Publications

December 2004
Article

Market Valuation and Merger Waves

By: Matthew Rhodes-Kropf and S. Viswanathan

Does valuation affect mergers? Data suggest that periods of stock merger activity are correlated with high market valuations. The naïve explanation that overvalued bidders wish to use stock is incomplete because targets should not be eager to accept stock. However, we... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Market Transactions; Value; Cash; Stocks; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Bids and Bidding; Market Design; Stock Shares; Accounting Audits; Performance Evaluation

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July 2024
Case

RMZ 4.0: 'How Fast Do We Want to Run?'

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

In 2023, RMZ Corporation (“RMZ”) a large family-owned real estate firm based in Bengaluru, India, announced plans to transform from a commercial real estate developer to a diversified alternative asset owner. Over the next 5 years, RMZ looked to grow its real estate... View Details

Keywords: International Expansion; Growth Management; Family Business; Talent and Talent Management; Goals and Objectives; Transformation; Growth and Development Strategy; Diversification; Change Management; Global Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Real Estate Industry; India

October 2009 (Revised November 2011)
Case

Citigroup-Wachovia-Wells Fargo

By: Guhan Subramanian and Nithyasri Sharma

In late September 2008, amidst the spiraling financial crisis, many firms on Wall Street were in a precarious position. One such institution was Wachovia, which entered acquisition talks with Citigroup and Wells Fargo. This case describes the development of these... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Crisis; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governing and Advisory Boards; Managerial Roles; Banking Industry; United States

31 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 31, 2009

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=809089 LeBron James Harvard Business School Case 509-050 In 2005, to the astonishment of many sports industry insiders, superstar basketball player LeBron James fired his... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

27 Jan 2009
First Look

First Look: January 27, 2009

debut at a prominent industry conference, coverage on the front page of the New York Times' Business section, and the raising of a large round of financing from a top-tier venture capital firm. His attempts... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 2009 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Lyondell Chemical Company

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah Abbott

Hit with an industry recession and the global financial crisis of 2008, in January 2009 LyondellBasell Industries AF S.C.A., one of the world's largest internationally diversified chemical companies headquartered in The Netherlands, placed its U.S. operations and a... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Financial Crisis; Borrowing and Debt; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financing and Loans; International Finance; Crisis Management; Chemical Industry; Netherlands; United States

October 2008 (Revised September 2009)
Case

Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (A): Becoming Truly Global

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Matthew Bird

Since the 1980s, Procter & Gamble had leveraged its purpose, values, and principles (PVP) to create a global company. When P&G faced difficult times in 2000, the new CEO, A.G. Lafley, leveraged the PVP to drive P&G's turnaround, integrate global operations, and guide... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Values and Beliefs; Globalized Firms and Management; Leading Change; Growth Management; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation

February 2008 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Tad O'Malley: The Investment Conundrum

By: Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Tad O'Malley has just started as an associate with Empire Investment Group. He must evaluate three investment opportunities facing the big leveraged buyout firm. All are global, but each pertains to different offices and each deal has different strengths and... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Decision Choices and Conditions; Private Equity; Investment; Strength and Weakness; Negotiation Deal; Personal Development and Career

November 2005 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Meisterchef.com

By: Henry B. Reiling

Two underperforming companies are seeking to combine on terms that will preserve the net operating loss of one for use against their combined future profits or at least against the future profits of the company that generated the losses. The questions are whether the... View Details

Keywords: Code Law; Corporate Governance; Mergers and Acquisitions; Cost Accounting; Taxation; Corporate Strategy; Profit; Crisis Management; Financial Management; Legal Services Industry; Service Industry; United States

November 2006
Article

The Flattening Firm: Evidence from Panel Data on the Changing Nature of Corporate Hierarchies

By: Raghuram G. Rajan and Julie Wulf

Using a detailed database of managerial job descriptions, reporting relationships, and compensation structures in over 300 large U.S. firms, we find that firm hierarchies are becoming flatter. The number of positions reporting directly to the CEO has gone up... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Change; Business Ventures; Compensation and Benefits; Rank and Position; Wages; Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Jobs and Positions; United States

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October 2019 (Revised November 2019)
Case

