Publications

July 2009 (Revised July 2011)
Technical Note

Note on Capital in the U.S. Financial Industry

By: Clayton S. Rose, Scott Waggoner and Sally Canter Ganzfried

This note was created to supplement classroom discussion in the EC course "Managing the Financial Firm" and provides background for exploring issues general managers in financial firms face in considering appropriate capital levels. View Details

Keywords: Capital; Financial Institutions; Management; Financial Services Industry; United States

September 2022
Case

BancoSol: Financial Inclusion in the Perfect Storm

By: Michael Chu and Carla Larangeira

In the pandemic, financial inclusion icon BancoSol faces a government-mandated year-long deferral of all loan payments, followed by the sudden Covid death of its CEO. In a Bolivia mired in political turmoil following a failed presidential election, with clients not... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Crisis Management; Management Succession; Business Strategy; Innovation Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Financing and Loans; Restructuring; Financial Services Industry; Latin America; Bolivia

2015
Working Paper

Customers and Investors: A Framework for Understanding Financial Institutions

By: Robert C. Merton and Robert T. Thakor

Financial institutions have both investors and customers. Investors, such as those who invest in stocks and bonds or private/public-sector guarantors of institutions, expect an appropriate risk-adjusted return in exchange for the financing and risk-bearing that they... View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions

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04 Aug 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Private Equity and Financial Fragility During the Crisis

Keywords: by Shai Bernstein, Josh Lerner, and Filippo Mezzanotti; Financial Services

February 2021
Case

China Rapid Finance: The Collapse of China’s P2P Lending Industry

By: William C. Kirby, Bonnie Yining Cao and John P. McHugh

China’s peer-to-peer (P2P) lending industry had over 3,000 platforms at its height in 2015. China Risk Finance (CRF) was one of the country’s P2P success stories. With over 1 million borrowers using CRF’s platform, it raised $60 million in its 2016 IPO on the New York... View Details

Keywords: Financial Services; P2P Lending; Government And Business; Regulation; Finance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Strategy; Financial Services Industry; China

Web

Managing Service Operations - Course Catalog

research and field examples from a broad array of industries, including financial services, government, healthcare, hospitality, professional services, restaurants, retail, and transportation. The course is useful for students planning to... View Details

December 1998 (Revised December 1999)
Case

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Private Client Services

By: Thomas J. DeLong, David M. Darst, Ann K Rusher and Catherine M. Conneely

The 1997 merger of retail giant Dean Witter and investment bank Morgan Stanley was a year old when Bob Sculthorpe was appointed director of Private Client Services (PCS) at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (MSDW). The firm was still operating under two separate broker-dealer... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Divisions; Investment Banking; Brands and Branding; Salesforce Management; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry

15 Aug 2007
Op-Ed

3 Steps to Reduce Financial System Risk

advances in what is called "credit risk transfer" technology have lowered the vulnerability of the international financial system to any individual bank crisis. There has been less discussion about where the transferred risk has... View Details

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

Web

Tools & Services | Information Technology

Tools & Services Discover what you can do when we are behind you. Faculty Staff MBA Students Doctoral Students Executive Education Participants Alumni Harvard Business School (HBS) IT crafts, delivers, and supports technology solutions... View Details

April 1992 (Revised October 1996)
Case

Roosevelt Financial Group, Inc. (A)

By: Mary E. Barth and Krishna G. Palepu

Keywords: Financial Services Industry

01 Mar 2009
News

Faculty Responds to Financial Crisis

Global Failures Create a “Lodestar” for HBS Research and Teaching From new cases to new courses and research projects, the HBS faculty’s response to the global financial crisis has been “quite extraordinary,” says Professor Joe Badaracco,... View Details

Keywords: Educational Services; Educational Services

01 Jun 2009
News

Career Services Steps Up Alumni Support

Last fall, as world economies began to tremble from the collapse of the financial sector, HBS Alumni Career Services enhanced its suite of career offerings for alumni. “We anticipated an increase in the... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley; Educational Support Services; Educational Support Services

23 Apr 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Corporate Financial Policies in Misvalued Credit Markets

Keywords: by Jarrad Harford, Marc Martos-Vila & Matthew Rhodes-Kropf; Financial Services; Financial Services

June 2004
Teaching Note

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (TN)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Teaching Note to (9-104-042). View Details

Keywords: Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Pennsylvania

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... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services

April 1985 (Revised November 1987)
Case

American Express Travel Related Services Co.

Describes the company's new focus on entrepreneurship during the era of Lou Gerstner, chairman and CEO since 1982. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

October 1994 (Revised January 1996)
Case

Roosevelt Financial Group, Inc. (B)

By: Mary E. Barth and Krishna G. Palepu

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Financial Services Industry