Publications

2017
Working Paper

Diversity in Innovation

By: Paul A. Gompers and Sophie Q. Wang

In this paper we document the patterns of labor market participation by women and ethnic minorities in venture capital firms and as founders of venture capital-backed startups. We show that from 1990-2016 women have been less than 10% of the entrepreneurial and venture... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Gender; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital

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April 2019
Teaching Note

The a2 Milk Company

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) became the most valuable company listed on the New Zealand stock exchange in 2018 by capitalizing on a biochemical discovery related to the protein composition of cow's milk. Because many people find the A1 protein difficult to digest, and... View Details

July 2009 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Radiant Cosmetics: What's in a Pout?

By: Robert C. Pozen and Mary Ellen Webster Hammond

In 2006, Radiant Cosmetics president and CEO, Margaret Clark, was contemplating the launch of a new, lip-plumping product called "Four Carat Pout." Clark faced many decisions concerning the launch: marketing the product as a luxury brand or a retail item; how to... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Intellectual Property; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

February 2009 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Big Spaceship: Ready to Go Big?

By: Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind

Big Spaceship, a digital marketing agency, faced a rather big challenge: How to scale the distinctive culture that was essential to its competitive strategy? Renowned for the cutting-edge websites that it developed to market major Hollywood movies and leading consumer... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Management; Human Capital; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Groups and Teams; Competitive Strategy; Value Creation

November 2008
Case

HNA Group: Moving China's Air Transport Industry in a New Direction

By: William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan and Tracy Manty

HNA Group, the parent company of Hainan Airlines, was positioning itself to go global and make a mark for itself as the largest private airline in China. Positioned squarely behind the "Big Three" state-owned carriers, Hainan Airlines sought to create a world-class... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Private Ownership; Competitive Advantage; Air Transportation Industry; China

September 2005 (Revised June 2012)
Case

New Songdo City

By: Arthur I Segel, Brandon Blaser, Gerardo Garza, Albert Kim, John Richard and Andrew Murphy

The government of South Korea has chosen John Hynes and Gale International to construct New Songdo City. This is an entirely new city, about the size of Boston, between the new Incheon airport and the capital of Seoul. The proposed city is the government's attempt to... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Urban Development; Construction; Design; Climate Change; South Korea

August 2006 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Natura: Global Beauty Made in Brazil

By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

Explores the globalization strategies of Natura, Brazil's largest cosmetics company. Founded in 1969, Natura grew using a direct selling model. Led by its three founders, the firm made distinctive use of Brazil's diversity and became characterized by high ethical and... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Brazil

October 2023 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Recycle & Re-Match: The Future of Soccer Turfs

By: George Serafeim, Lena Duchene and Carlota Moniz

By August 2023, Re-Match, an artificial turf waste-to-value company, had operations in Denmark and the Netherlands and had recycled over 160,000 tons of waste and plastic fiber. With recent capital injection from the VC firm Verdane and a dual revenue business model,... View Details

Teaching Interest

MBA Elective Curriculum: Investment Strategies

By: Malcolm P. Baker

This is a CORE course for students pursuing careers in finance. Thus, students interested in pursuing careers in mutual funds, hedge funds, pension funds, endowments, wealth management, financial consulting, marketing and client service, sales and trading,... View Details

April 2025
Case

Japan Industrial Partners Powers the Leveraged Buyout of Toshiba

By: Brian K. Baik, Joseph Pacelli and James Barnett

The case explores Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) $14 billion takeover of Toshiba Corporation (Toshiba). JIP was a private equity firm that took over the troubled electronics corporation in late 2023. The deal, which had been labeled one of the largest leveraged... View Details

October 2007
Background Note

Price Formation

By: Joshua D. Coval and Erik Stafford

Investigates how prices are formed in competitive capital markets. Focuses on a single security called AOE. Students compete with computer traders and each other for market making and informed trading profits. Participants receive a variety of public news in the form... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Price; Profit; Corporate Disclosure; Newsletters; Industry Structures; Business Processes; Competitive Strategy

January 2009 (Revised April 2009)
Case

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is one of the largest and fastest-growing pools of investment capital in the world and follows an unusually active program of investment management. In the market turmoil of late 2008, Mark Wiseman, Senior Vice President of the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Asset Management; Capital; Financial Management; Investment; Financial Services Industry; Canada

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11 May 2015
Working Paper Summaries

What Do Private Equity Firms Say They Do?

Keywords: by Paul A. Gompers, Steven N. Kaplan & Vladimir Mukharlyamov; Financial Services

February 2007
Case

South African Airways (A)

By: Joshua D. Margolis, Laura Morgan Roberts and Laura Winig

Amid efforts to engineer a turnaround at South African Airways (SAA), the CEO confronts an impending strike at the struggling company. How should the company address questions of distributive and procedural justice in post-Apartheid South Africa, and how should the CEO... View Details

Keywords: Fairness; Crisis Management; Employees; Employment; Growth and Development; Developing Countries and Economies; Air Transportation Industry; South Africa

Maria Roche is an Assistant Professor in the Strategy Unit. She teaches the MBA elective Innovating at Scale and contributes to teaching in executive education programs. Her research examines how specialized knowledge is commercialized and how... View Details

Keywords: education industry; biotechnology; high technology

Research Summary

Overview

Having grown up in a developing country, Professor Sikochi’s research focus is driven by a desire to understand how capital flows to firms and entrepreneurs with the ultimate goal to help build capital markets in the developing economies. To this end, he conducts... View Details

04 Dec 2018
News

We’re No Longer in Smartphone Plateau. We’re in the Smartphone Decline.

September 1993 (Revised July 1995)
Background Note

Public Policy and the Manager: Conceptual Framework

By: Willis M. Emmons III

Government intervention in markets may have significant effects--both positive and negative--on a firm's strategic options and its performance outcomes. Thus the ability to analyze the origins, implications, and dynamics of public policy is a critical managerial skill... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Management Skills; Government and Politics; Adoption; Business Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Economic Systems