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- August 2014 (Revised March 2015)
- Case
Molycorp: Issuing the 'Happy Meal' Securities (B)
By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield
Molycorp, the Western hemisphere's only producer of rare earth minerals, was in the middle of a $1 billion capital expansion in its effort to become a vertically integrated supplier of rare earth minerals, oxides, and metals. After reporting lower than expected... View Details
Keywords: Convertible Debt; Uncertainty; Startup; Growth; Rare Earth Minerals; Mining; Hedge Funds; Short Selling; Equity Capital; Capital Structure; Financial Strategy; Valuation; Metals and Minerals; Equity; Capital; Debt Securities; Stock Shares; Financial Management; Mining Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Canada; California
- August 2014 (Revised November 2015)
- Case
Rick's Dilemma
By: Arthur I. Segel, Charles F. Wu, Siddharth Yog and Ben Eppler
In 2014, Rick is serving as a trustee for a large family trust whose principle asset is a plot of prime real estate in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The land is currently subject to a ground lease which pays $4.6 million annually, with resets every 20 years at 4.5%... View Details
- July 2014 (Revised December 2016)
- Case
EcoMotors International
By: John D. Macomber and Hermes Alvarez
Eco-Motors, funded in part by Khosla Ventures, has to decide how to go to market with a new technology for internal combustion engines for automotive and industrial use. The OPOC engine has opposed pistons and is a two-stroke engine, as compared to a more traditional... View Details
- June 2014
- Teaching Note
Google Glass
By: Thomas Eisenmann
In early 2014, business development executives at Google were formulating a distribution strategy for Glass, a wearable computer that projected information on a display viewable with an upward glance. Options, which were not mutually exclusive, included 1) continuing... View Details
- April 2014 (Revised June 2014)
- Case
Google Glass
By: Thomas Eisenmann, Lauren Barley and Liz Kind
In early 2014, business development executives at Google were formulating a distribution strategy for Glass, a wearable computer that projected information on a display viewable with an upward glance. Options, which were not mutually exclusive, included 1) continuing... View Details
- March 24, 2014
- Article
Like a Boss: How Corporate Negotiators Would Handle Nuclear Talks With Iran
While the Obama team deserves high marks for launching the interim talks, its approach doesn't sell the upside of a comprehensive deal persuasively enough to transform more Iranian skeptics into active supporters—a necessary condition for success if there is an... View Details
Keywords: Negotiations; Nuclear; Conflict Resolution; Winning Coalition; Blocking Coalition; Strategy; France; Germany; Iran; China; Great Britain; United States; Russia; Negotiation; International Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Public Administration Industry; France; Germany; Iran; China; Great Britain; United States; Russia
- March 2014 (Revised May 2014)
- Teaching Note
The TELUS Share Conversion Proposal
By: Lucy White and Benjamin C. Esty
On February 21, 2013, TELUS announced a proposal to convert the firm's non-voting shares into voting shares on a one-to-one basis, thereby eliminating the firm's dual class structure. Shareholders were scheduled to vote on the proposal at the firm's annual general... View Details
Keywords: Proxy Contest; Proxy Battle; Proxy Advisor; ISS; Glass Lewis ＆ Co.; Hedge Fund; Short Selling; Share Lending; Telecommunications; Voting Rights; Empty Voting; Equity Decoupling; Share Unification; Dual Class Shares; Canada; Exchange Ratio; Shareholder Activism; Shareholder Votes; Investment Activism; Public Equity; Capital Structure; Investment Return; Corporate Governance; Corporate Finance; Ownership Stake; Business and Shareholder Relations; Valuation; Telecommunications Industry; Canada; British Columbia; United States; New York (city, NY)
- February 2014 (Revised March 2022)
- Case
School Specialty, Inc.
