Publications

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2024
Working Paper

Does the Case for Private Equity Still Hold?

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Philipp Chvanov

Private Equity (“PE”) received a 10-fold increase in capital flows since the Great Financial Crisis (“GFC”) Investors sought higher nominal returns relative to those they could obtain in the public capital markets. This paper questions the fundamental assumptions... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Financial Markets

SSRN

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August 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Building to a Crescendo

By: Noam T. Wasserman and Vishesh Kumar

Examines the efforts of an early-stage venture capital firm to formalize processes and build a pyramidal organization in an industry dominated by informal, unpyramidal structures. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Organizational Structure; Business Startups

10 Jul 2007
What Do You Think?

How Much of Leadership Is About Control, Delegation, or Theater?

that environment ." Ann Brown asks, "How long would it take for the results of consistent leadership actions and 'action messages' to show in the View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

21 Feb 2023
Research & Ideas

What's Missing from the Racial Equity Dialogue?

purchase a home than to rent one in 95 percent of America. This one racist policy has led to an affordable housing crisis that impacts most White home buyers today. “I often ask how racism harms those at the... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

July 2003 (Revised October 2018)
Case

Starbucks: Delivering Customer Service

By: Youngme Moon and John Quelch

Starbucks, the dominant specialty-coffee brand in North America, must respond to recent market research indicating that the company is not meeting customer expectations in terms of service. To increase customer satisfaction, the company is debating a plan that would... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Profit; Recruitment; Marketing Strategy; Service Operations; Performance Improvement; Planning; Food and Beverage Industry

27 Sep 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Salience in Quality Disclosure: Evidence from the U.S. News College Rankings

Keywords: by Michael Luca & Jonathan Smith; Education; Information; Publishing

18 Apr 2007
HBS Case

How Magazine Luiza Courts the Poor

"Magazine Luiza: Building a Retail Model of 'Courting the Poor.'" "Magazine Luiza has made a business of targeting the View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

06 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

The Trouble Behind Livedoor

making that, too, an essentially stock-financed transaction. Many of Livedoor's acquisitions were great companies, and continued to perform well under the Livedoor brand. This probably explains why View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services; Technology

30 Aug 2006
Op-Ed

The Compensation Game

example, clubs have little reason to try to camouflage the amount and channel it through arrangements designed to make the bottom line less visible. While athletes are paid... View Details

Keywords: by Lucian Bebchuk & Rakesh Khurana

05 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

Business and the Global Poor

this market at the bottom of the economic pyramid (BOP) must look beyond just selling products—they must find ways... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

08 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

Decision Rights: Who Gives the Green Light?

How a company decides who is authorized to make what types of decisions can have a profound effect on its business, both in terms of everyday effectiveness and the View Details

Keywords: by Peter Jacobs

January 2010 (Revised March 2010)
Background Note

A Note on Direct Selling in Developing Economies

By: Michael Chu and Joel Emilio Bregman Segre

Informal and formal direct selling play a particularly important role in developing countries characterized by markets with limited retail sectors. This note explores the practice of direct selling for the company, the sales person, and the consumer, as well as the... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Developing Countries and Economies; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Emerging Markets; Sales

August 2022
Case

Atlanta Ransomware Attack (A)

By: Amit Goldenberg and Julian Zlatev

This case describes the March 2018 Ransomware attack on the information technology (IT) systems of the city of Atlanta and the response by Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and her administration. The case includes a brief background on Bottoms and her young administration at... View Details

19 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

Codeacademy’s Delicate Work of Adding Monetization Without Crushing Mission

A good way to build a large base of users is to offer something valuable for free. That's been the strategy so far behind Codeacademy. In just a few short years since its inception in 2011, View Details

Keywords: Re: Jeffrey J. Bussgang; Technology

August 2022
Supplement

Atlanta Ransomware Attack (B)

By: Amit Goldenberg and Julian Zlatev

This case describes the March 2018 Ransomware attack on the information technology (IT) systems of the city of Atlanta and the response by Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and her administration. The case includes a brief background on Bottoms and her young administration at... View Details

2015
Working Paper

Mobile Money Services—Design and Development for Financial Inclusion

By: Rajiv Lal and Ishan Sachdev

Mobile money services are being deployed rapidly across emerging markets as a key tool to further the goal of financial inclusion. Financial inclusion, the development of novel methods to enable individuals at the base of the pyramid to access formal financial services... View Details

Keywords: Social Marketing; Poverty; Emerging Markets; Product Launch; Economic Growth; Financial Services Industry