Publications

November 2010 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Innovating into Active ETFs: Factor Funds Capital Management LLC

By: Kenneth A. Froot, Lauren Cohen and Scott Waggoner

Kishore Karunakaran, President and COO of FFCM, faces a variety of challenges in launching an innovative investment management business in the rapidly evolving ETF space. View Details

Keywords: Investment Management; Institutional Investments; Entrepreneurial Finance; Financial Management; Innovation Strategy; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Capital Markets; Investment Funds; Financial Strategy; Management Teams; Financial Services Industry; Boston

25 Apr 2014
News

Investing in Innovation

priorities." In September 2013, Faust launched the five-year, $6.5 billion Harvard Campaign. The financial goal for The Harvard Business School Campaign is $1 billion. As of April 25, HBS had raised more than 50 percent of that goal, with... View Details

Keywords: HBS Fund; Educational Services

January 1994 (Revised June 1994)
Case

Dean Witter, Discover & Co.

By: Dwight B. Crane and W. James Whalen

Early in 1993, Sears was in the process of spinning off its Dean Witter, Discover subsidiary. This subsidiary consisted of a securities brokerage that was acquired in 1981 and also the Discover Card, a general purpose credit card, the firm introduced in 1985. The key... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Business Subsidiaries; Initial Public Offering; Credit Cards; Corporate Strategy; Asset Pricing; Financial Services Industry

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May 2002
Case

Venture Capital Fund Restructuring Vignettes (Abridged)

By: Paul A. Gompers

This case examines the changes in fund structures proposed by four venture capital firms in 2002: Accel Partners, Battery Ventures, Charles River Ventures, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The venture capital market has experienced a major downturn, and these... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Restructuring; Financial Crisis; Motivation and Incentives; Business and Shareholder Relations; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry

19 May 2003
Lessons from the Classroom

Business Plan Winner Targets India Dropouts

Harvard Business School MBA '03 students Raj De Datta, Arvind Krishnamurthy, and Meghna Modi recently won the Social Enterprise track of the annual HBS Business Plan contest with their plan for brokering microfinance loans to families in the View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler; Financial Services

20 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

How Small Businesses Can Survive the Coronavirus Outbreak

Small-business owners trying to weather the coronavirus pandemic will face a financial blow that’s likely to be worse than what they experienced during the Great Recession more than a decade ago, says Karen G. Mills, senior fellow at... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Service; Service

06 Apr 2021
Working Paper Summaries

Currency Hedging in Emerging Markets: Managing Cash Flow Exposure

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro, Mauricio Calani, and Liliana Varela; Financial Services

13 Jan 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Forward Guidance in the Yield Curve: Short Rates versus Bond Supply

Keywords: by Robin Greenwood, Samuel G. Hanson, and Dimitri Vayanos; Financial Services

June 1991 (Revised July 1993)
Case

Sunbeam Oster Co., Inc.

By: Steven R. Fenster

Japonica Partners, an investment firm, is trying to determine whether there is any unseen value in Sunbeam Oster Co., Inc., a Chapter 11 debtor. If there is, Japonica must consider the means by which they can acquire control of a company in Chapter 11. View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Acquisition; Financial Services Industry

August 2011
Teaching Note

Going to the Oracle: Goldman Sachs, September 2008 (TN)

By: Clayton Rose and Sally Canter Ganzfried

Teaching Note for 309-069. View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Investment; Negotiation Deal; Capital; Financial Liquidity; Decisions; Management Teams; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

May 1988
Article

Management Dilemmas in Securities Firms

By: Robert G. Eccles Jr. and Dwight B. Crane

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Management; Business Ventures; Financial Instruments; Financial Services Industry

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November 2006
Case

Selling Biovail Short

By: Malcolm P. Baker, Chris Lombardi and Aldo Sesia

Hedge fund SAC Capital and analysts from Gradient Analytics and Banc of America face charges of stock price manipulation from Biovail, a Canadian pharmaceutical company. Gradient and BofA produced negative reports on Biovail's earnings quality. At the same time, SAC... View Details

Keywords: Stock Shares; Investment Banking; Asset Pricing; Financial Strategy; Crime and Corruption; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Canada

08 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

A Bold Proposal for Investment Reform

should be a nonprofit organization, with responsibility for rating the performance of financial analysts from the viewpoint of retail investors. We believe that there are costs as well as benefits from liquidity in the capital market. The... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

April 2005
Case

Merrill Lynch in 2003: Sunny Skies Ahead?

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and David Kiron

Merrill Lynch (ML) is at a crossroads. Stan O'Neal became its CEO and implemented a radical cost-cutting program. In addition, the company dot-com continues to recover from the fallout from the Enron and dot-com scandals. What are the future prospects for ML? Can the... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Condition; Investment; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

September 2000 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Netflix (2000)

By: E. Scott Mayfield

The CEO of a successful Internet start-up must decide whether to delay the company's initial public offering following a significant decline in the NASDAQ market during the spring of 2000. The company's CFO is asked to reevaluate the company's projected cash flow needs... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Contracts; Initial Public Offering; Cash Flow; Service Delivery; Financial Strategy; Web Services Industry

15 Mar 2021
Office Hours

Readers Ask: What's the Next 'Big Thing' in Finance?

and integrates all of these advances in technology that will impact how individuals save, how they invest, and how they interact with all aspects of their finances. "Keep your ear to the ground and your eyes open on fintech." Now, importantly, it’s not just how View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Financial Services

September 2011 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Khosla Ventures: Biofuels Gain Liquidity

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman, Alison Berkley Wagonfeld and Evan Richardson

Samir Kaul, a Partner at Khosla Ventures, looked out his office window. It was late June, 2011, and like almost every day in Menlo Park, the sun was shining. Kaul was reflecting on what had been a very positive 10 months in the venture capital business. Over that span,... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Business or Company Management; Partners and Partnerships; Product Development; Investment Portfolio; Financial Services Industry

November 1985
Case

Paine Webber (A): Choosing a Corporate Strategy

By: Dwight B. Crane and Robert G. Eccles Jr.

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Institutions; Financial Services Industry