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August 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Case

MedImmune Ventures

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and David Lane

Ron Laufer is the new Senior Managing Director of MedImmune Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of AstraZeneca, a leading pharmaceuticals firm. Laufer has to decide whether to pursue a high-potential, but very risky, early-stage investment. The decision Laufer... View Details

Keywords: MedImmune; MedImmune Ventures; AstraZeneca; NeuProtect; Corporate Venturing; Biotechnology; Venture Investing; Venture Capital; Health Care and Treatment; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States; Australia; Europe; London

January 2025
Case

North Forty: Managing Liquidity Through Change

By: Luis M. Viceira and Brad Towne

This case explores the interaction between spending and investment decisions at a family office, specifically the family office of Jeff and Tricia Raikes, with special emphasis on the management of spending, portfolio investments, and asset liquidity in the presence of... View Details

Keywords: Family Office; Forecasting and Prediction; Asset Management; Financial Liquidity; Financial Strategy; Investment Portfolio; Spending; Planning

21 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

It Matters That Your CEO Doesn't Know Much About Sales

longer profitable or missing new areas that might yield more profits as the market changes or both. Finally, when it comes to reducing the firm’s cost of capital, consider the basics: Financing needs are driven by the cash on hand and the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

2022
Chapter

Of Learning and Forgetting: Centrism, Populism, and the Legitimacy Crisis of Globalization

By: Rawi Abdelal

Every order is a bargain with disappointments and trade-offs. Thus is every order an unstable equilibrium. The first era of globalization, circa 1870–1914, created both international prosperity and domestic instability. That instability was fully realized during the... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Policy; Economic Systems; Balance and Stability; Europe; European Union; United States

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2020
Working Paper

Of Learning and Forgetting: Centrism, Populism, and the Legitimacy Crisis of Globalization

By: Rawi Abdelal

Every order is a bargain with disappointments and trade-offs. Thus is every order an unstable equilibrium. The first era of globalization, circa 1870–1914, created both international prosperity and domestic instability. That instability was fully realized during the... View Details

Keywords: Centrism; Populism; Globalization; History; Balance and Stability; Economic Systems; Government and Politics; Learning

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December 2002 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Williams, 2002

By: Joshua Coval, Robin Greenwood and Peter Tufano

Williams, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based firm in various energy businesses, must decide whether to accept a financing package offered by Berkshire Hathaway and Lehman Brothers. The proposed one-year credit facility would provide the firm with financial resources in a... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Crisis Management; Credit; Capital Structure; Financial Strategy; Financing and Loans; Financial Instruments; Energy Industry; United States

Web

Featured Topics - Faculty & Research

Featured Topics Business and Environment Business History Entrepreneurship Finance Globalization Health Care Human Behavior and Decision-Making Leadership Social Enterprise Technology and Innovation Initiatives & Projects Behavioral Finance and View Details

September 2004 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Hedging Currency Risks at AIFS

By: Mihir A. Desai, Vincent Dessain and Anders Sjoman

The American Institute for Foreign Studies (AIFS) organizes study abroad programs and cultural exchanges for American students. The firm's revenues are mainly in U.S. dollars, but most of its costs are in eurodollars and British pounds. The company's controllers review... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Investment Funds; Financial Strategy; Forecasting and Prediction; Revenue; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Currency; Currency Exchange Rate; Education Industry; North and Central America

April 2005
Case

The University of Chicago Investment Office: Investing in Timber

In 2005, the University of Chicago Investment office was deciding how much capital to allocate toward timber investing. Explores the challenges associated with optimal portfolio construction when one of the invested assets is illiquid with limited historical price... View Details

Keywords: Investment Portfolio; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

Research Summary

Islamic Financing Practices

By: Samuel L. Hayes

Samuel L. Hayes III is examining (with faculty of Harvard University's Law School and Center for Middle Eastern Studies) Islamic banking and investment practices. Because the Koran prohibits the payment of fixed interest and guarantees on funds invested either with... View Details

Case: Aptiv PLC Board of Directors (A)

Aptiv's board must decide whether a joint venture with an auto maker is the right next step in the company's efforts to develop and commercialize a production-ready autonomous driving system. While many commentators believed that Aptiv's self-driving technologies... View Details

23 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

China’s 60-Year Road from Revolution to World Power

discusses common assumptions about pre-revolutionary China, from both an economic and a political perspective. (Footnotes have been deleted.) Economics At mid-century, Chinese revolutionaries and many foreign scholars believed that China was in View Details

Keywords: by William C. Kirby

06 Dec 2021
Research & Ideas

The Popular Stock Metric That Can Lead Investors Astray

stock market is overvalued and may experience some volatility as the economy continues to recover, Wang’s research suggests that investors may be relying too heavily on a formerly tried-and-true tool that isn’t paying off as well today. That means investors may View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

2023
Book

Precarious Ties: Business and the State in Authoritarian Asia

By: Meg Rithmire

Developing Asia has been the site of some of the last century's fastest growing economies as well as some of the world's most durable authoritarian regimes. Many accounts of rapid growth alongside monopolies on political power have focused on crony relationships... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Systems; Crime and Corruption; China; Indonesia; Malaysia

September 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Supplement

Citigroup's Exchange Offer (C)

By: Robin Greenwood and James Quinn

Citigroup faced considerable distress in early 2009. In late 2008, the bank had accepted $45 billion in preferred equity from the United States government via the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Yet, the stock had continued to slide in early 2009. In late... View Details

Keywords: Financial Instruments; Financial Services Industry

July 2020
Supplement

Instabeat—Crossing the Finish Line

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Nicole Tempest Keller and Alpana Thapar

Lebanese entrepreneur Hind Hobeika was just 21 years old when she launched her startup, Instabeat, which had developed the first real-time bio-feedback device for swimmers to monitor and improve their performance. It had been an extremely testing 10-year journey to... View Details

Keywords: Start-up; Wearables; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Strategy; Operations; Management; United States; Lebanon