Publications

Web

Sustainable Business Strategy Course | HBS Online

change. Highlights NG Continued Changing the Governance ESG Becomes More Mainstream Partnering with Allies Show Hide Details Concepts Business and the Broader System Changing the Rules: Focusing on Governance and Finance Business &... View Details

Web

John H. McArthur | About

through the School’s ranks—teaching courses in corporate finance and related fields in several HBS programs, engaging in research and course development in Europe and North America, and holding a range of important administrative... View Details

16 Dec 2021
Blog Post

African American Student Union Spotlight on STEM

as a STEM student, and how did you overcome it? I don't come from a finance background, and it often shows when I'm going through cases or engaging in the classroom. The jargon and concepts are new, but I find solace in breaking things... View Details

06 Dec 2011
First Look

First Look: Dec. 6

Matter Authors:Rosabeth M. Kanter Publication:Alabama Law Review (2011) Abstract The "rational person" standard, based on assumptions of economic self-interest, has long prevailed in legal reasoning. But understanding of View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2018 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Capital Allocation at HCA

By: W. Carl Kester and Emily R. McComb

In early 2017, HCA Holdings, an investor-owned hospital management company, faced a strategically important capital allocation decision. After the exit of its private equity sponsors in 2016, HCA had to determine how best to allocate its substantial annual free cash... View Details

Keywords: Capital Allocation; Cash Distribution Policy; Dividends; Share Repurchases; Growth Strategy And Execution; Growth Investing; Capital Expenditures; Debt Management; Debt Reduction; Debt Policy; Hospital Management; Investor-owned Hospital Chains; Capital Budgeting; Capital Structure; Cash Flow; Corporate Finance; Decision Choices and Conditions; Health Industry; United States

Article

Investor Sentiment in the Stock Market

By: Malcolm Baker and Jeffrey Wurgler

We examine how investor sentiment affects the cross-section of stock returns. Theory predicts that a broad wave of sentiment will disproportionately affect stocks whose valuations are highly subjective and are difficult to arbitrage. We test this prediction by... View Details

Keywords: Financial Markets; Stocks; Investment Return; Valuation; Forecasting and Prediction; Volatility; Price; Risk and Uncertainty; Behavioral Finance

Find at Harvard

Read Now

June 2013 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Bonnie Road

By: Arthur I Segel, John H. Vogel, Jr. and Lisa Strope

Victor Alexander was intrigued by the packet of papers that lay in front of him. The papers comprised a brochure that Garden State Bank had put together in an effort to sell the Bonnie Road Distribution Center in Somerset, New Jersey, for $9.7 million. It was April... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Investment; Acquisition; Buildings and Facilities; Property; Partners and Partnerships; Decision Choices and Conditions; Distribution Industry; Real Estate Industry; Texas

Web

Frequently Asked Questions | HBS Online

strategic decisions that founders, joiners and VCs must make to find a viable business model that has product-market fit. The course covers business model assessment, using experiments to determine product-market fit, VC View Details

2021
Working Paper

Dirty Money: How Banks Influence Financial Crime

By: Joseph Pacelli, Janet Gao, Jan Schneemeier and Yufeng Wu

On September 21st, 2020, a consortium of international journalists leaked nearly 2,500 suspicious activity reports (SAR) obtained from the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, exposing nearly $2 trillion of money laundering activity. The event raises important... View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Crime and Corruption; Policy

SSRN

08 Mar 2022
Blog Post

Recalling My First Cold Call: A Conversation with Second-Year Students

startup venture. What do you remember about your first cold call?What I remember more vividly than my first cold call is when I was cold called and did not know the answer. I was in my first finance class and was asked a detailed question... View Details

Web

HBS Cases | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

years, HBS faculty have written many HBS cases about the finance industry, including cases specifically on Lehman Brothers. Most of the Lehman Brothers cases were written in the late 1980s to 2000s and provide insight into such issues as... View Details

January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Runa

By: Paul Gompers and Carla Larangeira

In early 2022, Courtney McColgan, founder and CEO of Runa, a human resources and payroll Software-as-a-Service platform, faced an unexpected tech market downturn. Founded in 2018, Runa catered to small and medium-sized businesses in Mexico, offering an affordable and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Volatility; Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Leadership; Management; Venture Capital; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Growth and Maturation; Latin America

13 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 13

investigate a puzzling phenomenon in which firms make investment decisions that purposefully do not maximize expected profits. Using an extension to the newsvendor model, we focus on a relatively common scenario in which the firm's... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2022 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Ribbit Capital and the Gauntlet Investment Opportunity

By: Shai Bernstein and Allison M. Ciechanover

Ten-year-old, Palo Alto-based Ribbit Capital is best-known for its global investments in fintech. The firm was also an early advocate of crypto and blockchain, having invested in more than two dozen startups in the space in the past decade. In the Spring of 2022,... View Details

Keywords: Alternative Assets; Cryptocurrency; Business Startups; Investment Portfolio; Decision Choices and Conditions; Negotiation Deal; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Venture Capital; Financial Services Industry; California

29 Mar 2016
First Look

March 29, 2016

how today's organizations run. By demonstrating the interconnectivity among the three key pillars of management, students see how decisions impact strategic choices, organizational alignment, and leadership approaches, ultimately leading... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Aug 2020
What Do You Think?

Is the 'Experimentation Organization' Becoming the Competitive Gold Standard?

as well. What kind of “life” will experimentation have outside high tech? What do you think? Original Post “Test, then invest” is an increasingly common saying among entrepreneurs and those who finance their startups. The idea is simple:... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Technology

July 2009 (Revised September 2009)
Case

The Blackstone Group: Merlin Entertainment

The Blackstone Group had conducted a roll-up of theme parks and attractions business in Europe. It was considering how to generate liquidity for its investors. Blackstone entered the theme parks and attractions business in Europe by acquiring a majority stake in... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Cost vs Benefits; Private Equity; Financial Liquidity; Investment Return; Risk Management; Leasing; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Europe