Publications

07 Oct 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Lifting the Veil: The Benefits of Cost Transparency

Keywords: by Bhavya Mohan, Ryan W. Buell & Leslie K. John; Retail

2003
Chapter

Equity Financing

By: Paul Gompers and Joshua Lerner

Equity financing for entrepreneurial firms has attracted increasing attention in both the popular press and academic literature. The dramatic growth in the venture capital industry in the past two decades has been accompanied by new academic research that explores... View Details

Keywords: Angel Investors; Financing and Loans; Equity; Venture Capital; Business Startups

September 2016
Case

Hotel Vertu: Analyzing the Opportunity in the Boutique Hotel Industry

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Michael J. Roberts DBA

Two soon-to-be MBA graduates are considering a business opportunity in the boutique hotel industry. Having found a seemingly attractive property in Savannah, Georgia, Yvonne D'Arcy and Elisabeth Whiting face questions about career issues, planning, financing, and the... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Planning; Accommodations Industry

March 1998 (Revised June 1999)
Case

DigitalThink: Building a Sales Force

By: Michael J. Roberts, Joseph B. Lassiter III and Christina L. Darwall

A broad set of issues faces a young company in the Internet-based training business as it begins to sell its product to corporate customers. Issues include: profile of attractive candidates, compensation, definition of territory, definition of quotas, and role of... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Salesforce Management; Business Startups; Service Industry

May 2012
Article

Incentive Schemes, Sorting and Behavioral Biases of Employees: Experimental Evidence

By: Ian Larkin and Stephen Leider

We investigate how the convexity of a firm's incentives interacts with worker overconfidence to affect sorting decisions and performance. We demonstrate experimentally that overconfident employees are more likely to sort into a non-linear incentive scheme over a linear... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Performance; Behavior; Prejudice and Bias; Decisions; Employees; Wages

15 Feb 2000
Research & Ideas

The Right Connections

pharmaceutical companies — what the authors call downstream social capital — had a direct impact on the size of the startup's IPO. "Downstream social capital was essential in attracting the interest of a top investment bank and... View Details

Keywords: by Judith A. Ross

13 Jan 2016
News

Winning GE: Better than the Olympics

November 2007
Case

Differences at Work: Jenny (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Rachel Gordon

Differences at Work: Jenny (A) HBS Case No. 9-408-017 is set in Amsterdam. Accompanied by her boss, Jenny is pitching a marketing engagement, but the prospective client keeps making comments about how attractive he finds her. View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Personal Characteristics; Employees; Diversity; Netherlands

23 Mar 2018
News

Dropbox shares surge in biggest tech debut since Snap

November 1994
Case

Bain & Company: International Expansion

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and J. Peter Williamson

Bain & Co., a leading strategy consulting firm, faces major strategic and organizational issues regarding global expansion. The Bain partners must choose a course among many exciting and attractive opportunities for growth. Also explores organizational and managerial... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Management; Expansion; Global Strategy; Decision Making; Organizations; Partners and Partnerships; Consulting Industry

22 Sep 2015
News

What to Know About Locating in a Cluster

December 2014
Article

Location Strategies for Agglomeration Economies

By: Juan Alcácer and Wilbur Chung

Geographically concentrated industry activity creates pools of skilled labor and specialized suppliers, and increases opportunities for knowledge spillovers. The strategic value of these agglomeration economies may vary by firm, depending upon the relative value of... View Details

Keywords: Location Strategies; Location Choices; Agglomeration Economies; Strategy; Value Creation; Geographic Location; Industry Clusters; Microeconomics; Manufacturing Industry; United States

Article

The Market Design and Policy of Online Review Platforms

By: Benjamin Edelman

I present the institutions and incentives of online reviews, including attracting initial reviews, assuring truthful reviews of genuine experiences, and avoiding inflated or deceptive reviews. I also explore the competition and consumer protection concerns associated... View Details

Keywords: Reviews; Reputation; Platforms; Marketplaces; Deception; Market Design; Multi-Sided Platforms; Law; Online Technology; Information Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Accommodations Industry; Retail Industry

Read Now

21 Feb 2024
Blog Post

Hiring at HBS: How Summer Interns Make an Impact at Bridges Fund Management

For Harvard Business School students eager to make a positive impact on the world, one exciting path forward is investing in mission-centered businesses. Areas like healthcare, education, energy, and the environment attract innovative and... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital / Private Equity

April 2006 (Revised April 2012)
Background Note

The Company Sale Process

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Lays out the steps, the timeline, and the process by which a company is sold. Focuses on the sale of companies with enterprise values greater than $100 million. These transactions are large enough to require the help of a financial adviser and attract both strategic... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Agreements and Arrangements; Sales

March 2002 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Genzyme: Engineering the Market for Orphan Drugs

Genzyme has made money with external technology in orphan drug markets generally considered to be too small to be attractive to other drug companies. Now competition is entering these same markets, placing Genzyme's business model under new pressures. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Information Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry