Publications

February 1997
Case

Enron Development Corporation: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (A) (Abridged)

By: Louis T. Wells Jr.

A large, lucrative power plant is negotiated for construction/operation by an American power company in India's evolving privatized power sector. The process of incorporating the project is captured in this case. The American company will own and operate the plant in... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Transition; Energy Generation; Construction; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Emerging Markets; Negotiation Process; Production; Privatization; Energy Industry

October 1995 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Andersen Consulting - EMEAI: Reorganization for Revitalization

By: Ashish Nanda and Michael Y. Yoshino

Vernon Ellis, managing partner of Andersen Consulting -- Europe, Middle East, Africa, and India (AC -- EMEAI), is considering how best to reorganize. AC -- EMEAI has grown rapidly over the past five years to become Europe's largest consulting operation. However, Ellis... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business or Company Management; Organizational Design; Growth Management; Cost vs Benefits; Leading Change; Management Teams; Consulting Industry; Europe; Africa; India; Middle East

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

November 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Merrill Lynch's Acquisition of Mercury Asset Management

By: Andre F. Perold, Imran Ahmed and Randolph B Altschuler

In the Spring of 1998, Merrill Lynch faced an array of challenges and opportunities related to its global asset management business. The firm had recently completed its $5.3 billion cash acquisition of U.K.-based Mercury Asset Management, a transaction that made it one... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Asset Management; Currency; Financial Strategy; Global Strategy; Brands and Branding; Distribution; Production; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Retirement; Japan; Europe; United Kingdom

Find at Harvard

June 2017 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Becton Dickinson: Innovation and Growth (A)

By: Raffaella Sadun, Michael Beer and James Weber

In late 2015, CEO Vince Forlenza was reviewing Becton Dickinson’s transformation efforts designed to enable the company to innovate and grow in a changing environment. Becton Dickinson had been a successful medical device company for over 100 years. In recent years,... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Change Management; Innovation Leadership; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States

Web

Ignacio Lartirigoyen (MBA 2020) Talks Family Business, Bringing Children to HBS, and Agribusiness - MBA

Business & Environment Career Change Career and Professional Development Case Method Clubs Curriculum Digital Entrepreneurship FIELD Financial Aid Health Care Instagram Takeover JD/MBA Leadership Letters to Classmates MBA/MPP & MBA/MPA-ID... View Details

Profile

Casey Gerald

that I think sucks and saying, `I want to do my own thing.’” To that end, MBAs Across America is an organization formed by Gerald and three HBS classmates in order to send MBA students out across the country to offer free assistance and guidance to small View Details

February 2023
Supplement

Astyanax Kanakakis at norbloc: A Founder's Experience with the DIFC Fintech Hive

By: Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

norbloc was founded in 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden, by Astyanax Kanakakis and his co-founders, Vitalii Demianets and Sam Saatchi. Kanakakis and Demianets got to work to address a key gap in the industry: Know Your Customer (KYC) data sharing. As the first distributed KYC... View Details

16 Dec 2014
First Look

First Look: December 16

The Cost of Friendship By: Gompers, Paul A., Vladimir Mukharlyamov, and Yuhai Xuan Abstract—We investigate how personal characteristics affect people's desire to collaborate and whether this attraction enhances or detracts from performance in View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2024
Case

Continuity & Change at Boston Consulting Group

By: David G. Fubini, Suraj Srinivasan and David Lane

As the new CEO of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) since autumn 2021, Christoph Schweizer had big shoes to fill—his predecessor, Rich Lesser, had tripled the partnership’s total revenues and created digital initiatives that contributed 40+% of 2021 revenues, more than... View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Change Management; Talent and Talent Management; Governance; AI and Machine Learning; Environmental Sustainability; Leading Change; Risk Management; Organizational Culture; Partners and Partnerships; Revenue; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Succession; Consulting Industry

31 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

One Quarter of Entrepreneurs in the United States Are Immigrants

immigrants are responsible for a lot of great companies,” says William Kerr, the Dmitri V. D’Arbeloff — MBA Class of 1955 Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. “After all, they... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

05 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

The Changing Face of American Innovation

new research based on patent and trademark data by Harvard Business School professor William Kerr drills down to further identify the probable ethnic composition of U.S. inventors, the industries they influence, and the geographies they... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Technology

November 2000 (Revised December 2000)
Case

Loewen Group Inc., The

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Jose Camacho

A publiclytraded funeral home and cemetery consolidator faces imminent financial distress. The company has aggressively grown through use of debt. Restructuring the debt is potentially very costly to creditors, shareholders, suppliers, and other corporate stakeholders.... View Details

Keywords: International Accounting; Restructuring; Capital Structure; Cost of Capital; Debt Securities; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Crisis Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Service Industry

2024
Working Paper

Dusting Off the Old Ones: Drug Licensing to Startups, Innovation Success and Efficiency

By: Mosab Hammoudeh, Joshua Lev Krieger and Jiajie Xu

This paper investigates whether moving R&D from incumbents to startups can increase innovation. Using comprehensive drug development data, we examine the outcomes of drug projects licensed from large firms to startups. We find that these projects licensed to startups... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Innovation and Invention; Business Startups; Research and Development; Performance Efficiency; Pharmaceutical Industry

Read Now

October 1996 (Revised February 1997)
Case

Upjohn Company, The: The Upjohn-Pharmacia Merger

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Amy P. Hutton

In August 1995, the Upjohn Co. and Pharmacia AB announced a "merger of equals." This case provides background information on the industry, the position of Upjohn, and Upjohn's rationale for the proposed merger. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Statements; Business Strategy; Annual Reports; Pharmaceutical Industry

September 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Mobile Banking for the Unbanked

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Katharine Lee

The case describes in detail the workings of two mobile banking operators in Africa—WIZZIT in South Africa and M-PESA in Kenya. It explores the dimensions of strategy that make for success in the market for the unbanked. It raises questions regarding the portability of... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Financial Institutions; Disruptive Innovation; Marketing Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Banking Industry; Kenya; South Africa

July 2008
Supplement

The Politics and Economics of Accounting for Goodwill at Cisco Systems (B)

By: Karthik Ramanna

Studies the role of Cisco in setting current US accounting standards for acquisitions and goodwill. Students are asked to analyze an acquisition in the context of an ongoing political debate on mergers accounting. View Details

Keywords: Goodwill Accounting; Standards; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business and Government Relations; United States

July 2008
Case

The Politics and Economics of Accounting for Goodwill at Cisco Systems (A)

By: Karthik Ramanna

Studies the role of Cisco in setting current U.S. accounting standards for acquisitions and goodwill. Students are asked to analyze an acquisition in the context of an ongoing political debate on mergers accounting. View Details

Keywords: Goodwill Accounting; Mergers and Acquisitions; Standards; Business and Government Relations; United States

March 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

China: To Float or Not To Float? (C)- Esquel Group and the Chinese Renminbi

By: Laura Alfaro, Rafael M. Di Tella and Ingrid Vogel

In July 2005, China revalued its currency by 2.1% and adjusted its exchange rate regime toward a more market-based system. Esquel Group, a family-run, privately held textiles firm specializing in high-quality cotton shirts with its most significant manufacturing base... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Currency Exchange Rate; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Value Creation; China