Publications

Article

Weak Corporate Insolvency Rules: The Missing Driver of Zombie Lending

By: Bo Becker and Victoria Ivashina

"Zombie lending"—lending to less-productive firms at subsidized rates—can help banks with misaligned incentives in the short run, but it prolongs economic downturns. We propose that inefficient resolution of insolvency is a significant contributor to this problem. We... View Details

Keywords: Zombie Credit; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financing and Loans; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation

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04 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: January 4

collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. The case examines the economics of the off-balance sheet transactions Lehman undertook prior to... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

13 Nov 2012
First Look

First Look: November 13

externality and technology diffusion play a particularly important role in multinationals' offshore agglomeration. Download the paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1524857 Do Prices Determine Vertical Integration? Evidence from View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2024
Working Paper

Creditor-on-Creditor Violence and Secured Debt Dynamics

By: Samuel Antill, Neng Wang and Zhaoli Jiang

Secured lenders have recently demanded a new condition in distressed debt restructurings: competing secured lenders must lose priority. We model the implications of this “creditor-on-creditor violence” trend. In our dynamic model, secured lenders enjoy higher priority... View Details

Keywords: Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Debt Securities; Conflict and Resolution

January 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG (A): True to Brand?

By: Jeffrey Fear and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Examines one of the most important entrepreneurial decisions made in the history of Porsche, made in early 1998: to build a sport utility vehicle (SUV)--the Cayenne. After decades of relying on one or two sports car models and nearly going bankrupt and losing its... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Supply Chain Management; Luxury; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Globalization; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry

Article

Management Practices, Relational Contracts and the Decline of General Motors

By: Susan Helper and Rebecca Henderson

General Motors was once regarded as one of the best managed and most successful firms in the world, but between 1980 and 2009 its share of the U.S. market fell from 62.6% to 19.8%, and in 2009 the firm went bankrupt. In this paper we argue that the conventional... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Management Practices and Processes; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; United States

26 Oct 2010
First Look

First Look: October 26, 2010

information-rich "opportunistic" trades that contains all the predictive power in the insider trading universe. A portfolio strategy that focuses solely on... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 1991 (Revised January 1996)
Case

The General Mills Board and Strategic Planning

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Examines the General Mills Board of Directors' role in the General Mills joint venture with Nestle S.A. to sell cereals outside of North America. It raises the more general question of the appropriate role for the board of directors in strategy formulation. View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Trade; Corporate Governance; Managerial Roles; Expansion; Food and Beverage Industry; North America

January 2003 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Multinationals as Engines of Growth?

By: Geoffrey G. Jones

Reviews the issues surrounding estimating the impact over time of multinationals on host economies. Uses a series of short historical case studies, including the role of United Fruit in the "banana" republics of Central America, oil and banking in Iran before the... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Multinational Firms and Management; Trade; Growth and Development; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Globalized Economies and Regions; Iran; United States; Malaysia; Japan

December 1999 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Avon Products China (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Jennifer Gui

In April 1998, when the Chinese central government bans all forms of direct selling in China in April 1998, executives at Avon China must decide how to respond. The first direct sales company to enter China after its opening to outsiders, Avon sparked widespread... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Sales; Trade; Business and Government Relations; Government and Politics; Market Participation; China

04 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 4, 2018

Republican administration of U.S. President George H. W. Bush and the Democratic administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton during its implementation. It created the largest free trade area in the world... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

Career Coach

Kendall Borges

purpose, and meaning and how to incorporate more of it in their work. Previously, Kendall oversaw the HBS coaching program, managing and training a roster of 50+ career coaches who supported HBS students and alumni. Before joining HBS,... View Details

Keywords: Health Care

Profile

Andres Sarmiento

Why was earning your MBA at Harvard Business School important to you? Working at American Airlines' through the bankruptcy process made me reconsider the form of impact that I intended to have. My career until that point had consisted... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technology; Services

August 1989 (Revised November 1994)
Case

Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.: Marketing Strategy for the European Market

By: John A. Quelch

Nissan executives are reviewing their European marketing strategy in light of the 1992 European Community (EC) market integration program and the likely end of bilateral import quotas on Japanese cars by some EC countries. Having recently established a manufacturing... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Resource Allocation; Market Entry and Exit; Trade; Auto Industry; Japan; United Kingdom; Europe

20 Jan 2015
First Look

First Look: January 20

drives auditor lobbying. Broadly, our paper offers the first large-sample descriptive analysis of the role of Big N auditors in the accounting standard-setting process. Download working paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2545378 Cashing Out:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2008 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Olam International

By: David E. Bell and Mary Shelman

In 20 years, Sunny Verghese had built Singapore-based Olam International from a small Nigerian export company into a $5 billion global leader in agricultural commodities with a core competence in Africa. Olam's growth had come by pursuing product and geographic... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Trade; Growth and Development Strategy; Supply Chain; Expansion; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Singapore