Publications

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Career Coach

Mandy Xu

serving the client – and is happy to share her takeaways. She welcomes conversations with students looking for the right career fit post-MBA and enjoys dialogue around personal values and fulfillment. To book an appointment, please send Mandy an email. Work Experience:... View Details

02 Aug 2004
What Do You Think?

For Greater Transparency, Is Section 404 an Effective Response?

broken. It is really about people and ethics." B. V. Krishnamurthy concurred, saying "... the Act ... is unlikely to result in any radical transformation of the system. Such a transformation has to be an internal process with... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

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

October 2015
Case

Clearwater Seafoods

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Clearwater sought to market value-added shellfish products in a traditionally commodities based industry, while facing supply uncertainties and regulatory, environmental, and foreign exchange challenges. Clearwater harvested lobsters, clams, scallops, shrimp, and other... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Profit; Goods and Commodities; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Product Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Canada

2014
Working Paper

Private Equity's Diversification Illusion: Economic Comovement and Fair Value Reporting

By: Kyle Travis Welch

This study examines how accounting has informed private equity diversification claims and demand for private equity investments. Despite research showing private equity lacks portfolio diversification benefits, those marketing private equity assets continue to... View Details

SSRN

KRISHNA G. PALEPU is the Ross Graham Walker Professor of Business Administration, and has served previously as Senior Advisor to the President of Harvard University, and Senior Associate Dean at the... View Details

Keywords: accounting industry; banking; financial services; information technology industry; pharmaceuticals; retailing

July 2018
Case

Leading Open Innovation at BT

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Jean-François Harvey and Johnathan R. Cromwell

This case focuses on the genesis and development of the open innovation unit at BT, the strategic value of the unit, and its operating model. As the business environment becomes increasingly dynamic and firms are pressured to achieve faster innovation rates, there may... View Details

Keywords: Collaboration; Open Innovation; Inter-organizational Relationships; Organizational Culture; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Information Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United Kingdom; United States

September 2014 (Revised December 2014)
Case

The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art

By: Mukti Khaire and Nancy Hua Dai

Since its opening in Beijing in November 2007 as the first non-profit art center in China, UCCA had been operating with the mission to "promote the continued development of the Chinese art scene, foster international exchange, and showcase the latest in art and culture... View Details

Keywords: Art World; Art Gallery; Art Market; Arts; Nonprofit Organizations; Entrepreneurship; China

2009
Working Paper

Culture Clash: The Costs and Benefits of Homogeneity

By: Eric J. Van den Steen

This paper develops an economic theory of the costs and benefits of corporate culture—in the sense of shared beliefs and values—in order to study the effects of "culture clash" in mergers and acquisitions. I first use a simple analytical framework to show that shared... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Cost vs Benefits; Values and Beliefs; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Motivation and Incentives; Theory

Keywords: investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry

Web

Faculty & Research

innovative solutions developed during the pandemic-related chaos of securing and delivering vaccines, while she and her team prepare for what unknowns may come next. Featured Case Ingersoll Rand: Broadening Employee Ownership By: Ethan... View Details

16 Dec 2008
First Look

First Look: December 16, 2008

individuals in MBA and Executive MBA programs. Our third study developed survey measures of the six implicit voice theories identified in the prior two studies in a new sample of 265 adults with diverse work experience, and examined... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Srikant M. Datar

Srikant M. Datar became the eleventh dean of Harvard Business School on 1 January 2021. During his tenure as a faculty member, he served as Senior Associate Dean for University Affairs (including Faculty Chair of the Harvard Innovation Lab), for Research, for... View Details

Career Coach

Zoe Sun

Zoe wants to help students, particularly international students who require visa sponsorship, understand opportunities available in the private equity industry and in finance industry more broadly. Having worked in Asia-focused private... View Details

2018
Working Paper

Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 7 The Value Structure of Technologies, Part 2: Technical and Strategic Bottlenecks as Guides for Action

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

The purpose of this chapter is to present analytic tools based on functional maps that can be used to identify investment opportunities and to formulate strategy in large, evolving technical systems. I argue that the points of value creation and value capture in a... View Details

Keywords: Bottlenecks; Information Technology; System; Investment; Opportunities; Strategy

SSRN

February 2013 (Revised February 2013)
Case

King Abdullah Economic City in 2009: Population Drivers and Cash Flow

By: John D. Macomber

CEO of high profile new economic city in Saudi Arabia must decide how to allocate limited investment funds across projects under duress. Issues include understanding core economic drivers, planning infrastructure investment and return, attracting multinationals, energy... View Details

Keywords: Urban Development; Infrastructure; Real Estate Industry; Saudi Arabia

2014
Working Paper

Contraceptive Access and Fertility: The Impact of Supply-Side Interventions

By: Nava Ashraf, Erica Field and Jessica Leight

Declining fertility in both the developed and developing world has led to large and potentially welfare-enhancing changes in women's labor supply, education and investment in children in recent decades. However, it has been widely noted that the pace of this decline... View Details

Keywords: Fertility; Contraceptive Access; Zambia

March 2019
Article

Is There a Future for the Gas Network in a Low Carbon Energy System?

By: Conor Hickey, Paul Deane, Celine McInerney and Brian O' Gallachoir

This paper evaluates the potential low carbon opportunities for and challenges to the utilisation and financial performance of Ireland's gas distribution network within a series of low carbon scenarios. There has been a limited amount of academic literature published... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Investment; Risk and Uncertainty; Environmental Sustainability; Demand and Consumers; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Republic of Ireland

September 2006
Case

Stedman Place: Buy or Rent?

By: Andre F. Perold and David S. Scharfstein

A couple has to decide whether to continue renting a townhouse or buy the one next door. Allows for a discussion of net present value, internal rate of return, and the costs and benefits of homeownership. View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Asset Pricing; Investment Return; Housing; Family Ownership; Renting or Rental; Valuation

January 2019
Case

King Abdullah Economic City: Population Drivers and Cash Flow

By: John D. Macomber

CEO of high profile new economic city in Saudi Arabia must decide how to allocate limited investment funds across projects under duress. Issues include understanding core economic drivers; planning infrastructure investment and return; attracting multinationals; and... View Details

Keywords: Urban Development; Infrastructure; Project Finance; Resource Allocation; Decision Making; City; Real Estate Industry; Saudi Arabia