Publications

April 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Case

TD Canada Trust (A): The Green and the Red

By: Dennis Campbell and Brent Kazan

The case series illustrates the role of performance measurement and analytics in translating TD-Canada Trust's service model of "comfortable banking" into operational terms. In 2000, in a banking market where consumers and regulators were typically hostile to mergers... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Commercial Banking; Profit; Balanced Scorecard; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Banking Industry; Canada

January 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Metapath Software: September 1997

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Bill Wasik

In September 1997, John Hansen called together his board to debate an interesting choice that his company had to make. Hansen--the CEO of Metapath Software, a provider of software and services to wireless carriers--had two offers to describe. The first was an offer to... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Teams; Stocks; Public Ownership; Negotiation Deal; Telecommunications Industry; Information Technology Industry

20 May 2014
First Look

First Look: May 20

animal testing was a sensitive issue as it contradicted the brand's strong environmentally friendly and ethical positioning. The matter had already arisen during the Pola acquisition as Pola, like all Japanese cosmetics companies,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

25 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 25

While the senior bank debt comprised only 6% of the capital used in the acquisition and was fully secured, it exercised its right to stop payments to Lind's subordinated lender that funded about 40% of the acquisition, pushing that debt... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

16 Nov 2010
First Look

First Look: November 16, 2010

that acquisitions can build competitive advantage partially through retention of valuable human capital of the target firm. However, making commitments to retain and motivate successful top managers is a challenge when contracts are not... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

13 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 13

experiences of several companies, the authors illustrate the dangers of conforming to market pressures for unrealistic growth targets. They argue that an overvalued stock, by encouraging overpriced acquisitions and other risky,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

21 Oct 2008
First Look

First Look: October 21, 2008

right one. The case offers an overview of virtualization technology, a brief history of VMware, including descriptions of its acquisition by computer storage giant EMC, its August 2007 IPO, and Maritz's arrival as CEO; a summary of its... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 1, 2008

for PR firms and their holding-company media conglomerate parents to do so. The public relations industry in the broadest sense has undergone a tremendous amount of consolidation through acquisitions over the past 20 years. It is also... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 2024 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Knowledge Transfer: Toyota, NUMMI, and GM

By: Willy Shih

New United Motors Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) was a joint venture between Toyota and General Motors. It was an opportunity for GM to learn about the Toyota Production System, which was quite different from the mass production processes American automakers used at the... View Details

Keywords: Culture Change; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Joint Ventures; Transformation; Selection and Staffing; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Sharing; Labor Unions; Management Systems; Performance Improvement; Production; Labor and Management Relations; Auto Industry; Japan; United States

24 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 24, 2018

develop an active customer base, focusing on two questions. First, how does the way that customers use the service postadoption to meet their own needs (personal usage) and to interact with one another (social usage) vary across customer View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

18 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 18

may need "hot" financial markets to get through the initial period of discovery or diffusion. Download working paper: http://www.people.hbs.edu/mrhodeskropf/FinancingRiskandInnovation.pdf Cases & Course Materials Harvard Business School Case 114-049... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

26 Jul 2004
Research & Ideas

A Better Way to Negotiate: Backward

would have been thwarted and ABB would not exist. Manage Information Careful sequencing can help manage sensitive information. For a building developer worried about being squeezed on price if her intentions become public, the property View Details

Keywords: by James K. Sebenius

30 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

How Your Employees and Customers Drive a New Value Profit Chain

Value Exchange is improved through efficient information management. Mobil's Speedpass (read book excerpt here) is an example of how knowing your customer can lead to the creation of new products, increased loyalty, and the acquisition of... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Mahoney

November 2007
Article

If Private Equity Sized Up Your Business

By: Robert C. Pozen

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. As the dust settles on the recent frenzy of private equity deals (including... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital Structure; Private Equity; Investment Return; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

September 2013 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Antoine Leboyer and GSX

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Antoine Leboyer (HBS '92) acquired the Swiss-based software company GSX in February 2008. He managed through the recession of 2008–2009, dealt with a tumultuous separation from the founder/owner, rebuilt the management team, and upgraded the company's software... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Small Business; Finance; Private Equity; Growth and Development Strategy; France; Switzerland

February 1996
Exercise

Free Cash Flow Valuation Problem Set

By: William A. Sahlman and Andrew S. Janower

Free cash flow valuation problems: 1) build a simple pro forma, 2) value a public company's stock, and 3) evaluate a proposed LBO. View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Cash Flow; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Valuation

May 2024
Supplement

DRSi (A)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

In March of 2019, Jen Ransom Fuller purchased DRSi. DRSi, located in Bellevue, Washington, printed and reproduced architectural plans and drawings. Fuller planned to use her first year of ownership to learn the business and to run it in much the same way as the seller.... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Small Business; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Business Education; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Health Pandemics; Selection and Staffing; Employee Relationship Management; Production; Logistics; Safety; United States; Washington (state, US)