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Measuring Investment Center Performance
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleA spate of articles and books about return on investment has appeared during the past two or three years. Improving company earnings in relation to the capital used to generate those earnings has become a matter of great concern to many top financial and general managers. Their concern is not surprising. About three years ago, […] -
Collaborating with Congregations: Opportunities for Financial Services in the Inner City
Economics Magazine ArticleBy pooling the resources of the poor and by sharing information, religious and financial institutions can work together to change inner-city economies. -
How Private Equity Firms Infuse a Positive Attitude
Private equity Digital ArticleTimes change and markets transform themselves overnight. The half-life of common wisdom is shorter than ever. But top private equity firms have distilled a set of institutional habits that boost the likelihood of their success. What’s critical to this success? Attitude. PE leaders take pains to foster a “results-oriented mind-set”. In short, that means creating […] -
My First, Failed Foray into Venture Investing
Venture capital Digital ArticleI love hearing about other people’s dreams. “Dreams,” as in: “this is what I always wanted to do with my life.” Tell me about your dream, and like Pavlov’s dogs, I begin to salivate. I almost can’t help it — encouraging people and their dreams makes me happy, and I am good at it. In […] -
Groupon Doomed by Too Much of a Good Thing
Venture capital Digital Article“Alright, you caught us. We’re actually not making any money. In fact, we are really losing a lot of money.” This is the essence of Groupon’s declaration last week that it will remove the controversial accounting metric called Adjusted Consolidated Segment Operating Income (ACSOI) from its financial statements. ACSOI essentially measures Groupon’s profits before subtracting […] -
The Ways Americans Pay for Things Are Woefully Out of Date
National competitiveness Digital ArticleAnd PayPal, Square, and other services don’t go far enough. -
Bringing the Environment Down to Earth
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleManagers should make environmental investments for the same reason they make other investments: because they expect them to deliver positive returns or to reduce risks. -
The Role of Private Equity in Driving Up Health Care Prices
Competitive strategy Digital ArticleIt prioritizes short-term profits over patients’ health. -
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
Global Business Magazine ArticleThe record-keeping, internal controls, and antibribery provisions of the Act provide the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) increased leverage to... -
Must Finance and Strategy Clash?
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleMarketers and finance people seldom see eye to eye. The makers say, “This product will open up a whole new market segment.” Finance people respond, “It’s a bad investment. The IRR is only 8%.” Why are they so often in opposition? The financial criteria used to decide if a project will be profitable are entirely […] -
Stock or Cash?: The Trade-Offs for Buyers and Sellers in Mergers and Acquisitions
Accounting Magazine ArticleCompanies are increasingly paying for acquisitions with stock rather than cash. But both they and the companies they acquire need to understand just how big a difference that decision can make to the value shareholders will get from a deal. -
How a CEO's Personality Affects Their Company's Stock Price
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleIt pays to be conscientious. Extroverted, not so much. -
Why Innovation Labs Fail, and How to Ensure Yours Doesn’t
Incubators Digital ArticleSetting up a research hub is easy. Setting it up to succeed is harder. -
Google's CEO on the Enduring Lessons of a Quirky IPO
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleSix years ago, Google's IPO was the most hotly anticipated public offering of the year. But in classic Google style, the offering was neither typical... -
Bootstrap Finance: The Art of Start-ups
Entrepreneurial financing Magazine ArticleEntrepreneurship is more celebrated, studied, and desirable than ever. Business school students flock to courses on entrepreneurship. Managers, fearful of losing their step on the corporate ladder, yearn to step off on their own. Policymakers pin their hopes for job creation and economic growth on start-ups rather than on the once-preeminent corporate giants. Belief in […] -
The One Thing VCs Could Do Immediately to Increase Returns
Consumer behavior Digital ArticleHow investors can start seeing more opportunities. -
Innovation Killers: How Financial Tools Destroy Your Capacity to Do New Things
Costing Magazine ArticleThree tools that hamper innovation. -
Can We Simplify Financial Regulation?
Finance and investing Digital ArticleThere’s a common saying that you never pay attention to your electricity provider unless the lights don’t come on. Well, it’s the same thing with the various regulatory systems throughout the world. For the most part, they tend to be invisible, unless there’s a problem. Unfortunately, over the past year the financial regulatory system has […] -
VC Larry Cheng on What Makes a Great Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship Digital ArticleI recently sat down with Larry Cheng, a partner at Fidelity Ventures. He writes one of my favorite VC blogs, Thinking about Thinking, named after a course that both of us had the chance to take many years back at Harvard College. As part of my ongoing interview series investigating what lies at the center […] -
New Framework for Corporate Debt Policy
Accounting Magazine ArticleFew, if any, articles on finance that have appeared in HBR have enjoyed the influence of the 1962 article reprinted here as a “Classic.” Gordon Donaldson’s analysis of how many companies haphazardly established their debt capacity, and his careful explanation of what he considered a better way, seemed to strike a chord among corporate administrative […]
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Turning the Tide: The journey of rebuilding for success
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details This case focuses on the entrepreneurial journey of Sino Suisse Pte Ltd, an external asset manager (EAM) in Singapore. This case is motivated by three... -
Fairfield Communities, Inc.
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details In 2000, Fairfield Communities, Inc. was one of the largest timeshare operators in the U.S. The company's portfolio of resorts consisted of 35 resorts... -
Melco Entertainment Limited
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Melco is a gaming firm based in Macau. Melco is planning an initial public offering (IPO) but receives a takeover bid from MGM Mirage. How much was the... -
Wilson Lumber Co.
