Publications

November 2018 (Revised June 2022)
Teaching Note

AirFox (A): Embracing the Blockchain and an ICO

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Nathaniel Schwalb

Teaching Note for HBS No. 818-097. In summer 2017, Victor Santos, CEO of AirFox, considered whether to pivot his startup towards a new product built with blockchain—a quickly growing technology at the time. AirFox was an early stage startup that sold... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Cryptocurrency; Initial Coin Offering; ICO; Business Startups; Finance; Currency; Strategy; Decision Making; United States

May 2007 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Ernesto Tornquist: Making a Fortune on the Pampas

By: Geoffrey Jones and Andrea Lluch

Examines the career of Ernesto Tornquist, a cosmopolitan financier considered to be the most significant entrepreneur in Argentina at the end of the 19th century. Tornquist created a diversified business group, linked to the political elite, which integrated Argentina... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Development Economics; Partners and Partnerships; Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Trade; Globalized Markets and Industries; Economy; Performance; Argentina

Daniel Quinn Mills provides thought leadership in several fields including leadership, strategy, venture capital, finance, economics and geopolitics. He has been a director of publicly-listed firms and is currently a director of several closely-held private... View Details

Keywords: accounting industry; banking; brokerage; computer; construction; consulting; e-commerce industry; education industry; information technology industry; investment banking industry; management consulting; professional services; publishing industry; venture capital industry

January 2017
Case

The Six CEOs of Tyco International Ltd.

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In September 2016, Johnson Controls, Inc. completed the acquisition of Tyco International PLC, a $9.9 billion business with operating profits of $884 million. The purchase consideration was $14.4 billion. Although the deal was billed as a merger, Ireland-based Tyco... View Details

Keywords: Tyco; Dennis Kozlowski; Edward Breen; Fire Safety; Fire Protection; Security; Packaging; Securities And Exchange Commission; Fraud; Accounting; Accounting Audits; Earnings Management; Financial Statements; Goodwill Accounting; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Headquarters; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Restructuring; Crime and Corruption; Engineering; Applied Optics; Chemicals; Construction; Metals and Minerals; Ethics; Finance; Cash Flow; Public Equity; Stock Options; Financing and Loans; Initial Public Offering; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Disclosure; Health Care and Treatment; Business History; Executive Compensation; Selection and Staffing; Courts and Trials; Lawfulness; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Value; Chemical Industry; Construction Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry; Energy Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Mining Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Utilities Industry; Republic of Ireland; Switzerland; Bermuda; United States; New Hampshire

22 Jul 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Reputation and Competition: Evidence from the Credit Rating Industry

Keywords: by Bo Becker & Todd Milbourn; Financial Services

24 Jun 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Bank Structure and the Terms of Lending to Small Businesses

Keywords: by Rodrigo Canales & Ramana Nanda; Banking

April 1961 (Revised April 1986)
Background Note

Case of the Unidentified U.S. Industries, The

Examines the impact of the nature of an industry on: 1) general patterns of the need for funds (asset allocation); 2) the methods of meeting these needs; and 3) the financial results of most firms in the industry. View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Markets; Finance; United States

Find at Harvard

A native of North Dakota, Dr. Goldberg received his A.B. from Harvard University in 1948, his MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1950 and his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Minnesota in 1952.

... View Details

Keywords: agribusiness; agriculture; fast food; food; food processing; forest products; grocery; high technology; information; restaurant; retailing; soft drink; textiles; tobacco; transportation; wholesale; wine

Borrowing to Live: Consumer and Mortgage Credit Revisited

Americans are awash in debt. Credit undergirds daily life more than ever before—it is one of the defining aspects of life in the United States today. The damage from a depressed housing market is exacerbated by the subprime lender implosion, sending shock waves... View Details

30 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Big Companies, Big Opportunities—Big Questions

Domingo, managing director of O&V Associates, said established Latin American companies face a situation in which their markets are no longer protected by national interests and suddenly face competition... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette

Program

Mergers and Acquisitions

your business challenges and career decisions Who Should Attend This mergers and acquisitions course is designed for senior executives involved in M&A activity who want to broaden their knowledge of View Details

October 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Brightview Senior Living

By: Lynda M. Applegate and James Weber

Marilynn Duker, CEO, was exploring how to grow the company while maintaining the culture that made it a leader in the field of senior housing. Brightview constructed and operated senior living apartment communities that offered independent living, assisted living, and... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Employee Relationship Management; Real Estate Industry; United States

October 2002 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Starbucks and Conservation International

By: James E. Austin and Cate Reavis

Starbucks, the world's leading specialty coffee company, developed a strategic alliance with Conservation International, a major international environmental nonprofit organization. The purpose of the alliance was to promote coffee-growing practices of small farms that... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Growth and Development Strategy; Markets; Demand and Consumers; Production; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Cooperative Ownership; Performance Efficiency; Alliances; Nonprofit Organizations; Food and Beverage Industry; Mexico

28 Aug 2017
Research & Ideas

Should Industry Competitors Cooperate More to Solve World Problems?

Source: Cecilie_Arcurs George Serafeim has a startling suggestion to fix the world’s biggest environmental, social, and governance (ESG) problems such as water pollution, deforestation, and wealth inequality: encourage companies within industries to do less competing... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services; Manufacturing; Agriculture & Agribusiness; Mining

2021
Working Paper

Granular Corporate Hedging Under Dominant Currency

By: Laura Alfaro, Mauricio Calani and Liliana Varela

Foreign currency use can be a source of risk associated with currency mismatches, which firms can hedge using FX derivatives. This paper uncovers five novel facts about firms’ use of foreign currency (FX) derivatives employing a unique dataset covering the universe of... View Details

Keywords: FX Derivatives; Hedging; Currency; Cash Flow; Emerging Markets; Chile

January 2021
Case

Anodot: Autonomous Business Monitoring

By: Antonio Moreno and Danielle Golan

Autonomous business monitoring platform Anodot leveraged machine learning to provide real-time alerts regarding business anomalies. Anodot’s solution was used in various industries in order to primarily monitor business health, such as revenue and payments, product... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Knowledge Sharing; Information Management; Sales; Value Creation; Product Positioning; Israel

November 2011 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Allied Electronics Corporation Ltd: Linking Compensation to Sustainability Metrics

Robert Venter, second-generation Chief Executive (CE) of family-owned Allied Electronics Corporation Ltd (Altron), considered the pros and cons of more clearly linking the firm's compensation system to sustainability performance. In June 2011, Altron, a conglomerate... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Environmental Sustainability

2020
Working Paper

Costly External Financing and Monetary Policy Transmission: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

By: Emily Williams

I provide new evidence that large and small banks have different external financing costs, which generates cross sectional variation in a deposits market pricing power channel of monetary policy transmission. I do so by exploiting a natural experiment using anti-trust... View Details

Keywords: External Financing; Monetary Policy Transmission; Experiment; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Interest Rates