Publications

11 May 2020
News

Covid-19 Dispatch: Karen Mills

December 1996 (Revised February 1998)
Case

Colorscope, Inc.

By: V.G. Narayanan and Joseph Cha

A small company in the graphic arts business faces severe price competition. The company must respond by cutting costs and making process improvements. View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Price; Business Processes; Performance Improvement; Competition; Fine Arts Industry

July 1996
Case

Bayside Controls, Inc.

By: H. Kent Bowen, Jennifer Kochman and Sylvie Ryckebusch

Two recent MBA graduates acquire a small and ailing metal-machining company that had manufactured small aerospace components. Through clever application of state-of-the-art manufacturing, engineering, and marketing/sales concepts, they turned the company into a growing... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Leveraged Buyouts; Machinery and Machining; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Production; Personal Development and Career; Sales; Aerospace Industry

May 2014
Article

Right Up the Middle: How Israeli Firms Go Global

By: Jonathan Friedrich, Amit Noam and Elie Ofek

The article considers international business enterprises based in Israel and how they successfully expanded from their origins as small businesses. A common technique of those companies in which they focused on market entry in other countries whose markets were too... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Israel

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May 2024
Supplement

Forest Park Capital (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

During the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, Betsy Harbison formed the search fund Forest Park Capital with the intention of purchasing a small business. The case conveys the details of Betsy’s final decision at the terminus of her search, between a software company... View Details

Keywords: Search Fund; Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition; Acquisition; Small Business; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Business Education; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Tourism Industry; Web Services Industry; North America; Missouri

August 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Case

BlueVine Capital: Growth Factors

By: Marco Di Maggio and Nathaniel Schwalb

The start-up, BlueVine Capital Inc. (BlueVine), used data and technology to help finance small businesses via factoring and lines of credit. The case explains the small business financing market in mid-2010s, how CEO Eyal Lifshitz identified the opportunity for... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Business Startups; Small Business; Financing and Loans; Innovation Leadership; Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry

February 1992 (Revised February 1996)
Case

Jupiter Management Co.

The manager of a small company growth fund considers relative merits of investing in a company's convertible debt versus its common. View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Investment Portfolio

August 1965 (Revised December 1987)
Case

L.L. Bean, Inc.

Discusses the development and operations of a small manufacturing and mail order company doing $3 million sales. L.L. Bean operates in violation of most reasonable business principles, but it is profitable and growing. View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Operations; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Maine

December 1973 (Revised November 1993)
Case

Cooper Industries, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Piper

The executive president of a major industrial company must decide 1) whether to acquire a small hand tool company and, if so, 2) the value and form that the acquisition package should take. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Valuation; Acquisition; Management Teams; Consumer Products Industry

September 1988 (Revised September 1993)
Case

Mrs. Fields Cookies

By: James I. Cash Jr.

Mrs. Fields Cookies is a small company selling freshly baked goods through privately owned specialty stores (each store sells only Mrs. Fields products). The company has about 8,000 employees worldwide and less than 150 information systems people for a unique leverage... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Information Management; Organizational Structure; Customer Relationship Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Networks; Internet and the Web; Food and Beverage Industry; Information Technology Industry

12 Oct 2016
Research & Ideas

Break the Rules of How Business is Done

Taking a risk by breaking with standard operating procedure can make your company more innovative. Credit: maxsattana In addition to creating a new company that is disrupting the status quo, many founders... View Details

Keywords: by Julia B. Austin

February 2001 (Revised October 2001)
Case

JetBlue Airways: Starting from Scratch

JetBlue Airways shows how an entrepreneurial venture is able to use human resource management, specifically a values-centered approach to managing people, as a source of competitive advantage. The major challenge faced by Ann Rhoades is to grow this people-centered... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Values and Beliefs; Competitive Advantage; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Business Startups; Air Transportation Industry

05 Sep 2019
News

Stripe, the world’s most valuable private fintech company, is getting into lending

September 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Tata Motors: The Tata Ace

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Vishnu Srinivasan

Considers the strategy and experience of Tata Motors, India's leading commercial truck maker, as it developed a new small commercial vehicle, the Tata Ace. Positioned as a replacement for the three-wheelers that predominated as small commercial vehicles in India, the... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Product Development; Product; Innovation Strategy; Business Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Auto Industry; India

February 2017
Case

Eve Hall: The African American Investment Fund in Milwaukee

By: Steven Rogers and Alterrell Mills

The case highlights the role of minority chambers of commerce and the background of Eve Hall, a well-regarded multi-sector leader asked to revive Wisconsin's African-American chamber. This case study examines the lending options that a minority chamber of commerce... View Details

February 2004
Case

Succession Capital Corporation

In 2003, a small buyout company in Canada was deciding which company to purchase next. This case explores the challenges facing a young entrepreneur in the process of selecting a new acquisition when financial and human resources are constrained. View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Entrepreneurship; Corporate Finance; Canada

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April 2009 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Immusol and Novartis

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Keyne M. Monson, Juan D. Betancourt and Victor Li

Should Immusol strive to become a fully integrated pharmaceutical company? How should a small pharmaceutical company structure a deal for its novel technology with the giant Novartis? View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Rights; Negotiation Deal; Negotiation Participants; Alliances; Pharmaceutical Industry