Publications

May 2022
Case

From GOP to NFT: Anthony Scaramucci and the Launch of Flatter NFT

By: Lauren Cohen, Richard Ryffel and Grace Headinger

Anthony Scaramucci, Managing Director of SkyBridge Capital, considered whether he should officially greenlight the launch of SkyBridge’s own NFT platform — Flatter NFT. He had led the investment firm to push first into Bitcoin and then Ethereum to make SkyBridge a... View Details

2015
Working Paper

Mobile Money Services—Design and Development for Financial Inclusion

By: Rajiv Lal and Ishan Sachdev

Mobile money services are being deployed rapidly across emerging markets as a key tool to further the goal of financial inclusion. Financial inclusion, the development of novel methods to enable individuals at the base of the pyramid to access formal financial services... View Details

Keywords: Social Marketing; Poverty; Emerging Markets; Product Launch; Economic Growth; Financial Services Industry

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February 2008 (Revised February 2008)
Supplement

Lincoln Financial Group (B): Making LFD a Reality

LFG reorganizes its business in order to improve customer intimacy. However, to implement the strategy, they need to effect significant changes in the skills of their salespeople. This case series straddles human resource management, corporate strategy, and sales... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Financial Services Industry

September 1994 (Revised March 1995)
Supplement

Citibank: Launching the Credit Card in Asia Pacific (B)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Documents the decision taken by Citibank managers in 1989 regarding a new product. View Details

Keywords: Credit Cards; Banking Industry; Asia; Oceania

August 2023
Article

Can Security Design Foster Household Risk-Taking?

By: Laurent Calvet, Claire Célérier, Paolo Sodini and Boris Vallée

This paper shows that securities with a non-linear payoff design can foster household risk-taking. We demonstrate this effect empirically by exploiting the introduction of capital guarantee products in Sweden from 2002 to 2007. The fast and broad adoption of these... View Details

Keywords: Financial Innovation; Household Finance; Structured Products; Stock Market Participation; Finance; Innovation and Invention; Household; Personal Finance; Risk and Uncertainty; Behavior; Market Participation

January 2025
Case

Hebbia: Redefining Productivity for Knowledge Workers Using AI

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Minoshka Narayan

In early 2025, George Sivulka, founder and CEO of Hebbia, reflected on the company’s rapid ascent as a pioneer in GenAI-powered productivity tools for knowledge workers. With its proprietary technology, Hebbia had redefined information retrieval and analysis and earned... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Customer Relationship Management; AI and Machine Learning; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Service Delivery; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

August 1, 2015
Article

New Product Development Flexibility in a Competitive Environment

By: Janne Kettunen, Yael Grushka-Cockayne, Zeger Degraeve and Bert De Reyck

Managerial flexibility can have a significant impact on the value of new product development projects. We investigate how the market environment in which a firm operates influences the value and use of development flexibility. We characterize the market environment... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Projects; Management Style; Situation or Environment; Innovation and Invention; Competition

01 Sep 2020
Cold Call Podcast

How to Launch a New Biosciences Product: Start Small or Dive in?

Keywords: Re: Jeffrey J. Bussgang; Pharmaceutical; Biotechnology

12 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Investors Often Lose When They Sue Their Financial Adviser

assistant professor of finance at Harvard Business School. When they do find out, they often want to sue, but they can’t. Financial services companies require customers to waive their right to litigate and instead resolve their disputes... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services

March 2025
Case

Skylight: Hit Product or Scalable Company?

By: Rembrand Koning, Christina Wallace and Jeff Huizinga

Skylight, originally a digital frame startup aimed at connecting dispersed families, expanded with a second product—Calendar—to help families manage schedules. Despite significant potential, Calendar struggled with persistent technical issues and poor customer... View Details

Keywords: Culture; Software; Hardware; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Customer Satisfaction; Resource Allocation; Product Launch; Business Strategy; Expansion

March 1991 (Revised May 1991)
Case

Charles Schwab: Financial Advisors Service

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Keywords: Product Development; Innovation and Invention; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

01 Sep 2016
Cold Call Podcast

Behind Apple's Tax Situation, an Unprecedented Financial Policy

Keywords: Re: Mihir A. Desai; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

15 Aug 2007
Op-Ed

3 Steps to Reduce Financial System Risk

and, second, a growing threat of politically motivated changes to regulatory regimes. There has been much talk recently about the extent to which the proliferation of derivative products has allowed banks to manage their balance sheets... View Details

Keywords: by Mohamed El-Erian; Financial Services; Financial Services

10 Apr 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Where Does it Go? Spending by the Financially Constrained

Keywords: by Shawn A. Cole, John Thompson & Peter Tufano; Financial Services

May 2024
Article

Production Complementarity and Information Transmission Across Industries

By: Charles M.C. Lee, Terrence Tianshuo Shi, Stephen Teng Sun and Ran Zhang

Economic theory suggests that production complementarity is an important driver of sectoral co-movements and business cycle fluctuations. We operationalize this concept using a measure of production complementarity proximity (COMPL) between any two companies. We show... View Details

Keywords: Financial Markets; Networks; Investment Return; Business Cycles

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December 2009
Case

TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Sunru Yong

Topics covered include: consumer marketing, market research, new product introduction, and quantitative analysis. TruEarth Healthy Foods, a maker of gourmet pastas, sauces, and meals, wants to build on its successful introduction of fresh whole grain pasta by... View Details

Keywords: Market Research; Consumer Marketing; Brands; Food; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Forecasting and Prediction; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

May 2009
Case

Ceres Gardening Company: Funding Growth in Organic Products

By: John H. McArthur and Sunru Yong

Ceres is a leading player in the growing organic gardening industry, selling seeds, small plants, and related items. Their distribution depends heavily on retail sales through independent nurseries and garden centers. Because these small dealers are unable to finance... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Procedures; Marketing; Business Growth; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Marketing Strategy; Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Marketing Channels; Credit; Financial Statements; Sales; Retail Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry