Publications

August 1992 (Revised January 1998)
Case

Nucor at a Crossroads

Nucor is a minimill deciding whether to spend a significant fraction of its net worth on a commercially unproven technology in order to penetrate a large but hitherto inaccessible segment of the steel market. This case is an integrative one designed to facilitate... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Decision Making; Investment; Steel Industry

15 Sep 2017
News

Build Your CORe as a Global Thinker

14 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 14

the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/13-012.pdf FIN Around the World: The Contribution of Financing Activity to Profitability Authors:Russell Lundholm, George Serafeim, and Gwen Yu Abstract We study how the availability of domestic... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2009 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Tokyo AFM

By: Francois Brochet

This case was written as the financial accounting portion of the final exam for a first-year MBA course at Harvard Business School. The goal was to test students' ability to apply major concepts taught during the course to an industry which they had not covered, but... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Decision Choices and Conditions; Economics; Insurance; Insurance Industry; Japan

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

2012
Chapter

The Availability and Utilization of 401(k) Loans

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

We document the loan provisions in 401(k) savings plans and how participants use 401(k) loans. Although only about 22% of savings plan participants who are allowed to borrow from their 401(k) have such a loan at any given point in time, almost half had used a 401(k)... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Personal Finance; Retirement; Financing and Loans; Microeconomics

Read Now

19 May 2016
Blog Post

5 Lessons from Business School

presentation or attending an academic review session, I chose the company presentation knowing that this choice aligned with my priorities. It helps to make those tough trade-off decisions a little easier. 4. You will not be the only... View Details

01 Dec 2012
News

Corruption 101

that underlie corruption everywhere. As an emerging professional he must also carefully weigh the trust value of the personal relationships he is forming; his own comfort zone for ethical trade-offs; and the inherent uncertainties of making View Details

Keywords: Finance; Finance; Finance; Finance

October 2006 (Revised April 2008)
Case

Ben Walter

By: Andre F. Perold and David S. Scharfstein

Ben Walter is thinking of purchasing Butler Lumber and needs to decide how he would run the business and how much to pay for it. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment; Valuation

28 Jan 2014
News

When Rising Revenue Spells Trouble

Keywords: disruption; innovation; change management

04 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: Harder Than I Thought

East Coast finance industry pay scales, you have to pay what the market will bear if you want the talent-yada, yada, blah, blah, yada, yada, blah, blah.Yeah, I get all that. But here's what I'm wondering (and I bet I'm not alone): All... View Details

Keywords: by Robert D. Austin, Richard L. Nolan & Shannon O'Donnell; Aerospace

January 1995
Background Note

A Note on Distribution of Venture Investments

By: Josh Lerner

Venture capitalists typically exit investments by distributing shares to investors. These transfers pose challenges for these investors. Predictions and evidence about the behavior of stock prices of firms around the time of these distributions are presented. View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Venture Capital; Stocks; Investment; Price

Find at Harvard

29 Sep 2022
News

Securing a Resilient Future for Senegal

with enough oil, gas, and food supplies, given supply chain disruptions. Important, too, was being mindful of budget deficits and encouraging investments from international partners. “We had to do it all purposefully, accurately, and quickly,” says Diagne. Data drove... View Details

Keywords: Maureen Harmon

17 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 17

working capital and investment needs. In evaluating by which means Elman should raise capital, students must consider issues relating to the payment terms and financing arrangements used in world trade, as well as the risk management and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Mar 2011
News

Faculty Research Online

The valuation of forecasted cash flows can be an inaccurate process, especially when the forecasts are created by optimists who neglect to consider worst-case scenarios. In this working paper, Willard Prescott Smith Professor of Corporate View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

Web

The Founder Mindset - Course Catalog

financing and how the organization should be structured so that it can deliver a product or service reliably. DIFFICULT DECISIONS addresses many of the perennial questions of entrepreneurship: “Should I... View Details

18 Jun 2007
Op-Ed

Leveling the Executive Options Playing Field

appear before you today to discuss the accounting and tax treatment of incentive compensation. I am an associate professor of finance at Harvard Business School and a faculty research fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research.... View Details

Keywords: by Mihir Desai

September 2006 (Revised April 2008)
Case

The Howland Long-Term Opportunity Fund

By: Andre F. Perold and David S. Scharfstein

Melissa Howland, founder of an investment firm, must choose between two competing investments, which differ in size, maturity, and rate of return. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Instruments; Investment Return; Investment Funds; Value