Publications

September 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Acumen Fund: Measurement in Impact Investing (A)

By: Alnoor Ebrahim and V. Kasturi Rangan

Acumen Fund is a global venture capital firm with a dual purpose: it looks for a return on its investments, and it also seeks entrepreneurial solutions to global poverty. This case examines Acumen's new projects in Kenya. The organization's investment committee and its... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Investment Return; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Risk Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Social Enterprise; Financial Services Industry; Kenya

Web

Greenhill House | About

stucco and brick office building was designed in the Georgian Revival-style by McKim, Mead & White as part of the original 1920s campus plan, though construction was delayed for financial reasons until 1965, during the tenure of Dean... View Details

Web

Curriculum - Business & Environment

incentive systems to measure, track, and influence climate friendly changes to reduce CO2 emissions across the world's fourth largest dairy cooperative. Finance I Project Helios: Harvesting the Sun Key concepts: Return on Investment, View Details

November 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Square, Inc. IPO

By: Ramana Nanda, Robert White and Lauren G. Pickle

In November 2015, Square, Inc. launched its initial public offering (IPO). The IPO had an offering price of $9 per share, lower than the $11 to $13 estimate that had been outlined in the preliminary prospectus and 42% below the $15.50 share price in its most recent... View Details

Keywords: Business Finance; Initial Public Offering; Equity; Capital Markets; Public Equity; Stocks; Venture Capital; Financial Services Industry; United States

02 Oct 2017
What Do You Think?

Do Bitcoin and Digital Currency Have a Future?

case a financial services company, to bail us out. The experience could have soured me on the entire notion of hedge funds. But of course hedge funds later came into vogue, prompting the growth and... View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett; Financial Services

05 Jul 2022
What Do You Think?

Have We Seen the Peak of Just-in-Time Inventory Management?

Business School curriculum among those interested in studying business in 1908. I should know. I was invited to join the HBS faculty not to teach marketing, service management, or general management, among my later teaching assignments,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing; Shipping; Transportation

21 Apr 2009
First Look

First Look: April 21, 2009

Financial Literacy, Financial Decisions, and the Demand for Financial Services: Evidence from India and Indonesia Authors:Shawn Cole, Thomas Sampson, and Bilal Zia Abstract Why... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Web

Systems Integration - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

system as a whole. Delivering the right care at the right location in a multi-site care delivery system is a key element of a value-based health care system. To integrate care effectively, providers need to re-define the scope of services... View Details

12 Dec 2005
Research & Ideas

Using the Law to Strategic Advantage

there are legal dimensions to business and they, like the financial or IT functions, need to be managed. They are too important to delegate to persons, i.e., lawyers, who may not understand the broader business objectives. Second, the law... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Legal Services

August 2019
Case

The Allstate Corporation, 2019

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In July 2019, Allstate, the United States’ number-three property and casualty (P/C) insurer, released its second-quarter earnings, which reported first-half revenues of $22.1 billion, up 11.4% year-over-year. Shareholders cheered the top-line growth, but P/C premiums... View Details

Keywords: Insurance Companies; Strategic Analysis; Strategic Change; Insurance; Strategy; Strategic Planning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Insurance Industry; North America

14 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Reforming New Orleans Schools After Katrina

school system—and to take action to improve it. There has been much work to do, as Harvard Business School's Stacey Childress details in two case studies. According to Childress, "The New Orleans public school district was already in crisis before Katrina due to... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Education

28 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

The Profit Power of Corporate Culture

returns to labor, and relationships with customers (producing loyalty and customer "ownership") as well as innovation and financial performance. If the organization doesn't measure up on these dimensions over some extended... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

January 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Metapath Software: September 1997

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Bill Wasik

In September 1997, John Hansen called together his board to debate an interesting choice that his company had to make. Hansen--the CEO of Metapath Software, a provider of software and services to wireless carriers--had two offers to describe. The first was an offer to... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Teams; Stocks; Public Ownership; Negotiation Deal; Telecommunications Industry; Information Technology Industry