Publications

Web

Research Computing Services

Personalized support for the HBS community on topics ranging from AI & advanced statistical analyses to high performance computing. Services Statistical & Data Services RCS provides consulting View Details

June 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

Membership Rewards® from American Express

By: Shelle Santana, Frances X. Frei and Lauren G. Pickle

Credit and charge card issuer American Express (Amex) had developed a strong reputation among consumers due in part to its Membership Rewards (MR) loyalty program, first established in 1991. Through MR, all Amex cardholders could accumulate and redeem “points” based on... View Details

Keywords: Financial Services; Customer Loyalty; Credit Cards; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Brands and Branding; Customer Value and Value Chain; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; North America; United States

March 1988 (Revised September 1993)
Case

United Services Automobile Association (USAA)

Under the leadership of Robert F. McDermott, USAA has been transformed from a property and casualty insurance company with $200 million in assets in the late 1960s to a $11 billion financial services empire in 1988. The case illustrates the value of having a CEO drive... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Leadership; Information Technology; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

February 2008
Supplement

Shinhan Financial Group (B)

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew J. Morgan

By 2007, there were many signs that the merger of Chohung and Shinhan banks to form the Shinhan Financial Group in 2003 had met its goals. Shinhan Financial Group's stock price had increased from $31 a share at its opening on the New York Stock Exchange in September... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Global Strategy; Expansion; Markets; Strategic Planning; South Korea

Program

Leading Professional Service Firms

Summary As entry barriers rapidly disappear, competition is accelerating and reshaping the business landscape for professional service firms. Navigating this continual change successfully requires extraordinary leadership abilities. This... View Details

Keywords: Professional Services; Professional Services

December 2014 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Discovery Limited

By: Michael E. Porter, Mark R. Kramer and Aldo Sesia

Discovery Ltd. is a South Africa-based insurance company. Started in the early 1990s, Discovery used behavioral economics and data collection to innovate in the health care insurance industry. Its founder Adrian Gore believed that the company's products needed to not... View Details

Keywords: Shared Value; Health Care; Financial Services; Strategy; Value Creation; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; South Africa

01 Jun 2011
News

All in Good Time

operations is in Marietta, Georgia.) “When I started in 2005,” she says, “I went through all the usual growing pains of hiring too many people and spending too much on marketing. But I was able to do everything that I needed to do at home... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; staffing agencies; parenthood; Accounting, Tax, Bookkeeping, Payroll Services; Accounting, Tax, Bookkeeping, Payroll Services

01 Jun 2020
News

All Hands on Deck

for training on how to network and interview virtually. When all classes were moved online in less than two weeks, HBS sought to ensure a dynamic, interactive experience. Some 150 staff members from across campus volunteered to serve as... View Details

Keywords: Jen Mele

01 Sep 2009
News

Read All About It!

goods and services — from a second or third vehicle to health clubs to text messaging — that their great-grandparents could hardly have dreamed of. At the same time, the underlying sources for all this... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Educational Services; Educational Services; Educational Services; Educational Services

December 2004 (Revised April 2006)
Teaching Note

Managing Diversity at Spencer Owens & Co. and Managing Diversity at Cityside Financial Services (TN)

By: Robin J. Ely

Teaching Note to (9-405-047) and (9-405-048). View Details

Keywords: Diversity

Article

Effect of Different Financial Incentive Structures on Promoting Physical Activity Among Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial

By: Chethan Bachireddy, Andrew Joung, Leslie K. John, Francesca Gino, Bradford Tuckfield, Luca Foschini and Katherine L. Milkman

Importance: Few adults engage in recommended levels of physical activity. Financial incentives can promote physical activity, but little is known about how their structure influences their effectiveness; for example, whether incentives are more effective if they are... View Details

Keywords: Physical Activity; Financial Incentives; Motivation and Incentives; Money

Find at Harvard

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April 2013
Teaching Plan

Barclays and the LIBOR Scandal

By: Clayton S. Rose and Aldo Sesia

In the summer of 2012, Barclays plc, one of the largest banks in the world, agreed to settle with authorities and acknowledged that the firm had manipulated LIBOR (London Inter-Bank Offered Rate)—a benchmark reference rate that was fundamental to the operation of... View Details

Keywords: Financial Systems; Financial Services; Corruption; Regulation; General Management; Management; Leadership; Economic Systems; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Culture; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

01 Mar 2025
News

Venture: Time Heals All

and type of patients on the ward and the skills required to care for them, along with constraints on individual nurses, such as the number of consecutive hours they can safely work. All in all, building schedules can take a manager up to... View Details

Keywords: Amy Crawford; Illustration by Klaus Kremmerz; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Ambulatory Health Care Services

04 May 2009
Research & Ideas

What’s Next for the Big Financial Brands

valuable brands list. The rival 2008 Interbrand ranking of the top 100 global brands included 13 financial services brands. Citi appeared on both lists. Today, with its brand reputation seriously damaged,... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Financial Services; Financial Services

March 1994
Case

Fremont Financial Corporation (A)

Fremont Financial is an asset-based lender to middle-market companies. This case considers two options for Fremont to raise capital to finance its loan portfolio. Fremont can: 1) extend its existing bank line of credit, or 2) issue commercial paper through a special... View Details

Keywords: Financial Markets; Capital; Corporate Finance; Financial Services Industry