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Student Spreadsheet for Case W24912

Green bonds are bond issues, used to finance new or existing projects, whose proceeds are exclusively applied to financing projects or businesses that will promote progress on environmentally sustainable activities. The green bond market has increased exponentially in the last decade, from approximately $7 billion in 2010 to over $250 billion in 2019, with growth fueled by the increasing environmental awareness of corporate stakeholders (e.g., investors, customers). This note includes a working definition of the green bond market, its financial scope, and examples of successful implementation. The note also addresses the challenges to further growth and acceptance-including a lack of consistent global standards on green project definitions as well as reporting and disclosure around the environmental impact of green bonds.

Muhammad Alagil was a second-generation leader in the well-known Alagil Family Group of businesses in Saudi Arabia and co-founder and chairman of its family office, Jarir Company for Commercial Investments (Jarir Investments). The case opens in 2021 with Alagil pondering whether or not to allow family members of the next generations aged 35 and over to spin off their pieces of the trust and set out on their own. This change would have been a massive departure from the state of mind he and his four brothers shared for the past decades: Why would anyone leave and shrink the pie? He was confident that none of the third generation (G3) would leave but he knew there was no guarantee they would stay either. He also knew that, when their time came, a portion of G4 members (the eldest of whom was 12 years old) would likely exercise that right and leave. With the sustainability of the family office in mind, would it be disastrous if some members left? The case discusses whether it was the G2 members' responsibility to entice future generations to stay and, if so, how? If not, should they at least come up with a mechanism to ensure that future generations would survive on their own?

This case details the story of two of Wild Earth's cofounders on their three year journey since starting the plant-based dog food company in Berkeley, CA. It highlights several ups and downs relating to product creation, fundraising, and pricing and distribution issues. The case focuses on several critical decision points the founders faced, and ends with an open ended question regarding the need for a subsequent financing and what path forward the company should pursue.

This case follows Maxine Waters, chairwoman for the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, as she faces the stock market phenomenon in early 2021 surrounding GameStop. The morning of February 17, 2021, Waters was leading a hearing on allegations of manipulation in the market for GameStop stock. A few weeks prior, the company's stock surged from around $40 a share to nearly $400 over the span of a few days. Then, on January 28, the stock plunged from nearly $500 to $120 in under 90 minutes. Given the importance of her role as chair of the Financial Services Committee, Waters wanted to carefully consider the trade-offs and potential unintended consequences of any new regulations. Financial oversight required a broad understanding of the social value of financial markets. With that understanding in hand, one could better assess the social implications of any new regulations.

The past two decades have seen a resurgence of interest in applied Behavioural Science, with the popularization of concepts like nudging and choice architecture. The result: Policymakers across the globe have begun applying techniques from the social sciences to design programs and policies that go with the grain of human psychology. So, the authors ask, why have so few businesses-in particular, financial firms-embraced behavioural insights? They show what it looks like to put a 'behavioural lens' on a common business practice like customer segmentation; describe the critical role of context in applying behavioural insights; and share key principles for designing a compelling user experience.

In a wide-ranging interview, economist and board member (3M, Chevron) Dambisa Moyo describes how globalization has unravelled in recent years, but argues that, led by China, it must ramp back up. The economic growth it enables is far too important for countries around the world. Despite the rocky road ahead, she believes fortunes will still be made and discusses three particular opportunities for investors. Most importantly, she argues that corporations must now take on many of the challenges traditionally handled by governments, such as inequality and climate change. This is not a choice, she warns: Those who fail to do so will cease to exist.

Students were provided with the financial data for 10 major companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2019. They were also given a list of 10 major industries. As an exercise, students were then asked to identify which company operated within which industry. The exercise would test the students' understanding of how a company's financial data can be specific to a particular industry. Using only financial figures, could the student identify within which industry each company operated?