C16 Biosciences: Lab-Grown Palm Oil

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Olivia Hull

Synthetic biology start-up C16 Biosciences wants to solve a big problem: replace palm oil, a major contributor to deforestation and climate change, with a lab-grown substitute. CEO Shara Ticku has ambitious plans to supply her lab-grown palm oil to food manufacturers,... View Details

Keywords: Science-Based Business; Environmental Sustainability; Social Entrepreneurship; Product Development; Product Positioning; Venture Capital; Strategy; Decision Making; Food and Beverage Industry; Consumer Products Industry

2011
Working Paper

The Impact of Horizontal Mergers and Acquisitions in Price Competition Models

The question of what impact mergers and acquisitions have on key equilibrium performance measures is fundamental to our understanding of competitive dynamics in an oligopolistic industry. We address these questions in the context of price competition models with... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Cost; Price; Profit; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Performance Efficiency; Mathematical Methods; Competition

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April 2009 (Revised March 2010)
Case

Nippon Steel Corporation

By: Srikant M. Datar and Akiko Kanno

Nippon Steel Corporation, the largest Japanese steel producer and second largest in the world faces challenges in pursuing strategy to become a true global player. Nippon Steel had long been the top Japanese company, however the emergence of a global player,... View Details

Keywords: History; Corporate Strategy; Problems and Challenges; International Accounting; Change Management; Restructuring; Competitive Strategy; Emerging Markets; Globalization; Global Strategy; Steel Industry; Japan

October 2007 (Revised May 2009)
Case

Offering the Right Service in the Right Place: Growing Orthopedics at the Brigham and Women's/Faulkner (BW/F) Hospitals

By: V.G. Narayanan, Michael G. Wilson and Rachel Gordon

After the merger of two local hospitals, hospital leaders much decide how to reorganize services to take advantage of newly created efficiencies. Focuses on the Orthopedics department at one of the hospitals. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Mergers and Acquisitions; Cost vs Benefits; Service Operations; Organizational Structure; Performance Efficiency; Competitive Advantage; Health Industry

January 2001 (Revised May 2010)
Case

BP Amoco (B): Financing Development of the Caspian Oil Fields

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Michael Kane

British Petroleum and Amoco were the two largest members of the Azerbaijan International Oil Consortium (AIOC), an 11-firm consortium that was spending $10 billion to develop oil fields in the Caspian Sea. As of March 1999, AIOC had completed a $1.9 billion development... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Policy; Capital Budgeting; Project Finance; Emerging Markets; Mergers and Acquisitions; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Mining Industry; Energy Industry; United Kingdom; Europe

January 1994 (Revised March 1995)
Case

NovaCare, Inc.: Living the Vision

By: Lynn S. Paine

NovaCare's CEO is considering how further to institutionalize the company's espoused values and beliefs. One challenge is integrating two newly acquired businesses; another is better aligning the values of the company's managers with those of its front-line... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Health Care and Treatment; Labor and Management Relations; Management Teams; Values and Beliefs; Mergers and Acquisitions; Mission and Purpose; Health Industry

September 2014 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Belk: Towards Exceptional Scheduling

By: Ethan Bernstein, Saravanan Kesavan, Bradley Staats and Luke Hassall

With 24,000 staff and over 300 stores, Belk Inc. sought to replace its entirely manual labor scheduling system with an automated software solution from Reflexis. Belk hoped the upgrade would simplify scheduling, reduce time employees spent in non-customer-facing roles,... View Details

06 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

Should Entrepreneurs Pitch Products or Ideas for Products?

is enough interest to go further? Which is the better strategy for young innovators? What are the pros and cons of each? Can the risks be measured and mitigated? “The pitch or spec dilemma touches any independent inventor looking to sell a new product, technology, or... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Motion Pictures & Video; Entertainment & Recreation; Banking

September 2021
Case

Brown Capital Management

By: Luis M. Viceira, Emily R. McComb and Sarah Mehta

Set in July 2021, this case looks at several growth strategies under consideration at Brown Capital, the second-oldest Black-owned asset management firm in the U.S. Since its 1983 founding, Baltimore-based Brown Capital has specialized in small company growth... View Details