage firm, has reorganized his generalist salespeople into Key Account Teams (KAT) to increase sales of specialized, higher-margin fixed income products. Winston is also implementing a new corporate... View Details

March 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Advising on Currency Risk at ICICI Bank

In March 2003, a client approached the Markets Advisory Group at ICICI Bank, India's second largest bank, about a hedging transaction. The hedge involved multiple interest rates and currencies. Shilpa Kumar, head of the Markets Advisory Group, has to put together a... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Currency Exchange Rate; Capital Markets; Investment Funds; Banks and Banking; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; India

December 1974 (Revised February 1985)
Case

Southwest Airlines (A)

Southwest Airlines, a small intrastate carrier serving Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, begins service in 1971 in the face of competition by two larger, entrenched airlines. Improved quality service, lower prices, and innovative advertising and promotional strategy... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Marketing Strategy; Air Transportation; Air Transportation Industry; Texas

21 Mar 2004
Research & Ideas

Loyalty: Don’t Give Away the Store

written by Lal with HBS colleague David Bell, was published in Quantitative Marketing and Economics last June. Lal discusses his findings with Manda Salls. Salls: Frequent shopper programs have become part of the shopper's landscape. What... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls; Consumer Products; Retail

June 1989 (Revised July 1993)
Case

CIGNA Worldwide

By: John A. Quelch

A CIGNA Worldwide (CWW) task group of European country directors and key functional managers is meeting in November 1988 to discuss how CWW should respond to the European Community's plan to remove existing internal barriers and restrictions to the free flow of goods... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Insurance; Competitive Strategy; Emerging Markets; Trade; Insurance Industry; Europe

Find at Harvard

15 Feb 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Expectations of Returns and Expected Returns

Keywords: by Robin Greenwood & Andrei Shleifer; Financial Services

03 Apr 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Bridge Building in Venture Capital-Backed Acquisitions

Keywords: by Paul A. Gompers & Yuhai Xuan

Web

Lifelong Learning - Alumni

Career Management Climate Change Diversity and Inclusion Economy, Government Entrepreneurship Finance and Operations Governance and Boards Happiness, Purpose and Meaning Health Care Management and Leadership Marketing and Communications... View Details

10 Nov 2020
Blog Post

Instagram Takeover - Mae Abdelrahman (MBA 2021)

in the classroom, she transitioned to a role in the financial services sector, before attending HBS. Mae has had a lifelong passion for skin care and beauty and she was excited to start her own beauty company as soon as she arrived on... View Details

18 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

How Disruptive Innovation Changes Education

write, "Disruption is a positive force. It is the process by which an innovation transforms a market whose services or products are complicated and expensive into one where simplicity, convenience,... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Education

January 1995 (Revised April 1996)
Case

Wildfire

The company Wildfire offers a product that is a virtual secretary--embedded in the phone system. Students can call 1-800-WILDFIRE and hear a product demonstration. All the commands, from calling, to setting up meetings, to providing reminders, are verbal--told to the... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Product Marketing; Service Industry; Service Industry