Publications

14 Jun 2011
First Look

First Look: June 14

financial markets played in these events. Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/711088-PDF-ENG Caesars Entertainment: CodeGreen George Serafeim, Robert G. Eccles, and Tiffany A.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Accounting & Management - Faculty & Research

creating standard financial results. Keywords: Accounting ; Financial Statements ; Business Startups ; Social Media ; Advertising ; Digital Marketing ; Consumer Products... View Details

August 2008
Supplement

Becky Saeger, CMO, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., Interviewed by Professor John Quelch

By: John A. Quelch

Professor John Quelch interviewed Becky Saeger, Chief Marketing Officer of Charles Schwab and Co., Inc., with regard to the background and success of the "Talk to Chuck" advertising campaign. View Details

Keywords: Success; Advertising Campaigns; Financial Services Industry

18 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 18, 2009

efficiency benefits of market transactions Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-091.pdf Leveraging Waste: Implications for Competition and Welfare (revised) Author:Deishin Lee Abstract We study the competitive and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2011
Article

Too Big to Live: Why We Must Stamp Out State Monopoly Capitalism

The problems of excessive economic concentration, so lucidly and incisively analysed here, are not limited to the financial services industry. For the problem is now widespread: while five firms control 80% of the banking industry, a similar or greater concentration is... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Monopoly

23 May 2011
Op-Ed

Leading and Lagging Countries in Contributing to a Sustainable Society

society in general. But it is a difficult question to answer, with standards just now emerging in the form of "integrated reports" that help companies disclose corporate sustainability efforts just as they do financial data. Are these... View Details

Keywords: by Robert G. Eccles & George Serafeim

24 Mar 2015
First Look

First Look: March 24

is currently provided by GAAP financial reporting. The purpose of this paper is to examine the optimal design of information intermediaries that can increase the impact of sustainability information on corporate conduct. Specifically, we... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

27 Jan 2015
First Look

First Look: January 27

not had lower costs of equity (lower stock returns), consistent with a stock market anomaly previously documented in other samples. A calibration suggests that a binding 10 percentage point increase in Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2014 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Alibaba Goes Public (A)

By: Krishna Palepu, Suraj Srinivasan, Charles C.Y. Wang and David Lane

In 2014 Alibaba debuted on the New York Stock Exchange, creating not only the largest IPO in history but this initial desire to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was denied due to the company's desire to preserve its partner's control over decision rights. Why did... View Details

Keywords: Dual-class Share Structure; Alibaba; IPOs; VIE; Corporate Governance; Financial Services Industry; United States; Hong Kong; China

March 2022 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Hometown Foods: Changing Price amid Inflation

By: Julian De Freitas, Jeremy Yang and Das Narayandas

During the early part of the 2021 Covid-19 pandemic, Hometown Foods, a large seller of flour-based products, thrived as consumers hoarded baked goods and took up baking to pass the time and find comfort. Then, amid growing shortages in commodities, a vaccine arrived,... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Consumer Behavior; Supply Chain; Inflation and Deflation; Spending; Price Bubble; Price; Volatility; Food and Beverage Industry

22 Jul 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Reputation and Competition: Evidence from the Credit Rating Industry

Keywords: by Bo Becker & Todd Milbourn; Financial Services

May 2007
Case

Demand and Supply Forecasting at Air Products - Electronics Specialty Materials

Explores the process and inputs behind financial and operational forecasting in the Electronic Specialty Materials unit at Air Products and Chemicals, a global chemical company. The protagonist, John Goldberg, grapples with how to better integrate the two forecasting... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Operations; Forecasting and Prediction; Supply and Industry; Finance; Chemical Industry

April 2020
Supplement

Oaktree: Pierre Foods Investment

By: Victoria Ivashina and Terrence Shu

This case is a setting to discuss “loan to own” investment strategy that is often pursued by distressed investors. The aftermath of the 2007 financial crisis left many companies with poor liquidity and limited ability to obtain credit. One of these companies was Pierre... View Details

Keywords: Distress Investing; Investment; Debt Securities; Strategy; Restructuring

09 Jul 2018
Research & Ideas

Overcoming the Challenges of Selling Brand New Technology (Hey, Need a 3-D Printer?)

Once a company grows large enough to scale, says Cespedes, it’s important that managers think strategically about segmenting its market, not just “partitioning” it into broad categories such as health care or financial services. Cespedes... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology; Consumer Products; Electronics; Industrial Products; Information Technology; Manufacturing; Medical Devices & Supplies; Retail

November 1999 (Revised June 2006)
Case

DLJdirect: "Putting Our Reputation Online"

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Gillian Morris

Online broker DLJdirect faced two decisions during the fall of 1999: what customer segments should it target and how much should it spend on marketing? Unlike its competitors, who focused either on day traders or more mainstream investors, DLJdirect differentiated its... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Marketing Communications; Competitive Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment; Cost Management; Business Plan; Research and Development; Customers; Budgets and Budgeting; Online Advertising; Internet; Financial Services Industry

January 2009 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Necessity and Invention: Monetary Policy Innovation and the Subprime Crisis

By: Aldo Musacchio and Dante Roscini

This case describes the efforts of Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, to improve liquidity in money markets during the subprime crisis. The case explains the four main new tools for monetary policy (or quantitative easing) the Federal Reserve has used... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Money; Financial Liquidity; Central Banking; Policy; Business and Government Relations

Fall 2011
Article

A Brief Postwar History of U.S. Consumer Finance

By: Gunnar Trumbull and Peter Tufano

In this brief history of U.S. consumer finance since World War II, the sector is defined based on the functions delivered by firms in the form of payments, savings and investing, borrowing, managing risk, and providing advice. Evidence of major trends in consumption,... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Finance; Consumer Credit; U.s. History; Consumer Behavior; Personal Finance; Credit; Trends; History; United States

Find at Harvard

September 1994
Case

BayFunds

By: Alvin J. Silk, Lisa Klein Pearo and Jamie Harper

In June, 1994, the Senior Vice President of BayBank's Investment Management Group is preparing a strategic plan for her organization's line of mutual funds. Sixteen months earlier, BayBank, Massachusetts's leading retail bank, had entered the mutual fund business by... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Investment Funds; Product Marketing; Integration; Financial Services Industry

January 1998
Case

Frontgate Catalog

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Frontgate is a high-end, Lebanon, Ohio-based catalog business. The decision makers are trying to determine how much financial and personnel resources to invest in the development of a Web site. The decision is being made in light of branding issues and competitor's Web... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Competition; Internet and the Web; Brands and Branding; Retail Industry; Ohio