By: Stuart C. Gilson and Kristin Mugford
Set in 2013, School Specialty was a financially troubled supplier of educational products to primary and secondary schools in the United States. The company planned to file Chapter 11 in order to address its excessive debt load, but needed to arrange... View Details
- February 2014
- Article
Accountability of Independent Directors—Evidence from Firms Subject to Securities Litigation
By: Francois Brochet and Suraj Srinivasan
We examine which independent directors are held accountable when investors sue firms for financial- and disclosure-related fraud. Investors can name independent directors as defendants in lawsuits, and they can vote against their re-election to express displeasure over... View Details
- January 2014 (Revised May 2015)
- Case
Yahoo: Both Sides of the Stamped Deal
By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Lisa C. Mazzanti
In 2012, Marissa Mayer became the CEO of Yahoo!, a tech giant with a tumultuous past. When Mayer tries to reinvigorate the company, she hires Jacqueline Reses, who has a private equity background, to head both human resources and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). As part... View Details
- January 2014 (Revised December 2014)
- Case
GenapSys: Business Models for the Genome
By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Joseph B. Fuller and Matthew Preble
GenapSys, a California-based startup, was soon to release a new DNA sequencer that the company's founder, Hesaam Esfandyarpour, believed was truly revolutionary. The sequencer would be substantially less expensive—potentially costing just a few thousand dollars—and... View Details
- January 2014 (Revised January 2015)
- Case
Reinventing Adobe
By: Sunil Gupta and Lauren Barley
By 2013, Adobe had reinvented itself from a publisher of popular software such as Photoshop and Acrobat to a digital marketing and digital media company. In May 2013, the company decided to stop selling its software as a package in favor of Creative... View Details
- 2013
- Book
Fortune Tellers: The Story of America's First Economic Forecasters
The period leading up to the Great Depression witnessed the rise of the economic forecasters, pioneers who sought to use the tools of science to predict the future, with the aim of profiting from their forecasts. This book chronicles the lives and careers of the men... View Details
- November 2013 (Revised September 2015)
- Supplement
GlaxoSmithKline in China (B)
By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez
In 2013, Chinese investigators detained four GSK employees for allegedly bribing health care staff to sell GSK pharmaceuticals. A month later, GSK's Asia Pacific regional president, Abbas Hussain, said the company would help identify corrupt practices. Two days later,... View Details
Keywords: Public Health; Pharmaceuticals; China; Bribery; CSR; Hong Bao; Health Care; Drug; GlaxoSmithKline; GSK; Witty; Government; Marketing; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Strategy; Corporate Governance; Business and Government Relations; Ethics; Pharmaceutical Industry; China; United Kingdom; United States
- October 2013 (Revised February 2019)
- Teaching Note
Red Hen Baking Company
By: Richard Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Lisa Paige
The case explores the decision to expand in a small business setting. In 2007, the Red Hen Baking Company (RHB) was deciding whether to move from its cramped and inefficient Duxbury, Vermont facility to a new facility in nearby Middlesex, Vermont. It had been in... View Details
- October 2013 (Revised September 2014)
- Case
The TELUS Share Conversion Proposal
By: Lucy White, Benjamin C. Esty and Lisa Mazzanti
On February 21, 2013, TELUS announced a proposal to convert the firm's non-voting shares into voting shares on a one-to-one basis, thereby eliminating the firm's dual class structure. Shareholders were scheduled to vote on the proposal at the firm's annual general... View Details
Keywords: Proxy Contest; Proxy Battle; Proxy Advisor; ISS; Glass Lewis ＆ Co.; Hedge Fund; Short Selling; Share Lending; Telecommunications; Voting Rights; Empty Voting; Equity Decoupling; Share Unification; Dual Class Shares; Canada; Exchange Ratio; Shareholder Activism; Shareholder Votes; Investment Activism; Public Equity; Capital Structure; Investment Return; Corporate Governance; Corporate Finance; Ownership Stake; Business and Shareholder Relations; Valuation; Telecommunications Industry; Canada; British Columbia; United States; New York (city, NY)
- October 2013 (Revised July 2024)
- Teaching Note
Amazon in 2024
By: Sunil Gupta
Amazon launched its website in July 1995 to sell books online and by 2020 it has grown to become a digital giant with over $280 billion in annual sales. A large part of its growth came from expanding into a variety of businesses that some see as unrelated. Has it... View Details
- October 2013 (Revised August 2015)
- Case
Outotec (A): Project Capture
By: Robert J. Dolan and Doug J. Chung
Outotec was a market leader in providing mining solutions to large mining companies. The company’s specialization and proprietary technology created value for its customers and helped the firm differentiate from its competitors. Yet, Outotec was not pricing or... View Details
- October 2013 (Revised August 2015)
- Supplement
Outotec (B): Action Plan
By: Robert J. Dolan and Doug J. Chung
Outotec was a market leader in providing mining solutions to large mining companies. The company’s specialization and proprietary technology created value for its customers and helped the firm differentiate from its competitors. Yet, Outotec was not pricing or... View Details
- October 2013 (Revised January 2014)
- Supplement
Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B)
By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Lauren Barley
It was January 2013, and Fred Khosravi, chairman of the board of AccessClosure Inc., wondered what the new year had in store for him and AccessClosure, the company he founded in late 2002. Khosravi was cautiously optimistic—the Mountain View, California-based medical... View Details