Publications

24 May 2023
Blog Post

Innovating, Funding, and Scaling Climate Solutions at Harvard Business School: Day Three of Harvard Climate Action Week

Capital, drew applause for challenging the notion that digital apps, instead of skilled people, could solve climate problems. “We don’t need more digital solutions to save the world, we need more physical solutions. We need great entrepreneurs who are willing to take... View Details

March 2024 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Kawasaki Heavy Industries Bets on Clean Hydrogen

By: Gunnar Trumbull, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno

Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI), an engineering manufacturer headquartered in Japan, was aiming to scale up its hydrogen production and establish a global hydrogen supply chain. The initiative was in line with Japan's energy strategy, as the country seeks to transition... View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Demand and Consumers; Competition; Growth and Development Strategy; Infrastructure; Supply Chain; Manufacturing Industry; Energy Industry

04 Dec 2013
News

Economic Prediction Made Us (Too) Comfortable With Capitalism

March 1991 (Revised January 1993)
Background Note

Why Do Good Managers Choose Poor Strategies?

The uncertainty and complexity of most business environments make successful management a difficult art. Frequently, bright, experienced, well-educated people manage their companies into strategic distress. Many of these bad results are not simply a matter of bad luck.... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Prejudice and Bias; Business Strategy; Cognition and Thinking

2020
Working Paper

Designing, Not Checking, for Policy Robustness: An Example with Optimal Taxation

By: Benjami Lockwood, Afras Y. Sial and Matthew C. Weinzierl

Economists typically check the robustness of their results by comparing them across plausible ranges of parameter values and model structures. A preferable approach to robustness—for the purposes of policymaking and evaluation—is to design policy that takes these... View Details

Keywords: Optimal Taxation; Robust Optimization; Taxation; Income; Policy; Design

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Read Now

September 2008
Case

Samoa Tala

By: Joshua D. Coval, Bhagwan Chowdhry and Konark Saxena

This case examines currency risks faced by Microfinance Institutions, and evaluates strategies to hedge them in countries with pegged currency regimes and no derivatives markets. An MFI based in Western Samoa borrows in different currencies like the US dollar and the... View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow; Currency Exchange Rate; Microfinance; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Services Industry; Samoa

July–August 2013
Article

How Experts Gain Influence

By: Anette Mikes, Matthew Hall and Yuval Millo

In theory, the risk management groups of two British banks—Saxon and Anglo—had the same influence in their organizations. But in practice, they did not: Saxon's was engaged in critical work throughout the bank, while Anglo's had little visibility outside its areas of... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Banking Industry

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13 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Company Reviews on Glassdoor: Petty Complaints or Signs of Potential Misconduct?

level where it should be reported to outside regulators or the press. Would-be whistleblowers might also fear possible repercussions against them, or worry they don’t have enough evidence to prove their allegations. “Research shows there are big View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

January 2023 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Adams + Beasley Associates

By: Dennis Campbell and Iuliana Mogosanu

This case illustrates how a strong culture, founder-led SME designed and used a unique performance metric—the job security index—to manage through periods of economic uncertainty. The case centers specifically on how the job security index was used in an interactive... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Measurement and Metrics; Employee Ownership; Risk and Uncertainty; Small Business; Leadership; Organizational Culture

Research Summary

Price as a Stimulus to Think: The Case for Willful Overpricing

Consumers aware of a new benefit will often experience uncertainty about its personal relevance or usage value. This paper shows that the decision to deliberate further to resolve this uncertainty and reach a polarized judgment of personal relevance critically depends... View Details

Jerry R. Green

Jerry R. Green

David A. Wells Professor of Political Economy

John Leverett Professor in the University

Harvard University

Jerry Green is the John Leverett Professor in the University and the David A. Wells... View Details

Keywords: aerospace; education industry; insurance industry; professional services

2009
Case

Midland Energy Resources, Inc.: Cost of Capital (TN): Brief Case.

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Joel L. Heilprin

Finance, Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC), Capital Structure, Risk Assessment, Corporate Finance, Cash Flow, Valuation, Beta, North America, Energy, Oil and Gas, Cost of Capital, Cost of Equity, Discount Rate, Risk Premium,... View Details

Keywords: Capital Budgeting; Cost of Capital; Energy Industry

27 Oct 2020
Blog Post

Creating the Minority Renaissance for Venture Capital: Interview with Henri Pierre-Jacques and Jarrid Tingle, Managing Partners at Harlem Capital

Tingle on board, they made great use of their summer and built the Harlem Capital platform, taking that work into their second year at HBS. The risk paid off and by graduation... View Details

August 1995 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Cricket Road, 503

By: William J. Poorvu and Donald A. Brown

In September 2003, Mason Sexton, a young, inexperienced developer, was making plans to replace a rooming house he had inherited next to the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville with a new 14-unit, 5-story apartment house. His attempts to assemble the... View Details

Keywords: Property; Entrepreneurship; Housing; Buildings and Facilities; Construction; Risk and Uncertainty; Management Practices and Processes; Real Estate Industry; United States