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28 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Investor Lawsuits Against Auditors Are Falling, and That's Bad News for Capital Markets

reputation. Investors trust that they will provide effective monitoring, and auditors exist because of that trust. But the audit firms are large organizations and the work is complex. Mistakes happen and cause us to lose that trust. The... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services; Financial Services

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Finance Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

Greg Saldutte (HBS Case 218-095). Victoria Ivashina : Received the Robert F. Greenhill Award for Outstanding Service to the HBS Community in 2023. Ishita Sen : Winner of the 2023 E-Axes Forum Best Paper Prize in Macroeconomic Policies and... View Details

January 2003 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Adams Capital Management: March 2002

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

In March 2002, the five partners of Adams Capital Management (ACM), a venture capital firm investing in information technology telecommunications with $700 million under management, gathered to discuss whether they should change their strategy in view of the prolonged... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Venture Capital; Investment Portfolio; Business or Company Management; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Financial Services Industry

28 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Racism and Digital Design: How Online Platforms Can Thwart Discrimination

Airbnb's "instant book" feature, which allows guests to book rentals before hosts view their profiles, as a move in the right direction. Through experimentation, Luca says, platform companies like Airbnb can surface design elements that align with both View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Service; Service; Service

05 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: January 5

409-021 Padraic Kelly became Managing Director (MD) of the engineering services firm Buro Happold in 1996. One of his first initiatives was "Aim for Growth," which was intended to help the View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

25 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 25

short-termism is associated with various proxies for earnings management, suggesting that our proxy partially captures opportunistic behavior. We also show that firms focusing more on the short-term have a more short-term oriented... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Jan 2023
What Do You Think?

How Would the Leadership Style of Girl Scouts' Frances Hesselbein Fare Today?

of General Motors because of her skills at turning around a large organization. My colleague Regina Herzlinger, the Nancy R. McPherson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, knowing that I was preparing materials for a course in View Details

Keywords: Re: James L. Heskett

20 Apr 2021
Book

A Simple Question That Can Guide Companies to Epic Success

they eschew efforts—even bold, cutting-edge proposals—that are unlikely to generate value for customers, employees, or suppliers. “Companies that raise customer willingness to pay in a distinctive manner attract the very customers that find the firm’s products and... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

30 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

Recruiters: Highlight Your Company’s Diversity, Not Just Perks and Pay

particularly young people: the diverse, inclusive workplaces they’ve worked hard to develop. “Job seekers are more likely to click on job ads for firms with high diversity scores when presented with this information.” “Job seekers are... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

01 Sep 2010
News

Now Starring: Single Dad

WAND: With Robby, at HBS. Courtesy John Wand John Wand (MBA ’81) was about to enroll in Harvard College when his high-school sweetheart in Boise, Idaho, told him she was pregnant. The couple married and moved to Cambridge, but after a couple of years, Wand’s wife left... View Details

Keywords: single parents; fatherhood; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools

02 Oct 2017
What Do You Think?

Do Bitcoin and Digital Currency Have a Future?

first Wall Street firm to do so. For me, the jury is still out. Here’s why. Back in the 1960s, I partnered with a commodities broker at the then-existent Hayden, Stone brokerage firm to form the Comsec Fund,... View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett; Financial Services

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Research Design - Impact Investments

the processes that drive the dual attainment of financial success and social impact across industries. Through a qualitative, empirical study, our contribution is getting behind the numbers and studying the work of impact investment companies and View Details

June 2013
Case

Olympic Rent-A-Car U.S.: Customer Loyalty Battles

By: John Deighton and James T. Kindley

The marketing and operations managers for Olympic Rent-A-Car meet to decide how to respond to changes in the loyalty rewards program at the market-leading competitor. The competitor's program gives awards based on dollars spent instead of days rented and eliminates... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Competitive Strategy; Marketing; Operations; Service Industry; Service Industry

26 Jan 2022
News

Making Peace with Anger

Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Spotify More Skydeck episodes Dan Morrell: Willy Walker (MBA 1995) is the chairman and CEO of Walker and Dunlop, a commercial real estate finance firm founded in 1937 by his grandfather and his great... View Details

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HBS Entrepreneurship Summit - Alumni

Service Challenges Mitchell B. Weiss (MBA 2004), Richard L. Menschel Professor of Management Practice Five Technologies Changing the Future Shikhar Ghosh (MBA 1980), MBA Class of 1961 Professor of Management Practice of Business... View Details

Research Summary

Current Research

Information Dissemination in Capital Markets

Seeking to bridge economic theory and the role of individuals, Professor Brochet researches the transmission of information in capital markets. He has investigated the effects of information... View Details

September 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Icahn Enterprises: Ponzi Scheme or Sound Investment

By: Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese and James Weber

Icahn Enterprises, a publicly traded limited partnership founded and operated by famed activist investor Carl Icahn, had earned above market returns for over a decade. Between 2018 and early 2023, it had a compound annual return of 31%. Icahn invested in undervalued... View Details

Keywords: Stock Shares; Investment Return; Business Model; Valuation; Financial Services Industry

August 2020 (Revised December 2020)
Case

Satrix: Competing in the Passive Asset Management Industry in South Africa

By: Mark Egan, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Dilyana Karadzhova Botha

In late 2017, Satrix, one of the largest passive asset management firms in South Africa and a pioneer in the industry since 2000, had to decide its strategy going forward in a market where passive asset management had become increasingly commoditized and... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Investment Funds; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry; South Africa; Africa

February 1997
Case

Advent of Venture Capital in Latin America, The

By: Debora L. Spar

Widely regarded as the leader in international private equity, Advent International is considering the establishment of a private equity fund in Latin America in 1996. Typically, Advent entered new private equity markets through the creation of multicountry regional... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Joint Ventures; Market Entry and Exit; Globalized Markets and Industries; Financial Services Industry; Boston; Latin America