Publications

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; Financial Services Industry

01 Feb 2008
What Do You Think?

How Sustainable Is Sustainability in a For-Profit Organization?

future. Gerald Nanninga, for example, commented that "If we deplete resources too quickly, the shortage of supply ... will make conservation issues more financially viable." Some felt that the free market might need some help.... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

April 2022 (Revised April 2023)
Case

Highland Park Wood Co. (Abridged)

By: David E. Bell

A major home builder wishes to purchase lumber (Southern pine). The builder wants delivery in six months but prefers to lock-in the price near current rates. The lumber wholesaler must decide on a pricing and sourcing strategy. Examples include: 1) buy & hold, 2) wait... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Goods and Commodities; Futures and Commodity Futures; Price; Forest Products Industry; Construction Industry

October 2010
Supplement

Belco Global Foods: Spreadsheet Supplement (CW)

By: C. Fritz Foley and Matthew Johnson

This case introduces students to the fundamental issues that managers face when deciding what international trade finance terms to use when transacting with other firms. In late 2009, Pam Arnold, the Head of Global Credit at Belco Global Foods must decide which trade... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Decisions; Trade; Financial Strategy; Governance Compliance; Managerial Roles; Market Transactions

21 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Searching for Better Practices in Social Investing

very talented executives into the mix, you can help organizations change their effectiveness and their view of what's possible." Bannick agreed that investors should curb the need for speed when shifting their focus from financial... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

January 2019 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Blackstone Alternative Asset Management in 2018

By: Emil Siriwardane, Luis M. Viceira and Shawn O'Brien

In early 2018, Blackstone announced that John McCormick would succeed Tom Hill as President and Chief Executive Officer of Blackstone Alternative Asset Management (BAAM), the largest fund-of-hedge funds in the world by a sizeable margin. As new CEO, McCormick must... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Expansion; Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Services Industry

July 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Salary Finance

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In April 2019, Asesh Sarkar, co-founder and chief executive of Salary Finance Limited, a London-based FinTech, faced tough choices. Sarkar had founded Salary Finance with Dan Cobley and Daniel Shakhani in 2015. The company’s value proposition was quite simple: partner... View Details

Keywords: Credit; Financing and Loans; Wages; Innovation and Invention; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Services Industry

May 2023
Article

Political Ideology and International Capital Allocation

By: Elisabeth Kempf, Mancy Luo, Larissa Schäfer and Margarita Tsoutsoura

Does investors' political ideology shape international capital allocation? We provide evidence from two settings—syndicated corporate loans and equity mutual funds—to show ideological alignment with foreign governments affects the cross-border capital allocation by... View Details

Keywords: Capital Flows; Syndicated Loans; Mutual Funds; Partisanship; Polarization; Elections; Political Ideology; Banks and Banking; Institutional Investing; Behavioral Finance; Decision Choices and Conditions

Read Now

10 Aug 2010
First Look

First Look: August 10

Lincoln Financial Meets the Financial Crisis Robert C. Pozen and Peter SpringHarvard Business School Case 310-137 In March of 2009, Lincoln Financial Group's CEO Dennis Glass... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

08 Jul 2015
What Do You Think?

Do Americans Work Too Much and Think About Work Too Little?

people spend less time at work by empowering them to take decisions without 2- or 3- levels up approvals ." Tema Frank said that "we need to move to a system where people are compensated based on results achieved rather than... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

01 Sep 2012
News

Expertise From The Front Lines Of The Eurozone

timing, he says, that couldn’t have been better. “The US financial crisis made students particularly interested in my views, and since the European crisis, I’ve been concentrating my research and case writing on this latter topic.” From... View Details

Keywords: Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles

March 2019
Case

Mahindra Finance

By: V.G. Narayanan and Tanvi Deshpande

Mahindra Finance is a non-banking lender operating mainly in the rural and semi-urban areas of India. Set up in 1991, the company had grown to become a market leader with assets of $8.5 billion and a presence in 3,30,000 villages across India. Since most of Mahindra's... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Business Model; Volatility; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decisions; Credit; Financing and Loans; Service Delivery; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Services Industry; India

Profile

Rebecca Greenbaum

unique perspective on life. On the Decatur, one wrong decision could affect 280 people on board. There's no opportunity for short cuts or to become complacent. Inaction is not an option. I often asked myself, 'What View Details

Keywords: Financial Services

06 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

The Trouble Behind Livedoor

into market manipulation, especially in Japan? Robin Greenwood: Generally speaking, market manipulation comes in two forms: manipulating investor expectations, or manipulating investors' ability to trade. Financial economists know a lot... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services; Financial Services

01 Sep 2015
News

Opening Minds Through Expanded Learning Opportunities

first exposure most undergraduates have to the case method, and they've embraced it," says Moss. "Even for the history majors, debating decisions faced by James Madison, for example, leads to a deeper understanding of the realities that... View Details

January 2003 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Adams Capital Management: March 2002

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

In March 2002, the five partners of Adams Capital Management (ACM), a venture capital firm investing in information technology telecommunications with $700 million under management, gathered to discuss whether they should change their strategy in view of the prolonged... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Venture Capital; Investment Portfolio; Business or Company Management; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Financial Services Industry

August 2010 (Revised May 2015)
Teaching Note

Bank of America: Mobile Banking and Bank of America: Mobile Banking (Abridged)

By: Sunil Gupta

Teaching Note for 510063 and 512082 View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Strategy; Customers; Technology Adoption; Decisions; Product Launch; Mobile Technology; Banking Industry

July 2005 (Revised December 2005)
Case

General Motors U.S. Pension Funds

By: Luis M. Viceira and Helen Tung

In June 2003, General Motors Corp. (GM) successfully marketed the largest corporate debt offering in U.S. history, worth $17.6 billion. The offering included $13.6 billion worth of debt denominated in dollars, euros, and pounds and $4 billion dollars denominated in... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Bonds; Investment Return; Policy; Borrowing and Debt; Corporate Finance; Auto Industry; United States