Business Ventures
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- 20 Mar 2020
- Coronavirus
How Small Businesses Can Survive the Coronavirus Outbreak
COVID-19 will put many small businesses on life support. Karen G. Mills, who has been advising policymakers on aid options, offers guidance to owners on the brink of ruin. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 13 Jan 2020
- Research & Ideas
Do Private Equity Buyouts Get a Bad Rap?
Elizabeth Warren calls private equity buyouts "Wall Street looting," but a recent study by Josh Lerner and colleagues shows they have both positive and negative impacts. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 05 Nov 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
The Economic Effects of Private Equity Buyouts
Private equity buyouts are a major financial enterprise that critics see as dominated by rent-seeking activities with little in the way of societal benefits. This study of 6,000 US buyouts between 1980 and 2013 finds that the real side effects of buyouts on target firms and their workers vary greatly by deal type and market conditions.
- 15 Oct 2019
- Cold Call Podcast
Goldman Sachs’ $500 Million Bet on Small Businesses
Launched during the financial crisis in 2009, the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program provided free business education, support, and access to capital for small businesses, graduating 7,300 participants. Len Schlesinger discusses the program's impact. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 02 Oct 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
The Value Potential of New Business Models
A business model determines the opportunity’s value creation potential and suggests how the resulting value might be distributed among participants pursuing that model. Strategists need to understand the interaction of elements of the job to be done and asset configuration in order to create differing strategic prescriptions.
- 20 Sep 2019
- Research & Ideas
Solving the Riddle of How Companies Grow Over Time
Can company growth rates persist over long periods of time? A new study of long-lasting enterprises might make CEOs rethink their strategies, says Gary Pisano. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 18 Sep 2019
- Op-Ed
WeWork—The IPO That Shouldn’t?
WeWork's IPO has been one of the most debated in recent memory. But the real controversy, says Nori Gerardo Lietz, is what is contained in the company's prospectus. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 21 Aug 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Improving Customer Compatibility with Operational Transparency
Service firms seeking prospective customers usually highlight the advantages of their offerings and downplay the tradeoffs. This study suggests a different approach: Provide transparency into advantages as well as tradeoffs. The transparency helps customers make informed decisions and can lead to better outcomes for both firms and customers over the long run.
- 12 Aug 2019
- Research & Ideas
How Scale Changes a Manager's Responsibilities
As small companies grow to around 100 employees, the skills of their managers are challenged in new ways. Julia Austin describes how leaders themselves must scale. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 08 Jul 2019
- Research & Ideas
Are Paywalls Saving Newspapers?
Newspapers with reputable brands and unique content are finding success behind paywalls. For most papers, however, the future is not so clear, says Doug J. Chung. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 12 Jun 2019
- Research & Ideas
Investors Have More Than Money to Offer Entrepreneurs
Running a startup means solving an endless list of problems, and entrepreneurs can be quickly overwhelmed. Where to turn for advice? Julia Austin says look to your investors. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 05 Jun 2019
- Research & Ideas
If Your Customers Don't Care What You Charge, What Should You Charge?
Consumer inertia is the tendency of some customers to buy a product, even when superior options exist. Alexander J. MacKay discusses how that habit affects competitive strategy and even regulatory oversight. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 04 Jun 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Political Influence and Merger Antitrust Reviews
This paper uses a large sample of United States mergers between 1998 and 2010 to study how political connections help firms obtain favorable antitrust regulatory outcomes for mergers. Given that antitrust regulators are subject to congressional oversight, the authors predict and find evidence that outcomes systematically favor firms that are constituents of politicians serving on judiciary committees.
- 30 May 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
US Antitrust Law and Policy in Historical Perspective
Since the late 19th century, American antitrust law and policy has responded to multiple changes: technological advances that have transformed business structures, political imperatives that have reformed regulations and informed prosecutorial discretion, and economic theories that have reshaped the boundaries of government interventions into the economy. Today, antitrust remains a contested field.
- 01 May 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Rehabilitating Corporate Purpose
Shareholder value maximization has become the de facto expression of the institutional purpose guiding many managers’ decision making. The author proposes an alternative, justice-based guideline for corporate purpose based on established moral and organizational principles.
- 10 Apr 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Trade Secrets Protection and Antitakeover Provisions
The study examines managers’ responses when facing an increased threat of their firm being acquired. Results add to our knowledge of the use of antitakeover provisions, showing that managers, particularly in high-innovation firms, increase certain provisions to protect long-term innovation output in the presence of elevated acquisition risk.
- 10 Apr 2019
- HBS Case
How Entrepreneurs Can Turn Lead Into Gold
Innovative about creating new products, entrepreneurs often lose imagination when it comes to funding their dreams. Andy Wu reveals alternatives beyond friends and family. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 21 Mar 2019
- HBS Case
The Ferrari Way
Secretive sports car maker Ferrari opens up to Stefan Thomke about how it has bucked industry trends to achieve success. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 20 Mar 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
In the Shadows? Informal Enterprise in Non-Democracies
With the informal economy representing a third of the GDP in an average Middle East and North African country, why do chronically indebted regimes tolerate such a large and untaxed shadow economy? Among this study’s findings, higher rates of public sector employment correlate with greater permissibility of firm informality.
Free Riding in Loan Approvals: Evidence From SME Lending in Peru
Using data from a large Peruvian bank trying to expand credit access to small and medium enterprises, this study shows that competing lenders use one another’s loan approvals as an input into their own approval process. Such “free riding” has great impact on market outcomes and might warrant policy intervention.