Publications
Publications
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(565)
- Faculty Publications (240)
- January 2009
- Case
Berkshire Hathaway
By: Bharat N. Anand and Samhita Patwardhan Jayanti
Berkshire Hathaway describes the history and strategy of one of the best known investment firms over the last forty years. The case describes the investment philosophy of Warren Buffett, its legendary chairman and CEO, the gradual diversification of its portfolio, its... View Details
- January 2009 (Revised July 2009)
- Case
Alibaba's Taobao (A)
By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Julie M. Wulf
This case examines the decision of Alibaba Group to diversify from an international business-to-business (B2B) exchange (Alibaba.com) into a B2C and C2C exchange (Taobao.com) for Chinese retailers and consumers. In China, Taobao had managed to displace the once... View Details
- May 2009
- Article
Asymmetric Information Effects on Loan Spreads
The paper estimates the cost arising from information asymmetry between the lead bank and members of the lending syndicate. In a lending syndicate, the lead bank retains only a fraction of the loan but acts as the intermediary between the borrower and the syndicate... View Details
- October 2008 (Revised February 2012)
- Case
Amazon Web Services
By: Robert S. Huckman, Gary P. Pisano and Liz Kind
Considers the development of Amazon Web Services (AWS), a division of Amazon.com, Inc., specializing in the provision of web-based storage and computing services to web developers. The case focuses on the issues facing Andy Jassy, the head of AWS, in 2008 as AWS faces... View Details
- September 2008
- Teaching Note
Chi Mei Optoelectronics (TN)
By: Willy C. Shih
Teaching Note for [608-123]. View Details
- September 2008
- Article
Firm Heterogeneity and Credit Risk Diversification
By: Samuel G. Hanson, M. Hashem Pesaran and Til Schuermann
This paper examines the impact of neglected heterogeneity on credit risk. We show that neglecting heterogeneity in firm returns and/or default thresholds leads to under estimation of expected losses (EL), and its effect on portfolio risk is ambiguous. Once EL is... View Details
- August 2008 (Revised July 2009)
- Supplement
Gazprom (B): Energy and Strategy in a New Era
By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Sogomon Tarontsi and Alexander Jorov
President Putin publicly stated that Gazprom, the largest natural gas producer in the world, was a powerful political lever of the Russian state in the world and a keystone in the foundation of the country's energy security. Thus the top leadership of Russia has... View Details
- August 2008
- Case
Du Pont: The Birth of the Modern Multidivisional Corporation
By: Richard S. Tedlow and David Ruben
Du Pont's realization in 1921 that its "U-form" corporate structure was ill-suited to its new diversification strategy led to a pioneering new kind of organization—the "M" or multidivisional form—that has been called the most important innovation of capitalism in the... View Details
- May 2008 (Revised December 2010)
- Case
Chi Mei Optoelectronics
By: Willy C. Shih, Chintay Shih, Jyun-Cheng Wang and Ho Howard Yu
Chi Mei is a Taiwanese industrial group that makes a major diversification into the technology intensive TFT-LCD flat panel display industry. Because the diversification is far away from its core competence in petrochemicals, it is an opportunity to examine how the... View Details
- 2008
- Working Paper
Structural Closure and Exposure: Market Reactions to Announcements of Acquisitions and Divestitures
By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and Nitin Nohria
This paper develops an exchange-network perspective on corporate diversification and proposes two measures of corporate scope: structural closure and structural exposure. Structural closure focuses on exchanges of goods and services inside the firm... View Details
- February 2008
- Teaching Note
Chiaphua Group Vietnam (TN)
By: Nicolas P. Retsinas and Ben Creo
Teaching Note for [207090]. View Details
- 2008
- Other Paper
Diversification and Firm Value: How Important is the Diversification Discount versus Systematic Heterogeneity?
By: Bharat Anand and Dmitri Byzalov
- 2008
- Article
Diversification of Chinese Companies: An International Comparison
By: Joseph P.H. Fan, Jun Huang, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Troy D. Smith and Mengxin Zhao
The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic comparison of the level of business diversification in China and eight other large economies for the 2001-2005 period. The reasons why publicly listed Chinese firms are more diversified than companies elsewhere are... View Details
- November 2007 (Revised March 2011)
- Case
Mubadala: Forging Development in Abu Dhabi
By: Rawi E. Abdelal and Irina Tarsis
In 2007, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, the CEO of Mubadala Development Company (Mubadala), had every reason to be optimistic about the future of his home, Abu Dhabi, one of the emirates comprising the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The tiny, sandy, and dry emirate with a... View Details
- September 2006 (Revised November 2007)
- Case
Patrimonio Hoy: A Financial Perspective
By: Arthur I Segel, Michael Chu and Gustavo A. Herrero
Patrimonio Hoy, a program targeting the housing needs of low-income families launched by CEMEX, a major Mexican corporation and a leading global cement company, has gone from a market research project to a highly visible initiative in 22 cities and has earned public... View Details
- 2006
- Working Paper
R&D Portfolio Strategy, Diversification and Performance: An Information Perspective
By: Francesca Gino, Gary Pisano, Michael R. Sorell and Mark Szigety
- April 2006 (Revised September 2009)
- Case
BYD Company, Ltd.
By: Robert S. Huckman and Alan D. MacCormack
Considers whether BYD Co., Ltd., the largest Chinese maker of rechargeable batteries, should enter the Chinese automobile industry by acquiring Qinchuan Auto, a state-owned car manufacturer. Set just after BYD's initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange... View Details
- March 2006 (Revised April 2006)
- Case
Geeli
By: Li Jin, Kenneth A. Froot and Si Ping May Yu
A well-performing Chinese manufacturer faces major impediments raising funding to grow. Highlights various imperfections that shape the financing decision. View Details
- March 2006
- Supplement
Geeli (CW)
By: Kenneth A. Froot and Li Jin
A well-performing Chinese manufacturer faces major impediments raising funding to grow. Highlights various imperfections that shape the financing decision. View Details
- January 2006 (Revised February 2006)
- Case
E.ON Corporate Strategy
By: Forest L. Reinhardt and Sebastian Frankenberger
Examines the corporate strategy of German energy giant E.ON. The firm is vertically integrated, horizontally diversified across electricity and natural gas, and active in numerous countries in Europe as well as in the United States. Explores the costs and benefits of... View Details