Publications

September 2002 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Dimensional Fund Advisors, 2002

By: Randolph B. Cohen

Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) is an investment management firm that prides itself on basing its investment strategies on sound academic research. Many of the best-known finance research papers of the past two decades (especially those by Eugene Fama and Kenneth... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Use and Leverage; Research; Success; Investment; Financial Services Industry

October 2016
Case

The Quiet Ascension of LA Fitness

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2016, LA Fitness was the largest chain of non-franchised fitness clubs in North America, operating 676 clubs, serving 4.9 million members, and generating revenues of over $1.9 billion. Founded by Chinyol Yi, Louis Welch, and Paul Norris in 1984, the privately held... View Details

Keywords: LA Fitness; Health Clubs; Fitness; Gyms; Chain; Exercise; Personal Training; Retention; Bally Total Fitness; 24 Hour Fitness; Planet Fitness; Buildings and Facilities; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Demographics; Age; Gender; Income; Residency; Borrowing and Debt; Capital; Capital Structure; Cash; Cash Flow; Cost; Private Equity; Financial Condition; Financial Liquidity; Financing and Loans; Investment Return; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Employees; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Contracts; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Service Operations; Leasing; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Opportunities; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Mobile Technology; Technology Platform; Health Industry; United States; California; Los Angeles

Web

Online Business Strategy Course | HBS Online

likely to achieve enduring financial success "The course has given me the confidence to know that my suggestions have a solid business basis." Jennifer Moret Financial Analyst What You Earn Certificate of... View Details

Web

Reconceiving Products & Markets - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

needs and new markets open up opportunities to differentiate , innovate , and grow . A new generation of social entrepreneurs is capturing these opportunities, and mainstream businesses must keep up to stay competitive by: Designing products and View Details

Web

HBS Entrepreneurship Summit - Alumni

Service Challenges Mitchell B. Weiss (MBA 2004), Richard L. Menschel Professor of Management Practice Five Technologies Changing the Future Shikhar Ghosh (MBA 1980), MBA Class of 1961 Professor of Management Practice of Business... View Details

May 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Investment Technology Group

By: Clayton S. Rose and David Lane

Investment Technology Group (ITG) CEO Robert Gasser wondered if the financial crisis had permanently affected the firm's business model. A leader in trade analytics and execution for institutional equity investors, ITG had grown since its establishment in 1987 in step... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Financial Crisis; Investment; Resignation and Termination; Crisis Management; Product Positioning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; New York (city, NY)

Web

Business Finance Course Online | HBS Online

Cash Conversion Cycle Time Value of Money Featured Exercises Balance sheet and financial ratios exercises Calculate net present value 6-7 hrs Module 3 Capital Markets Build a strong understanding of the players in the View Details

Web

Beth Clark | About

responsible for a wide array of services supporting the School's academic, research, administrative, and alumni engagement activities. She has held several leadership positions at HBS; her innovative leadership was evident during the... View Details

05 Feb 2018
What Do You Think?

Should Companies Disclose Employee Compensation?

iStock Summing Up How Should Organizations Draw the Line on Pay Transparency? There is general support for the widespread practice of disclosing pay data in "bands" associated with jobs. Fewer people would go beyond this to disclose what individual employees... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

June 2023
Case

Investing in the Climate Transition at Neuberger Berman

By: George Serafeim and Benjamin Maletta

By mid-2023, Neuberger Berman (NB), an active asset manager, had grown its assets under management to about half a trillion dollars and took pride in its client centricity and innovative spirit. Responding to client demand for investment products that integrated... View Details

12 Mar 2021
News

My Favorite Case

create the illusion of higher quality. I’ve always bought the cheapest vodka I could find, but my kids insist on the expensive brands. Great lesson in the realities of marketing! —Howard (Ted) Greene (MBA 1967) Back to top “Ant Financial” Headquartered in Hangzhou,... View Details

Keywords: Educational Services; Educational Services

22 Sep 2023
News

Capital Connection

Vernon Beckford (MBA 2013) saw the gap almost immediately. From the beginning of his career in commercial real estate finance—first at Credit Suisse and then later at CW Capital and Global Atlantic Financial Group—Beckford observed Wall... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley; Real Estate

07 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

4+2 = Sustained Business Success

compared to Kmart. (The other companies in their quad were Target and the Limited.) Both companies were in roughly the same financial shape in 1986, but Dollar General grew steadily, showing healthy profits year after year. Meanwhile,... View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria, William Joyce & Bruce Roberson

September 2008 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Odyssey Healthcare

By: Robert F. Higgins, Virginia Fuller and Umer Raffat

In January 2001, Dick Burnham, CEO of Odyssey Healthcare, and Odyssey's Board of Directors were considering selling the hospice care company to a larger provider or making an initial public offering (IPO). With 38 hospice locations in 21 states, Odyssey had been... View Details

Keywords: Liquidity; Venture Creation/development; Hospice; Venture Capital; Financial Liquidity; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Plan; Entrepreneurship; Health Industry; United States

21 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

How to Predict if a New Business Idea is Any Good

entrepreneurship herself, even applying to the MIT Venture Mentoring Service (MIT VMS)—a program that connects budding entrepreneurs to successful businesspeople to develop their ideas. Whenever an entrepreneur applies to the program, a... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services; Financial Services

May 2023
Teaching Note

Ava Labs: Navigating the Next Blockchain

By: Marco Di Maggio and Wenyao Sha

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 223-027. View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Decentralized Finance; Alternative Assets; Financial Instruments; Assets; Decisions; Financing and Loans; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

October 2010 (Revised July 2012)
Supplement

Toni Sacconaghi at Sanford C. Bernstein

By: Linda A. Hill and Dana Teppert

Toni Sacconaghi, a senior sell-side equity research analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein covering U.S. IT hardware companies, thinks about the challenges and opportunities presented by the firm's new office in Hong Kong. Sacconaghi was previously the only analyst covering... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Research; Social and Collaborative Networks; Financial Services Industry; Hong Kong; United States