Publications

2023
Working Paper

The Stock Market and Bank Risk-Taking

By: David S. Scharfstein and Antonio Falato

Using confidential supervisory risk ratings, we document that banks increase risk after they go public compared to a control group of banks that filed to go public but withdrew their filings for plausibly exogenous reasons. The increase in risk increases short-term... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Banks and Banking; Going Public; Performance; Stocks

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August 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Systems Design West

By: Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Jenn Braus (HBS 2013) was halfway through the 90-day exclusivity period for her proposed acquisition of Systems Design West (SDW). She had completed her business and accounting due diligence. Just as she was about to ask her lawyer to begin drafting the purchase... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Price; Negotiation Offer; Decision Making

Tsedal Neeley is the Senior Associate Dean and Chair of the MBA program at Harvard Business School, where she is the Naylor Fitzhugh Professor of Business Administration, Faculty Chair of the... View Details

August 2012
Case

Polar Sports, Inc.

By: W. Carl Kester and Wei Wang

Polar Sports, Inc. is a fashion skiwear manufacturing company in Littleton, Colorado. The company has a unique design for skiwear using a special synthetic material that improves insulation and durability. The ski apparel industry is highly competitive and the best way... View Details

Keywords: Production; Decision Choices and Conditions; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Finance; Manufacturing Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry; Colorado

Today, corporate accountability is as vital to the bottom line as an effective business model. Value Shift makes a strong case for the merits of corporate responsibility and shows how a value-positive orientation contributes to superior performance through... View Details

September 2009
Case

The Risk Management Foundation of the Harvard Medical Institutions, Inc.

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, Stephen P. Bradley and Natalie Kindred

Through its uniquely proactive approach to medical malpractice risk management, the Risk Management Foundation (RMF) has decreased claims—and premiums—for the Harvard hospitals it insures. The RMF is the captive medico-legal insurer of the Harvard medical institutions... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Insurance; Health Care and Treatment; Risk Management; Performance Improvement; Safety; Health Industry; Insurance Industry; Boston

23 Dec 2014
First Look

First Look: December 23

to practice and from simple to complex, the present paper builds on that work. It illustrates several classes of practical measures that negotiators can use to advance their own interests by focusing on the other side's Level II negotiations. Beyond tailoring the terms... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

Research Summary

Overview

I am currently a Principal or Co-Principal Investigator of five field-based randomized controlled trials, each of which examines the management of lay health workers in developing countries, with an eye toward generating theoretical insights and policy guidance on how... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Policy; Health; Human Resources; Africa; India; United States

Research Summary

Overview

I am currently a Principal or Co-Principal Investigator of five field-based randomized controlled trials, each of which examines the management of lay health workers in developing countries, with an eye toward generating theoretical insights and policy guidance on how... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Policy; Health; Human Resources; Africa; India; United States

March 2005 (Revised March 2006)
Background Note

Activity-Based Costing and Capacity

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Discusses the use of budgeted rather than historical data in an activity-based costing (ABC) model and argues for calculating rates using practical capacity, not actual utilization. An ABC model need not be limited to analysis of historical data. When cost driver rates... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Accounting Industry

September 2002 (Revised March 2003)
Technical Note

Technical Note on Equity-Linked Consideration, Part 1: All-Stock Deals

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

What the acquiring company pays for a target in a merger or acquisition is called "consideration." Consideration can be in the form of cash, shares, or a combination of cash and shares. During the 1990s, equity-linked consideration became the dominant method of payment... View Details

Keywords: Price; Acquisition; Business and Shareholder Relations

16 Mar 2021
News

Employers Must Ensure the Safety of Home Workspaces

10 Apr 2019
Blog Post

Instagram Takeover - The HBS Show

The HBS Show began in 1974 and has since become a highlight of the MBA experience for the student writers, producers, dancers, actors, and musicians attending HBS. This year's performance is No Clue: The... View Details

Maria P. Roche

Maria Roche is an Assistant Professor in the Strategy Unit. She teaches the MBA elective Innovating at Scale and contributes to teaching in executive education programs. Her research examines how specialized knowledge is commercialized and how... View Details

Keywords: education industry; biotechnology; high technology

August 2017
Article

Incentives versus Reciprocity: Insights from a Field Experiment

By: Doug J. Chung and Das Narayandas

We conduct a field experiment in which we vary the sales force compensation scheme at an Asian enterprise that sells consumer durable goods. With variation generated by the experimental treatments, we model sales force performance to identify the effectiveness of... View Details

Keywords: Sales Force Compensation; Field Experiment; Heterogeneity; Loss Aversion; Reciprocity; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits

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13 May 2021
Blog Post

Zhalisa Clarke’s Sabbatical Story: Tech Leader Turned Healer

A job has meant many things over the course of Zhalisa Clarke’s life. Growing up, her mother’s mosaic of employment meant the family’s survival. From an early age, Zhalisa (MBA 2008) pursued jobs that were high paying rather than... View Details

2012
Case

Robert Whelan and the Student Loan Crisis (A)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Olivia Leskinen

Robert Whelan and the Student Loan Crisis (A) 2009 AL Fellow Bob Whelan developed an idea with partners that was a seed before his fellowship year and seemed to address a significant national challenge - college financing - with a creative concept and experience from... View Details

23 Aug 2022
Cold Call Podcast

Management Lessons from the Sinking of the SS El Faro

Keywords: Re: Joseph B. Fuller; Shipping

2023
Working Paper

Fintech to the (Worker) Rescue: Access to Earned Wages, Financial Health and Employee Turnover

By: Jose Murillo, Boris Vallée and Dolly Yu

Using novel data from a Mexican FinTech firm, we study the usage by workers of earned wages access, an innovative financial service offered by firms to their employees as a benefit. We find usage to be significant and concentrated towards the end of the pay cycle. We... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Present Bias; Earned Wage Access; Wages; Employees; Retention; Well-being; Mexico