Publications

July 2025
Case

Mitsui & Co., Ltd.

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Akiko Saito

In 2025, Kenichi Hori, President and CEO of Mitsui & Co., Ltd.—one of Japan’s most prominent Sogo Shosha (investment and trading companies with sprawling global footprints)—reflected on the company’s record-breaking profits. Its operations spanned multiple... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Management; Operations; Organizations; Japan

July 2025
Article

Digital Lending and Financial Well-Being: Through the Lens of Mobile Phone Data

By: AJ Chen, Omri Even-Tov, Jung Koo Kang and Regina Wittenberg-Moerman

To mitigate information asymmetry about borrowers in developing economies, digital lenders use machine-learning algorithms and nontraditional data from borrowers’ mobile devices. Consequently, digital lenders have managed to expand access to credit for millions of... View Details

Keywords: Informal Economy; Digital Banking; Mobile Phones; Developing Countries and Economies; Mobile and Wireless Technology; AI and Machine Learning; Analytics and Data Science; Credit; Borrowing and Debt; Well-being; Banking Industry; Kenya

June 2025
Teaching Plan

SWEN Blue Ocean: Impact Investing Goes to Sea

By: Vikram S Gandhi and David Allen

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 325-013 View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Green Technology; Finance; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Investment; Investment Funds; Science-Based Business; Financial Services Industry; France; Paris; Italy

June 2025
Teaching Note

To Found or to Cofound? That Is the Question

By: Christina Wallace and Stacy Straaberg

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 824-034. Entrepreneurs often struggle with the question of whether to found solo or alongside one or more cofounders. This case is comprised of three vignettes detailing common founding scenarios: the first-time technical founder; the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decisions; Partners and Partnerships; Entrepreneurship; Fashion Industry; Fashion Industry; Fashion Industry; United States

June 2025
Case

Accounting for OpenAI at Microsoft

By: Jonas Heese, Joseph Pacelli, Nicole Zelazko and Michael Norris

In early 2025, Microsoft was evaluating the impact of its $14 billion investment in OpenAI. As OpenAI’s computing needs expanded, Microsoft positioned Azure as the exclusive provider for training and inference of their large language models. Despite the scale of the... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Reporting; Revenue Recognition; Corporate Finance; Capital; Investment; Revenue; AI and Machine Learning; Valuation; Governance; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United States

June 2025
Case

Larry Culp at General Electric: Rebuilding an American Icon

By: Nitin Nohria, Kayti Stanley, Ashka Stephen and Drew Goydan

As he takes over as CEO of the iconic industrial giant General Electric, Larry Culp faces a range of urgent issues as the company is delisted from the DJIA and is seen by many as heading towards bankruptcy. Culp steers GE through a series of carefully thought-out moves... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Health Industry; Health Industry; Health Industry; Health Industry; North America; Europe

June 2025
Case

TfL Pension Fund and the 2022 Gilt Market Crisis

By: Emil N. Siriwardane, Vincent Dessain, Emer Moloney and Carlota Moniz

On September 27, 2022, Padmesh Shukla, CIO of the Transport for London (TfL) Pension Fund, was keeping a careful eye on the turmoil in the U.K. sovereign bond (or gilt) market. When the new government announced the largest tax cuts the U.K. had seen in half a century,... View Details

June 2025
Case

Vail Resorts: Responding to Activist Pressure (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Edward A. Meyer

On January 27, 2025, the head of a relatively small hedge fund named Late Apex Partners sent a highly critical letter to the board of directors of Vail Resorts, the world’s largest ski resort operator. In his letter, and the 88-slide presentation that accompanied his... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Finance; Capital Budgeting; Corporate Governance; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Leading Change; Valuation; Investment Activism; Climate Change; Management Succession; Financial Management; Risk Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; United States; Australia; Canada

May 2025 (Revised June 2025)
Background Note

Social Enterprise in Latin America

By: Brian L. Trelstad and Karina Souza

This research note provides an overview of the social enterprise ecosystem in Latin America, exploring current dynamics across key markets, including country-specific insights on Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Central America. In a region characterized... View Details

