Publications

August 2001 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Dakota Office Products

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The senior management team of Dakota, an office products distributor, is concerned about the company's first loss in history. Explores the role for activity based costing and customer profitability measurement in a distribution company. Dakota's customers are... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Profit; Distribution; Customers; Distribution Industry

January 2014 (Revised May 2014)
Case

Tech Mahindra and the Acquisition of Satyam Computers (A)

By: Srikant M. Datar, Anjali Raina and Namrata Arora

Set in 2008, the case details Tech Mahindra, an information technology (IT) company within the Mahindra Group, an Indian multi-industry company with a diverse stable of businesses including automotives, farm equipment, and financial services, and its decision to... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Corporate Governance; Computer Industry; India

February 2000 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Gray Security: Building a South African Services Firm

Describes Gray Security Services, an entrepreneurial South African firm that has recently gone through a financial restructuring with the help of Brait Capital Partners, a private equity firm. Gray provides complete security services to companies in South Africa, other... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Entrepreneurship; Equity; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry; South Africa

Leslie K. John is a Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Currently, she teaches on the topics of Negotiation, Marketing and Behavioral Economics in various Executive Education courses, including in the Program for Leadership Development.... View Details

Keywords: diet services; health care; internet; marketing industry

Ryan W. Buell

Ryan W. Buell is a Professor of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches View Details

Keywords: financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services

2021
Working Paper

The Green Bonding Hypothesis: How Do Green Bonds Enhance the Credibility of Environmental Commitments?

By: Shirley Lu

This paper proposes and provides evidence on a green bonding hypothesis, where green bonds act as a commitment device that subjects firms to institutions holding them accountable to their environmental promises. I find that green-bond issuers face higher climate change... View Details

Keywords: Bonding Hypothesis; Sustainable Finance; Climate Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Bonds; Corporate Accountability

SSRN

Read Now

21 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 21, 2018

underlying reasons for their limited success. Our analysis of American Hospital Association (AHA) data on hospital-based ACOs found that many organizations do not have the capability to track and share performance metrics, including View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

September 2001 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Buenos Aires Embotelladora S.A. (BAESA): A South American Restructuring

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Gustavo A. Herrero

In 1998, BAESA, PepsiCo's largest bottler and distributor outside North America, experienced severe financial difficulty and had to restructure its debt and business operations to avoid bankruptcy or liquidation. Based in Argentina, with operations throughout South... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Borrowing and Debt; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Bonds; Stocks; Multinational Firms and Management; Laws and Statutes; United States; Argentina; Brazil

20 Feb 2006
HBS Case

Oprah: A Case Study Comes Alive

last day of class this past spring, "everyone did a double take," Koehn recalls. Oprah Winfrey was in the house. How the icon of daytime television and chief executive of a major media empire came to HBS after three years of... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Media & Broadcasting; Media & Broadcasting; Media & Broadcasting

Francis Okomo-Okello

Keywords: Financial Services; Hotels

January 2023 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Zaoui & Co. (A): Consigliere for High Stakes M&A Transactions

By: Ashish Nanda, Alex Kitsberg and Zack Kurtovich

In September 2019, Zaoui & Co.’s close-knit team of professionals convened for their annual off-site. In its nine years of operation, the boutique investment bank founded by the brothers Michael (HBS ’83) and Yoel Zaoui (Stanford GSB ’88), had garnered a track record... View Details

Keywords: Professional Service Firm; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Strategy; Investment Banking; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; Europe; United Kingdom

Eugene Soltes is a Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School where his work focuses on corporate integrity and risk management. His research utilizes data analytics to identify organizational cultures and compliance systems that can effectively... View Details

Shikhar Ghosh

Shikhar Ghosh is a Professor of Management Practice in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit. He currently teaches in the elective curriculum and is the course head for 3 Technologies that will Change the World. Shikhar received the Apgar Award for innovation in... View Details

TeachingInterests

Strategy and Technology

By: Andy Wu

The Strategy and Technology elective course explores the unique aspects of creating effective strategies for technology-intensive businesses.

What strategies win in markets with network effects?
How can technology be... View Details

May 2002
Case

Mellon Investor Services

By: Thomas J. DeLong

James Aramanda, head of Mellon Investor Services, must decide how to change the focus of his business. He works with consultants to create a change strategy to enhance a business that is already doing well. Will he be able to interest his professionals in changing the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Innovation Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Management Teams; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

June 2020
Supplement

Comcast Corporation (B)

By: Sunil Gupta, Henry McGee and Felix Oberholzer-Gee

The (B) case, set in the summer of 2020, highlights the concern of Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, as the streaming war intensifies. In a short period of time several new streaming services, such as Disney+, Apple TV+, Quibi, and HBO Max were launched and cable subscription... View Details

Keywords: Cable Television; Industry Evolution; Television Entertainment; Disruption; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry