Publications

September 2012 (Revised September 2016)
Background Note

Convertible Notes in Seed Financings

By: Ramana Nanda, William R. Kerr and Robert F. White

This note introduces convertible notes in angel financing. It begins by delineating the differences between a priced and non-priced round. It then describes a specific example of a convertible note, with attention paid to technical details regarding valuation caps. View Details

Keywords: Financing; Finance; Entrepreneurship

23 Aug 2010
News

Cranberry Industry Hits A Sour Spot

17 Jun 2011
News

Wells Fargo to stop offering reverse mortgages

14 Jul 2006
News

The Case for Consumer-Driven Medicaid

16 Jan 2013
News

Warby Parker tries to re-focus eyeglass industry

September 2023
Case

The Meteoric Rise of Skims

By: Ayelet Israeli, Jill Avery and Leonard A. Schlesinger

Since its founding in 2019 by Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede, Skims, a solutions-oriented brand creating the next generation of underwear, loungewear, and shapewear with an eye toward body-type and skin-tone inclusivity, has experienced a meteoric rise. Kardashian, who... View Details

March 2005 (Revised March 2006)
Background Note

Activity-Based Costing and Capacity

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Discusses the use of budgeted rather than historical data in an activity-based costing (ABC) model and argues for calculating rates using practical capacity, not actual utilization. An ABC model need not be limited to analysis of historical data. When cost driver rates... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Accounting Industry

02 Jul 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Inflation with COVID Consumption Baskets

Keywords: by Alberto Cavallo

17 Jun 2016
News

E-tailers won't be able to push brick-and-mortar businesses towards irrelevance

November–December 2018
Article

Online Network Revenue Management Using Thompson Sampling

By: Kris J. Ferreira, David Simchi-Levi and He Wang

We consider a network revenue management problem where an online retailer aims to maximize revenue from multiple products with limited inventory constraints. As common in practice, the retailer does not know the consumer's purchase probability at each price and must... View Details

Keywords: Online Marketing; Revenue Management; Revenue; Management; Marketing; Internet and the Web; Price; Mathematical Methods

Find at Harvard

Read Now

12 Apr 2016
First Look

April 12, 2016

link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50897 forthcoming Journal of Marketing Research Repairing the Damage: The Effect of Gender and Price Knowledge on Auto-Repair Price Quotes By: Busse,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Sep 2007
Op-Ed

Building Sandcastles: The Subprime Adventure

inflation, a stake in the community. As home prices rose, millions of renters, particularly those with less-than-stellar credit, yearned to seize the American dream. But traditional banks shunned "credit-impaired" borrowers.... View Details

Keywords: by Nicolas P. Retsinas; Banking; Construction; Real Estate

March 2003
Case

Compaq's Struggle

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and David Lane

In 1997, Compaq Computer was locked in price competition with industry leader Dell. Although Compaq sought to escape difficulty by acquiring Digital Equipment Corp. ,a maker of more lucrative servers and minicomputers, in 1998 the simultaneous effort to remain a... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Asset Pricing; Alliances; Competitive Strategy; Computer Industry

February 1996 (Revised February 1997)
Case

America Online, Inc.

By: Amy P. Hutton and Krishna G. Palepu

America Online's (AOL) stock price has soared nearly 2,000% since its IPO. However, there is considerable disagreement among analysts regarding the future prospects of AOL. Although many analysts are bullish on the stock, short sellers have sold around 7 million... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Analysis; Stocks; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Statements; Business Strategy; Web Services Industry

11 Oct 2013
News

Tylenol Killings Remain Unsolved and Unforgotten After 30 Years

April 2005
Case

The University of Chicago Investment Office: Investing in Timber

In 2005, the University of Chicago Investment office was deciding how much capital to allocate toward timber investing. Explores the challenges associated with optimal portfolio construction when one of the invested assets is illiquid with limited historical price... View Details

Keywords: Investment Portfolio; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Services Industry; Education Industry