May 2025
Case

Initial Financial Statements at Blank Corporation: Bridging Content and Commerce

By: Jung Koo Kang, Panje Jayden Kim and David Allen

This accounting case is intended to teach students how to compile an income statement, a balance sheet, and a cash flow statement. It focuses on Blank Corporation, an innovative South Korean company that bridged content and commerce by selling products directly through... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Statements; Business Startups; Social Media; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Cash Flow; Consumer Products Industry; South Korea

2025
Working Paper

Data-driven Technologies and Local Information Advantages in Small Business Lending

By: Wilbur Chen, Jung Koo Kang and Aditya Mohan

We investigate whether banks' adoption of data-driven technologies influences competitive dynamics in local small business lending by diminishing the information advantages traditionally held by local banks. Using local newspaper closures as an adverse shock to the... View Details

Keywords: Data-driven Technologies; Local Information Advantages; Local Banks; Relationship Lending; Small Business Loans; Small Business; Local Range; Financing and Loans; Banks and Banking; Analytics and Data Science; Banking Industry

SSRN

May 2025
Case

'Net Zero in Action': Impact Investing at the McKnight Foundation

By: Lauren Cohen, Christina R. Wing and Sophia Pan

Elizabeth McGeveran, Vice President of Investments at the McKnight Foundation, reflected on how to effectively advance the organization’s net-zero strategy. The foundation had committed 10% of its endowment to building a portfolio of impact investments and was among... View Details

May 2025
Case

RTX's Lifetime Income Strategy: Shaping the Future of Retirement

By: Daniel Green, Luis M. Viceira and Sarah Mehta

Set in 2024, this case explores the Lifetime Income Strategy (LIS), a novel retirement product launched by aerospace and defense company RTX in 2012. Aiming to embed the security of a traditional pension within a 401(k) plan, the LIS allowed participants to secure a... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Compensation and Benefits; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Jobs and Positions; Labor; Retirement; Society; Adoption; Aerospace Industry; Aerospace Industry; Aerospace Industry; United States; Virginia

2025
Working Paper

Healthcare Provider Bankruptcies

By: Samuel Antill, Ashvin Gandhi, Jessica Bai and Adrienne Sabety

Healthcare firms are filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at record rates. We find that bankruptcies increase healthcare staff turnover, worsen care, and harm patients. Using a difference-in-differences design, we estimate that a bankruptcy filing immediately increases... View Details

Keywords: Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Health Care and Treatment; Outcome or Result; Retention; Health Industry

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April 2025
Case

Thrivent: From Insurance Agents to Financial Advisors

By: Hubert Joly, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Tom Quinn

Thrivent, a midwestern financial services company with a centuries-long history rooted in Lutheranism, had reached $10 billion in revenue mostly by selling life insurance. In the 2020s, however, CEO Terry Rasmussen began a transformation process centered around the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Talent and Talent Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Forecasting and Prediction; Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Job Design and Levels; Human Capital; Leading Change; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Insurance Industry; Insurance Industry; United States; Minneapolis

April 2025
Teaching Note

Tabby: Winning Customers' Digital Wallets

By: Eva Ascarza

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 524-056. Tabby, a Saudi-based fintech founded in 2019, rapidly became one of the MENA region’s first unicorns by offering buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) services with a unique twist: instead of charging end consumers, it partnered with... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Business Startups; Marketing; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Middle East; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates

April 2025
Case

#FutureFresenius: Implementing a New Strategy to Transform the Company and Advance Patient Care

By: David J. Collis, Benjamin C. Esty and Haisley Wert

In February 2024, Fresenius CEO Michael Sen reflected on the company’s transformation journey from his office in Bad Homburg, Germany. With revenues of €22 billion and a mission to advance patient care, Fresenius had built a strong reputation through decades of... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Corporate Strategy; Transformation; Finance; Leading Change; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Alignment; Health Industry; Germany; United States

April 8, 2025
Other Article

Commentary: How Financial Influencers Can Make or Break Investment Platforms like Chocolate Finance

By: Daniel Rabetti

Keywords: Power and Influence; Public Opinion; Social Media; Financial Services Industry

April 2025 (Revised April 2025)
Case

JPMorganChase: Leadership in the Age of GenAI

By: Iavor I. Bojinov, Karim R. Lakhani and David Lane

This case study examines JPMorgan Chase's (JPMC) journey in adopting and implementing Generative AI (GenAI) following the release of ChatGPT. It outlines JPMC's initial cautious approach focused on data security, followed by strategic investments in internal platforms... View Details