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details The Wilson Lumber Co. is faced with a need for increased bank financing due to its rapid sales growth and low profitability. Students must determine the... -
The Cheezburger Network
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Cheezburger Network was a Web publisher of humorous, user-contributed content, using social media for dissemination, and selling advertising against the... -
Schneider Electric: Linking Pay to ESG
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details March 20, 2020 was a day of great concern for the board members of Schneider Electric (Schneider). The rapid spread of COVID-19 pandemic around the world... -
The Confectionery Business
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details The case proposes to evaluate an investment project in the private sphere of a Peruvian company called INVERSTATE. For this, the requirement is to make... -
The Battle for Value, 2016: FedEx Corp. versus United Parcel Service, Inc.
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details This case invites students to assess the financial performance of FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service, Inc., two firms that have long competed for dominance... -
Personal Budgeting Overview: One Last Pedicure
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details A daughter teaches her mother how to handle her finances by creating a budget. -
Kaufmann Manufacturing Co. (A)
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details A management team at Kaufmann is studying the latest year's operations and sales, which seem to have led to very confusing financial results. Sales exceeded... -
Next Capital: Leveraging Opportunities in the Hong Kong IPO Market
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details The case introduces IPOs in Hong Kong from the perspectives of both issuers and investors. Hong Kong was a popular choice among many local and nonlocal... -
Lehman Brothers: Crisis in Corporate Governance
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details This case details the desperate negotiations in September of 2008 to prevent the failure of the New York investment bank Lehman Brothers. Following the... -
Harvard Business School Executive Education: Balancing Online and Offline Marketing
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details How does a small business set its online media budget? The HBS Executive Education Division can be viewed as a small-to-medium sized business unit with... -
Smart Beta Exchange-Traded Funds and Factor Investing
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details It was early 2015 and executives in iShares' Factor Strategies Group were considering the launch of a new class of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) called... -
Adept Chemical Inc.
Global Business Case Study11.95View Details The chief executive officer of a chemical company supplying cleaning and hygiene products is preparing a bid worth $3 million in new business. Students... -
Hefei Xingtai Financial Holding Group: Risk Management
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details On May 8, 2012, the president of Hefei Xingtai Financial Holding Group (Xingtai) received a message from a senior officer of the Hefei Municipal Government,... -
High-Ratio Stock Splits: Profit Cultural & Creative Group vs. Wolwo Bio-Pharmaceutical
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details This case discusses the phenomenon of high-ratio stock splits in China's capital market. Unlike in the U.S. capital market, where cash dividends are common,... -
Amazon.com, Inc. Buys Whole Foods Market
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details After Amazon.com announced it would acquire Whole Foods, shares of supermarkets in the United States were hit hard; the same was true for grocers in Europe,... -
Tech Mahindra and the Acquisition of Satyam Computers (A)
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Set in 2008, the case details Tech Mahindra, an information technology (IT) company within the Mahindra Group, an Indian multi-industry company with a...
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Measuring Investment Center Performance
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleA spate of articles and books about return on investment has appeared during the past two or three years. Improving company earnings in relation to the capital used to generate those earnings has become a matter of great concern to many top financial and general managers. Their concern is not surprising. About three years ago, […] -
Collaborating with Congregations: Opportunities for Financial Services in the Inner City
Economics Magazine ArticleBy pooling the resources of the poor and by sharing information, religious and financial institutions can work together to change inner-city economies. -
Turning the Tide: The journey of rebuilding for success
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details This case focuses on the entrepreneurial journey of Sino Suisse Pte Ltd, an external asset manager (EAM) in Singapore. This case is motivated by three... -
How Private Equity Firms Infuse a Positive Attitude
Private equity Digital ArticleTimes change and markets transform themselves overnight. The half-life of common wisdom is shorter than ever. But top private equity firms have distilled a set of institutional habits that boost the likelihood of their success. What’s critical to this success? Attitude. PE leaders take pains to foster a “results-oriented mind-set”. In short, that means creating […] -
My First, Failed Foray into Venture Investing
Venture capital Digital ArticleI love hearing about other people’s dreams. “Dreams,” as in: “this is what I always wanted to do with my life.” Tell me about your dream, and like Pavlov’s dogs, I begin to salivate. I almost can’t help it — encouraging people and their dreams makes me happy, and I am good at it. In […] -
Fairfield Communities, Inc.
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details In 2000, Fairfield Communities, Inc. was one of the largest timeshare operators in the U.S. The company's portfolio of resorts consisted of 35 resorts... -
Melco Entertainment Limited
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Melco is a gaming firm based in Macau. Melco is planning an initial public offering (IPO) but receives a takeover bid from MGM Mirage. How much was the... -
Wilson Lumber Co.
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details The Wilson Lumber Co. is faced with a need for increased bank financing due to its rapid sales growth and low profitability. Students must determine the... -
Groupon Doomed by Too Much of a Good Thing
Venture capital Digital Article“Alright, you caught us. We’re actually not making any money. In fact, we are really losing a lot of money.” This is the essence of Groupon’s declaration last week that it will remove the controversial accounting metric called Adjusted Consolidated Segment Operating Income (ACSOI) from its financial statements. ACSOI essentially measures Groupon’s profits before subtracting […] -
The Cheezburger Network
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Cheezburger Network was a Web publisher of humorous, user-contributed content, using social media for dissemination, and selling advertising against the...