Publications

01 Jun 2015
News

Case Study: Sneak Peak

moving off the shelf fast enough to yield $1 million, you probably have a consumer-marketing problem more than a financing problem. Do you know how well your product is moving off the shelf? It is easy to think you are succeeding based on... View Details

Keywords: Whole Foods; Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade

September 2004 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Bank Leu's Prima Cat Bond Fund

In 2001, Bank Leu, a Swiss private bank, is considering creating the world's first public fund for catastrophe bonds. Cat bonds are securities whose payments depend on the probability of a catastrophe occurring, such as an earthquake or hurricane. Cat bonds are... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Bonds; Natural Disasters; Insurance; Capital Markets; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Insurance Industry; Switzerland

14 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 14

entails the risk of becoming dependent on outside owners of IP. To address this tension we propose the concept of "IP modularity." We argue that, by managing a system's modular structure in conjunction with its IP, firms can... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 1991 (Revised August 1994)
Background Note

Relevant Costs and Revenues

By: Arthur Schleifer Jr.

Develops the idea that the relevance of costs and revenues depends on what decisions are under consideration. Revenues and costs are relevant if they would be different under one decision choice than under the other. Teaching purpose: Basic background material for... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost; Revenue; Framework; Managerial Roles; Risk and Uncertainty

2012
Article

The Excess Burden of Government Indecision

By: Francisco J. Gomes, Laurence J. Kotlikoff and Luis M. Viceira

Governments are known for procrastinating when it comes to resolving painful policy problems. Whatever the political motives for waiting to decide, procrastination distorts economic decisions relative to what would arise with early policy resolution. In so doing, it... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Risk and Uncertainty; Investment Portfolio; Decision Choices and Conditions; Retirement; Policy; Government and Politics

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Read Now

May 2011 (Revised December 2011)
Case

Stuyvesant Town - Peter Cooper Village: America's Largest Foreclosure

By: Arthur I Segel, Gregory S. Feldman, James T. Liu and Elizabeth C. Williamson

In July 2010, William Ackman, the founder of Pershing Square, is considering a potential new opportunity: the acquisition of the distressed Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village ("ST /PCV") complex. The property had recently been abandoned by its owners and had come... View Details

Keywords: Property; Risk Management; Opportunities; Valuation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment; Outcome or Result; Acquisition; North and Central America

October 2008 (Revised September 2011)
Supplement

PepsiCo's Bid for Quaker Oats (D)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

Describes the final deal struck between PepsiCo and Quaker Oats, including the terms of collared consideration. Summarizes stock price announcement effects. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Announcements; Stocks; Price; Risk Management; Negotiation Deal; Valuation; Food and Beverage Industry

April 2011
Teaching Note

U.S. Department of Energy & Recovery Act Funding: Bridging the "Valley of Death" (TN)

By: Ramana Nanda, Joseph B. Lassiter III and Michael J. Roberts

Teaching Note for 810144. View Details

Keywords: Energy; Financing and Loans; Risk and Uncertainty; Commercialization; Programs; Innovation and Invention; Capital; Government and Politics; United States

March 2011 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Gold in 2011: Bubble or Safe Haven Asset?

By: Robin Greenwood and Benjamin Steiner

Case explores the pricing of gold in 2011. Is the pricing justified or are we in a speculative bubble? What data are useful in determining a view on this question? View Details

Keywords: Inflation and Deflation; Money; Asset Management; Investment; Price Bubble; Policy; Risk Management

November 2007
Background Note

Event Arbitrage

By: Joshua D. Coval and Erik Stafford

The event arbitrage module includes two simulation sessions. The first simulation focuses on analyzing and evaluating individual merger transactions, while the second simulation emphasizes managing a portfolio of individual positions and the limitations of arbitrage... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital Markets; Financial Management; Investment Portfolio; Risk Management

17 Nov 2011
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Organizational Design

managers still need to seek other drivers of creativity. I Want My Functional Experts To Influence High-level Strategy Moving From Bean Counter to Game Changer New research by HBS professor Anette Mikes and colleagues looks into how accountants, View Details

Keywords: Re: Ranjay Gulati & Raffaella Sadun

May 2004 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Ultra: The Quest for Leadership (A)

By: Dwight B. Crane and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

Ultra is one of a small group of competing Brazilian petrochemical companies, each of which buys raw material and is a minority owner of Copene, a "cracking" company that provides ethylene and other materials. Because of an industry restructuring, an auction of shares... View Details

Keywords: Capital; Capital Budgeting; Investment; Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management; Industry Structures; Cash Flow; Cost of Capital; Valuation; Bids and Bidding; Economy; Ownership Stake; Chemical Industry; Brazil

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March 1985 (Revised November 1988)
Case

Precision Parts, Inc. (A)

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of a decision confronting two entrepreneurs in mid-1981. They are considering purchasing a small manufacturer of precision electromechanical parts. Among the issues in the case are the following: 1) Should Taylor and Grayson buy Precision Parts,... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Cost vs Benefits; Investment Return; Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Risk and Uncertainty; Outcome or Result; Manufacturing Industry

19 Feb 2010
News

The MBA Oath Debate

recent opinion piece in the Financial Times, HBS student Andrew Sridhar (MBA 2010) cited what he calls “troubling” aspects of the oath. For example, he doesn’t buy the professionalization analogy with oaths in law, medicine, or the clergy. “Your liberty, your life, or... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

14 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 14

Applied Corporate Finance When One Size Doesn't Fit All: Evolving Directions in the Research and Practice of Enterprise Risk Management By: Mikes, Anette, and Robert S. Kaplan Abstract—Enterprise View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 1994 (Revised July 2008)
Case

Banc One Corporation: Asset and Liability Management

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Peter Tufano and Jon Headley

Banc One's share price has been falling recently due to analyst and investor concern over the bank's heavy use of interest rate derivatives. Dick Lodge, chief investment officer in charge of the bank's investment and derivative portfolio, must recommend to the CEO a... View Details

Keywords: Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Financial Management; Interest Rates; Investment Portfolio; Governance Controls; Risk Management; Banking Industry