Publications

Research Summary

Service Excellence by Design

By: Frances X. Frei

This research addresses how to design sustainable service models that deliver ongoing value to both customers and the firm. In particular, the research reveals three principles of effective service management (see View Details

October 2014 (Revised June 2016)
Case

Barclays Bank, 2008

By: Lucy White, Steve Burn-Murdoch and Jerome Lenhardt

In the midst of the financial crisis, Barclays (the world's 4th largest bank by assets) is forced by UK regulators to raise more capital. Should it take up the UK government's offer to invest, or take funding from investors from the Middle East? Students may price the... View Details

Keywords: Government And Business; Option Contract; Corporate Finance; Bank Capital; Bank Regulation; Finance; Banking Industry; Europe; North and Central America

May 2014
Supplement

Barclays Bank, 2008 - courseware

By: Lucy White

In the midst of the financial crisis, Barclays (the world's 4th largest bank by assets) is forced by UK regulators to raise more capital. Should it take up the UK government's offer to invest, or take funding from investors from the Middle East? Students may price the... View Details

Keywords: Government And Business; Option Contract; Corporate Finance; Bank Capital; Bank Regulation; Finance; Banking Industry; Europe; North and Central America

13 Oct 2017
News

So, You Want to Join a Startup

22 Dec 2015
News

After ‘The Big Short,’ Hedge Funders Lose Cultural Capital

April 2012 (Revised March 2013)
Module Note

State Capitalism and State-Owned Enterprise Reform

By: Aldo Musacchio

The note examines state capitalism in the twenty-first century. It introduces a series of topics and cases related to state capitalism, such as the debate about the causes of inefficiency in state owned enterprises, possible ways of turning them around, as well as a... View Details

Keywords: State Capitalism; State-owned Enterprises; Business Government Relations; Political Economy; Turnarounds; Economic Systems; State Ownership; Business and Government Relations

March 2017 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Floodgate: On the Hunt for Thunder Lizards

By: Rory McDonald, Alix Burke, Emma Franking and Nicole Tempest

Founded in 2008, Floodgate pioneered the “micro-VC” category, a new type of investment firm that raised smaller funds and made earlier, smaller investments in technology startups than traditional venture-capital firms. By 2015, Floodgate had raised three funds totaling... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Business Models; Angel Investors; Crowdfunding; Incubators; Accelerators; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Information Technology; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Competitive Strategy

November 1995
Case

InterZine Productions, Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman and Jason Green

Brian Henley founded InterZine Productions to develop interactive multimedia content for America Online (AOL) and the Internet. With funding and support from AOL's Greenhouse program, Henley has launched Golf, a unique interactive golf service. While he has operated on... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Capital; Financing and Loans; Internet and the Web; Management Teams; Innovation and Invention; Media and Broadcasting Industry

Find at Harvard

01 Jun 2000
News

VC Luminary John Doerr: Education Reform Critical to Success of New Economy

helping public schools improve their curricula and their methods of working with disadvantaged children. Doerr is cofounder of the New Schools Venture Fund (NSVF), a venture... View Details

April 2012 (Revised June 2012)
Case

HP Labs in Singapore

By: Willy Shih, Pankaj Agarwal and Christine Chi

When HP established a branch of its corporate research lab in Singapore, the government played a key role through its Economic Development Board (EDB). Chris Whitney, the lab's director, sought to generate revenue from the lab's innovations, making it financially... View Details

Keywords: Research and Development; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Development Economics; Government and Politics; Motivation and Incentives; Innovation and Invention; Revenue; Technology Industry; Singapore

November 2008 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Teena Lerner: Dividing the Pie at Rx Capital (Abridged)

By: Boris Groysberg, Victoria Winston and Robin Abrahams

Teena Lerner, the CEO of Rx Capital, had a problem. Her three-year-old hedge fund was highly profitable, but in 2004, one of her four equities analysts lost a lot of money for the firm. If Lerner followed her existing compensation system, designed to reward teamwork,... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Employee Relationship Management; Performance Evaluation; Groups and Teams; Financial Services Industry

2008
Chapter

The Importance of Default Options for Retirement Saving Outcomes: Evidence from the United States

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

This paper summarizes the empirical evidence on how defaults impact retirement savings outcomes. After outlining the salient features of the various sources of retirement income in the U.S., the paper presents the empirical evidence on how defaults impact retirement... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Financial Condition; Retirement; Investment Funds; Microeconomics; Outcome or Result; Government and Politics; Financial Institutions; Macroeconomics; United States

10 Apr 2020
News

Managing the Liquidity Crisis

November 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Integrating Beam Suntory (A)

By: David G. Fubini, Rawi Abdelal and David Lane

The spring 2014 acquisition of U.S. alcoholic spirits maker Beam Inc. by Japan’s Suntory Holdings vaulted Suntory from 15th to third-largest international spirits company in the world. Yet Suntory had borrowed nearly the entire $16 billion purchase price, and relied on... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Communication; Borrowing and Debt; Globalization; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Retention; Leadership; Supply Chain; Organizational Structure; Ownership; Relationships; Conflict and Resolution; Integration; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan; United States; Chicago

October 2014
Teaching Note

MuMaté

By: Thomas Eisenmann

This teaching note is designed for use with "MuMaté: Funding Growth," "MuMaté (B-1): Confidential for Maxwell," "MuMaté (B-2): Confidential for Cantor," HBS Nos. 814-063, 813-149, 813-150, to help faculty deepen student comprehension of business issues and energize... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Growth Management; Negotiation; Expansion; Valuation; Entrepreneurship; Organizational Culture; Business Startups; Food and Beverage Industry

March 2014
Teaching Note

Barclays Bank, 2008

By: Lucy White

In the midst of the financial crisis, Barclays (the world's 4th largest bank by assets) is forced by UK regulators to raise more capital. Should it take up the UK government's offer to invest, or take funding from investors from the Middle East? Students may price the... View Details

Keywords: Government And Business; Option Contract; Corporate Finance; Bank Capital; Bank Regulation; Finance; Banking Industry; Europe; North and Central America

28 Nov 2022
News

Here’s the Latest on the FTX Collapse

March 2009
Case

Aderans

By: Robin Greenwood, Rakesh Khurana and Masako Egawa

Steel Partners is a U.S.-based hedge fund that has made a large investment in Japan-based wigmaker Aderans. The case is set at the close of the annual meeting in May 2008, when shareholders have voted against all incumbent board members. Steel Partners must act... View Details

Keywords: Voting; Investment; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Ownership Stake; Business and Shareholder Relations; Japan