Publications

October 1988 (Revised January 1989)
Case

Japanese Financial Liberalization

December 1996 (Revised December 2006)
Background Note

Introduction to Corporate Financial Engineering

By: Peter Tufano

Describes the content of the Corporate Financial Engineering (CFE) course at HBS. Used on the first day of class to let students know what the course will cover and the main ideas to be developed in CFE. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Finance

14 Jan 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Smart Money: The Effect of Education, Cognitive Ability, and Financial Literacy on Financial Market Participation

Keywords: by Shawn Cole & Gauri Kartini Shastry; Financial Services; Financial Services

1992
Book

Managing Financial Institutions: Cases within the Financial Services Industry

By: Samuel L. Hayes III and David M Meerschwam

11 Oct 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Corporate Purpose and Financial Performance

Keywords: by Claudine Gartenberg, Andrea Prat, and George Serafeim

October 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

The Financial Crisis: Hank Paulson in 2008

By: Adi Sunderam, Robin Greenwood, Sam Hanson and David Scharfstein

On the afternoon of Monday October 13, 2008, Hank Paulson Jr., the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, walked into the large conference room across the hall from his office in the Treasury Department. Joining him were Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke,... View Details

Keywords: Bailout; Regulation; Financial Crisis; History; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Decision Making; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

Research Summary

Financial Markets and Corporate Governance

By: Dwight B. Crane

Corporate scandals beginning in the late 1990s focused renewed attention on corporate governance, but significant cracks in the governance system also contributed to recent problems. Deregulation and growth of financial markets, as well as changes in the competitive... View Details

October 2009 (Revised July 2014)
Teaching Note

New Century Financial Corporation

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Krishna G. Palepu

Teaching Note for [109034] and [113-002]. View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Business Model; Financial Liquidity; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Managerial Roles; Accounting Audits; Financial Crisis; Financial Services Industry; United States

December 1998
Case

Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Takia Mahmood

Provides an overview of Merrill Lynch's current strategy for retail financial services. Retail Financial Services in 1998 should be given to all students as background material. The class should then be split into groups, with each group receiving one of the following... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Industry Structures; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry

December 1998
Case

Retail Financial Services in 1998: Fidelity Investments

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Takia Mahmood

Provides an overview of Fidelity Investment's current strategy for retail financial services. Retail Financial Services in 1998 should be given to all students as background material. The class should then be split into groups, with each group receiving one of the... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Industry Structures; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry

December 1998
Case

Retail Financial Services in 1998: Charles Schwab

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Takia Mahmood

Provides an overview of Charles Schwab's current strategy for retail financial services. Retail Financial Services in 1998 should be given to all students as background material. The class should then be split into groups, with each group receiving one of the following... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Industry Structures; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry

July 2004 (Revised January 2007)
Case

H&R Block and "Everyday Financial Services"

By: Peter Tufano and Daniel Schneider

H&R Block, the U.S. market leader in tax preparation services, must decide whether to offer financial services to its low-income clients. H&R Block is facing increased competition from branded and nonbranded tax preparers, and the number of returns prepared by the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Income; Taxation; Product Development; Financial Services Industry; United States

December 2010 (Revised November 2014)
Case

Steven Carpenter at Cake Financial

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

After investing $9 million of venture capital, Cake Financial had failed to reach critical mass. In early 2010 Cake's assets were sold and the company was dissolved. Founded in 2006, the San Francisco-based Internet company allowed users to monitor their investments... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

1995
Book

Cases in Financial Engineering: Applied Studies of Financial Innovation

By: Scott P. Mason, Robert C. Merton, André Perold and Peter Tufano

Keywords: Finance; Innovation and Invention; Cases

Article

Financial Innovation and the Management and Regulation of Financial Institutions

By: Robert C. Merton

Keywords: Finance; Innovation and Invention; Management; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Financial Institutions

May 2000 (Revised June 2000)
Case

German Financial System in 2000, The

Describes the evolution and current situation of Germany's financial system. Based on a discussion of the German economy in the postwar period, the case highlights the impact of financial globalization and EU policies on Germany's domestic system of banking and... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Corporate Governance; Banks and Banking; Germany

November 2010
Article

The Litigation of Financial Innovations

By: Josh Lerner

This paper examines the litigation of patents relating to financial products and services. I show that these grants are being litigated at a rate 27 to 39 times greater than that of patents as a whole. The patents being litigated are disproportionately those issued to... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; Finance

October 2008
Case

Financial Crisis in Asia: 1997-1998 (Abridged)

By: Huw Pill, Rafael M. Di Tella and Jonathan Schlefer

What caused the 1997-98 Asia Crisis: Asian nations' poor economic management, international financial contagion, close "crony" relations between local politicians and capitalists? This case examines how the crisis erupted in Thailand and spread in a chain of events... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Crisis; Ethics; Financial Institutions; Financial Management; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Asia

September 2018
Case

The Financial Management of Harvard Business School

By: C. Fritz Foley and F. Katelynn Boland

In the spring of 2018, the Senior Associate Dean for Strategic Financial Planning at Harvard Business School considers potential refinements to the School's financial management practices. He faced questions about whether the metrics that had been used to evaluate... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit; Financial Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Education Industry; United States