Publications

March 2020
Article

Do Fire Sales Create Externalities?

By: Sergey Chernenko and Adi Sunderam

We develop three novel measures of how much of the price impact of their trading different mutual funds internalize. We show that mutual funds that internalize more of their price impact hold larger cash buffers and use these buffers more aggressively to accommodate... View Details

Keywords: Fire Sales; Externalities; Investment Funds; Price; Financial Liquidity; Management

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March 1988 (Revised June 1993)
Background Note

Leveraged Betas and the Cost of Equity

The objective is to delineate on methodology for measuring the risk associated with financial leverage and estimating its impact on the cost of equity capital. View Details

Keywords: Cost of Capital; Capital Structure; Equity

September 2005 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Lifefont: The Case for RetailDriver

Examines how Lifefont (pseudonym), a multidivisional consumer packages goods company, develops a system to manage and measure the impact of promotional events in retail outlets. View Details

Keywords: Framework; Change Management; Compensation and Benefits; Cost vs Benefits; Growth Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Customer Relationship Management; Product Marketing; Salesforce Management; Advertising; Management Systems; Information Technology; Retail Industry

07 Jan 2020
Cold Call Podcast

Can Capitalism Be Fixed by Making Companies More Just?

Keywords: Re: Ethan C. Rouen & Charles C.Y. Wang; Financial Services

December 2024
Case

Core Innovation Capital: Investing in Fintech for Good

By: Ray Kluender, Natalia Rigol, Benjamin Roth and Nicole Tempest Keller

In 2017, Arjan Schütte, founder of Core Innovation Capital, faced a decision on whether to invest in Hugo Insurance, an auto insurance startup. Core, an early-stage social impact VC firm, focused on “fintech for good,” by investing in financial services for low- to... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Venture Capital; Social Entrepreneurship; Insurance; Measurement and Metrics; Investment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Product Positioning; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; Insurance Industry; United States

15 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

Solving the Search vs. Display Advertising Quandary

the immediate persuasiveness of ads, it isn't much help to measure their impact over time. The only way to truly determine the efficacy of display ads versus search ads is to watch the effects over time, and... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising

Teaching Interest

Performance Management for Nonprofit Organizations (Executive Education, Faculty Co-chair)

This Executive Education course —a joint program presented by the HBS Social Enterprise Initiative and Harvard University's Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations—explores the impact of measurement on resource allocation, organizational learning, internal processes,... View Details

October 2007 (Revised December 2008)
Case

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group: The Human Capital Strategy

By: Boris Groysberg and Eliot Sherman

Describes the development and implementation of one of the world's most advanced human resource management support systems. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a global banking leader that began implementing a strategy for measuring the impact of human capital on... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Human Resources; Human Capital; Management Systems; Measurement and Metrics; Performance Effectiveness; Strategy; Information Technology; Banking Industry

March 2019
Article

Open Source Software and Firm Productivity

By: Frank Nagle

As open source software (OSS) is increasingly used as a key input by firms, understanding its impact on productivity becomes critical. This study measures the firm-level productivity impact of nonpecuniary (free) OSS and finds a positive and significant value-added... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Open Source Distribution; Performance Productivity; Information Technology; Strategy

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1998
Working Paper

CEO Incentives and Firm Size

By: Brian Hall and George P. Baker

What determines CEO incentives? A confusion exists among both academics and practitioners about how to measure the strength of CEO incentives, and how to reconcile the enormous differences in pay sensitivities between executives in large and small firms. We show that... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Motivation and Incentives; Executive Compensation; Size; Management Systems

November 2005
Case

Playgrounds and Performance: Results Management at KaBOOM! (A)

By: Herman B. Leonard, Marc J. Epstein and Laura Winig

KaBOOM!, a successful playground-building social enterprise funded through corporate partnerships, wants to develop a performance measurement system that will enable the organization to expand its impact substantially. The board of directors and management are trying... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Growth and Development Strategy; Social Enterprise; Performance Evaluation; Management Systems; Design; Construction Industry

March 2024
Module Note

Accounting Standards for the 21st Century

By: Jonas Heese

Over the past two decades, accounting standards have evolved to meet the demands of a rapidly changing business environment. This module note focuses on understanding the impact of these standards on measuring firm performance and financial position in the context of a... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Standards; Performance Evaluation; Change Management

July 2018 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Project Helios: Harvesting the Sun

By: Mark Egan and E. Scott Mayfield

Aware of the impact that modern society was having on the environment, Ashley Telkes had always tried to be cognizant of her own impact on the environment and to take reasonable steps to mitigate her own effects. Having already implemented a number of passive measures... View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Personal Finance; Decision Making; Environmental Sustainability

2023
Working Paper

Accounting for Carbon Offsets – Establishing the Foundation for Carbon-Trading Markets

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Karthik Ramanna and Marc Roston

Tackling climate change requires reductions in current and future greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as the removal of existing GHG from the atmosphere. Carbon-offset producers purport to provide such removals. But poor measurement practices and inadequate controls... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Offsetting; Climate Change; Environmental Regulation; Corporate Accountability

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