Publications

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November 1994
Case

Electrical Distributors, Inc.

By: David F. Hawkins

The owner of a small electrical supply firm has grown beyond his ability to fund growth with internally generated funds. He seeks a bank loan, which falls short of his needs. View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financing and Loans; Borrowing and Debt; Corporate Finance; Apparel and Accessories Industry

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Allison Mnookin is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management (TOM) Unit at the Harvard Business School. She currently is the co-chair of the first-year MBA Technology and Operations Management course. In addition, she... View Details

2013
Working Paper

FIN Around the World: The Contribution of Financing Activity to Profitability

By: Russell Lundholm, George Serafeim and Gwen Yu

We study how the availability of domestic credit influences the contribution that financing activities make to a firm's return on equity (ROE). Using a sample of 51,866 firms from 69 countries, we find that financing activities contribute more to a firm's ROE in... View Details

Keywords: Domestic Credit; Return Of Equity; Corporate Performance; Financial Statement Analysis; Financial Statements; Valuation; Cost of Capital; Asset Pricing; Economic Growth

SSRN

28 Feb 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Patent Trolls and Small-Business Employment

Keywords: by Ian Appel, Joan Farre-Mensa, and Elena Simintzi

2008
Working Paper

Catering through Nominal Share Prices

By: Malcolm Baker, Robin Greenwood and Jeffrey Wurgler

We propose and test a catering theory of nominal stock prices. The theory predicts that when investors place higher valuation on low-price firms, managers will maintain share prices at lower levels, and vice-versa. Using measures of time-varying catering... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Stock Shares; Investment; Investment Return; Price; Theory; Valuation

June 2004
Case

TechnoServe and the Tanzanian Specialty Coffee Industry

In 2003, TechnoServe, a U.S.-based, international, nonprofit organization, was deciding how to structure the capital investments required for Tanzanian business groups to acquire coffee bean central pulperies. This case explores the challenges of capital budgeting and... View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Nonprofit Organizations; Cash Flow; Emerging Markets; Financing and Loans; Capital Budgeting; Tanzania

Olivia Kim is an assistant professor of business administration in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School. She teaches the Entrepreneurial Management course in the MBA required curriculum.

Professor Kim's research examines how firms... View Details

2015
Chapter

Innovation and Business Growth

By: William R. Kerr

Innovation and the pursuit of new business opportunities are essential for growth at the firm level; moreover, they provide the foundation for an economy to achieve new levels of technological prowess, productivity, and ultimately prosperity. This chapter describes... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Economic Growth; Innovation and Invention

08 Sep 2014
News

Survey Highlights A Troubling Divergence in the U.S. Economy

January 2010 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Ganeden Biotech, Inc.

By: Robert C. Pozen, Dale Alan Winger and Matthew Kenneth Ahlers

The CEO of Ganeden Biotech, a small firm with several viable probiotic products but limited resources, must decide what markets to invest in and what intellectual property strategies will best serve its immediate and longer-term business interests. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Investment; Intellectual Property; Market Entry and Exit; Business Strategy; Biotechnology Industry

April 1986 (Revised December 1988)
Case

Massimo Menichetti

Examines different alternatives for the introduction of telemation and computer aided design in a small firm. The issues involve what extent of cooperation is required by different firms so that a telecommunicative interchange between them becomes effective. View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Cooperation

06 Nov 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, November 6, 2018

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55194 Large Banks and Small Firm Lending By: Bord, Vitaly, Victoria Ivashina, and Ryan D. Taliaferro Abstract—We show that since 2007, there was a large and... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

Research Summary

Overview

By: Olivia S. Kim

My research examines how firms and households make financial decisions, with a focus on the role of the family. My work evaluates how financial regulations shape credit and consumption disparities within the household and the extent to which business owners' family... View Details

September 2021
Case

Brown Capital Management

By: Luis M. Viceira, Emily R. McComb and Sarah Mehta

Set in July 2021, this case looks at several growth strategies under consideration at Brown Capital, the second-oldest Black-owned asset management firm in the U.S. Since its 1983 founding, Baltimore-based Brown Capital has specialized in small company growth... View Details

2008
Working Paper

A Darker Side to Decentralized Banks: Market Power and Credit Rationing in SME Lending

By: Rodrigo Canales and Ramana Nanda

We use loan-level data to study how the organizational structure of banks impacts small business lending. We find that decentralized banks—where branch managers have greater autonomy over lending decisions—give larger loans to small firms and those with "soft... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Financing and Loans; Industry Structures; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Mexico

October 1995 (Revised November 1997)
Case

Apex Investment Partners (A): April 1995

By: Josh Lerner

The partners of Apex Investment Partners are seeking to provide financing for Accessine Technologies, a small firm specializing in providing "One Person, One Number" telecommunication services. The negotiation of the terms-and-conditions of the deal, as well as its... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Process; Negotiation Offer; Negotiation Participants; Problems and Challenges; Financing and Loans; Communication Technology; Financial Services Industry; Telecommunications Industry

August 2012
Article

A Darker Side to Decentralized Banks: Market Power and Credit Rationing in SME Lending

By: Rodrigo Canales and Ramana Nanda

We use loan-level data to study how the organizational structure of banks impacts small business lending. We find that decentralized banks-where branch managers have greater autonomy over lending decisions-give larger loans to small firms and those with "soft... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Customers; Financing and Loans; Credit; Organizational Structure; Banks and Banking; Governance Compliance; Competitive Strategy

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July 2014
Case

Thompson Asset Management

By: William Fruhan and John Banko

Thompson Asset Management (TAM) is a small investment advisory and asset management firm in Jacksonville, Florida, with about $100 million in assets under management in two different funds. Since starting the firm in 2009, the CEO and founder Allison Thompson has had a... View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Asset Management; Expansion; Investment Portfolio; Financial Services Industry; Florida