Emmanuel Faber became CEO of Danone SA, the French food and beverage company, in 2014. Right from the start, he ran the company with a dual commitment to both profit and purpose (i.e., ESG objectives). In fact, in 2018, he said, "It's time to make sustainable business the only way of doing business." The case examines his leadership and efforts to make Danone a more socially and environmentally responsible company, culminating with a shareholder vote in June 2020 to adopt a new legal status recently created under French corporate law called the "entreprise à mission" (EAM or mission-driven company). Shareholders overwhelmingly approved the bylaw change which allowed Danone to redefine its "raison d'être" (corporate purpose) to include social and environmental objectives. In response, Faber said, "You have toppled the statue of Milton Friedman here today," a reference to the author of the famous article entitled "The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Profits." As the first publicly traded company in France to adopt the new structure, all eyes were on Faber to see how he would run the company and achieve multiple corporate objectives.

Describes the events that took place in the first six months after Danone became France's first "entreprise à mission" (mission-driven company).

Describes the events that took place in the first year after Danone became France's first "entreprise à mission" (mission-driven company).

Emaan Modaraba, a Shariah compliant publicly traded modaraba based in Pakistan, made an investment in shares of Indus Motor Company Limited, a listed company assembling Toyota vehicles, in July 2020 - whose shares were designated to be Shariah Compliant and included in the Pakistan Stock Exchange's KMI-All Share Islamic Index. In August 2020, Indus' annual report disclosed that the company increased its short-term investments in interest-bearing instruments in order to be financially resilient in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms. Khan, CEO of Emaan Modaraba, instructs Ms. Amina Ali, an investment manager, to provide her opinion on the annual report and whether Indus would remain Shariah Compliant and be included in the portfolio.

Emaan Modaraba, a Shariah compliant publicly traded modaraba based in Pakistan, made an investment in shares of Indus Motor Company Limited, a listed company assembling Toyota vehicles, in July 2020 – whose shares were designated to be Shariah Compliant and included in the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s KMI-All Share Islamic Index. In August 2020, Indus’ annual report disclosed that the company increased its short-term investments in interest-bearing instruments in order to be financially resilient in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms. Khan, CEO of Emaan Modaraba, instructs Ms. Amina Ali, an investment manager, to provide her opinion on the annual report and whether Indus would remain Shariah Compliant and be included in the portfolio.

This note explores the selection of investment managers and the performance-measurement tools associated with this important task. In selecting investment options for a firm's 401(k) plan, identifying possible managers to oversee a portion of an endowment's or foundation's investment portfolio, or a retail investor's decision of which fund to choose for their regular investment account, investment performance is likely to play an important role. In this technical note, we explore a number of different performance measures that may be used to select managers, including total return, alpha, and information ratio, and a key risk measurement used in this approach, tracking error.

Angus MacIntyre, CEO of Dumbarton Bearing Supply, LLC (Dumbarton), is deciding whether to introduce a new ceramic ball-bearing product line and whether to produce those bearings by refitting an existing production line or by building a new production line. The initial analysis favors a refit-despite a much higher variable cost, the investment is relatively small, and as a result this approach poses little risk. However, this analysis does not recognize the possibility that Dumbarton could abandon the new product line and recoup much of its investment in scenarios where demand for the new bearings is low. The ability to abandon the product line at a later date is a classic "real option." When properly recognized, this real option flips the conclusion on the production choice-it allows Dumbarton to capture the benefits of a newly built line's very low marginal cost while mitigating the risk created by a larger investment. The case provides insights into option-like features of decisions without any use of option-pricing tools. This case has been used successfully to introduce real options in Darden's core finance curriculum, a specialty master's degree program in data analytics, and an Executive Education program. It would be appropriate either in a sequence of cases covering optionality or as a later case in a sequence of cases on net present value (NPV) analyses. Any student with an understanding of basic NPV analysis can execute the required work, so the case can be used in a wide variety of settings. The emphasis can be easily shifted from technical modeling (advanced techniques in valuation) to intuition (strategic choices) as needed.

Spreadsheet to accompany product W25080.

Instructor Spreadsheet to accompany product W25081.

This short note introduces all of the important and commonly used financial ratios, organized into five categories: (1) liquidity ratios, which measure a company’s ability to meet short-term debt obligations; (2) leverage ratios, which evaluate a company’s capital structure by measuring how a firm uses debt and equity to finance its operations; (3) efficiency ratios, which measure how efficiently a company is utilizing its assets and resources; (4) profitability ratios, which measure a company’s ability to generate profit from its resources; and (5) market ratios (also called valuation ratios), which evaluate the share price of a company’s stock.