Publications

Find at Harvard

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

30 Sep 2014
First Look

First Look: September 30

objectives within the short time available will be a major challenge. Purchase this case: http://hbr.org/product/Thomas-Cook-Group-on-the-/an/215008-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 807-025 eClinicalWorks: The Paths to Growth In January 2006, eClinicalWorks (eCW)... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 1991 (Revised July 1994)
Case

Southland Corp. (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback

Examines Southland's financial difficulties following the LBO in 1987 up to the first restructuring plan in July 1990. The teaching objectives are: to explore the complexities of a failed leverage buyout and the operating restrictions that result from financial... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Equity; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financing and Loans; Crisis Management

June 2007 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Dressen (Abridged) (A)

By: Thomas R. Piper

John Lynch, CEO of the Dressen Division of Westinghouse, was elated by the proposed leveraged buyout by the private equity firm, Warburg Pincus Ventures. The buyout would rid the division of a 'bad' parent and place the division's destiny in its own hands. A recently... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Forecasting and Prediction; Private Equity; Bids and Bidding; Valuation

December 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Vignette: The Rebar Dilemma

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Martin Smith, a new associate at an LBO firm, must respond to a problem posed by his boss, based on an historical deal that suddenly came undone. After months of negotiation, his firm's plan to buy a bankrupt competitor of one of its portfolio companies and close it... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Competition; Growth and Development Strategy; Business or Company Management

July 2001
Technical Note

Technical Note on LBO Valuation (B): The Equity Cash Flow Method of Valuation using CAPM

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

Explains the equity cash flow method of valuation as it applies to leveraged buyouts. Also explains how to implement the changing cost of equity method using the CAPM. View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Forecasting and Prediction; Cash Flow; Cost of Capital; Equity; Valuation

December 1990 (Revised February 2000)
Supplement

Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners, Video

By: Michael C. Jensen and Brian Barry

Edward Burkhardt, president and CEO of Wisconsin Central, and Carl Freebback, general partner of Berkshire Partners, engage in a question and answer session with the students. View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Leveraged Buyouts; Financial Condition; Financing and Loans; Corporate Finance; Rail Industry

February 1996 (Revised November 1996)
Case

Viacom, Inc.: Carpe Diem

By: Joseph L. Bower and Thomas R. Eisenmann

Viacom has reached a powerful position in the global entertainment industry through skillful and very bold acquisitions. Now its further expansion is challenged by the moves of Rupert Murdock's News Corp. Different businesses within Viacom have contradictory positions... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Entertainment; Global Strategy; Management; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Find at Harvard

June 2011 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Reckitt Benckiser: Fast and Focused Innovation

By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Ryan Johnson

Since its 1999 merger Reckitt Benckiser (RB), a global consumer goods company, led by its CEO Bart Becht, RB developed a reputation for rapid product innovation and industry leading profit margins. RB's stated strategy was to focus on its Powerbrands and high growth... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Global Strategy; Innovation Leadership; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Performance Improvement; Commercialization; Consumer Products Industry

25 Jun 2013
First Look

First Look: June 25

their career, want to run their own companies. This note looks at the funded search as a means to entrepreneurship through acquisition and describes the path to buy and run a business using debt and equity as a means of financing the... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

24 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

SuperCorp: Values as Guidance System

doubled its size by acquiring a large European company and was about to do it again by buying an Australian global company. Zambrano viewed clear core values and standards as an important element of success, particularly as Cemex expanded quickly overseas through View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

24 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 24, 2006

pursue further globalization, Natura must now decide whether to continue to rely primarily on the direct sales model or to experiment with other models—and whether to make acquisitions or become part of a larger group. Purchase this case: View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

28 Feb 2005
Research & Ideas

How to Harness Auction Fever

acquisition targets, and organizations of all types bid for employees—executives, highly skilled salespersons, and so on. More generally, the research may be relevant to any competitive decision-making context. For example, businesses... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls; Web Services; Technology

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Media Metamorphosis: Advertising in the Technology Age

arise primarily from the wave of mergers and acquisitions that continue to alter the balance of power among media firms. The Walt Disney Company, for instance, in addition to owning the American Broadcasting Company and ESPN through the... View Details

Keywords: by Peter K. Jacobs; Advertising

14 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

The Big Money for Big Projects

conditions over the past few years, but not nearly to the extent that other financing vehicles such as venture capital or other financial transactions such as mergers and acquisitions have been affected. From a peak of almost $220 billion... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

August 2006 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Medco Energi Internasional

In late 2004, Hilmi Panigoro, CEO of the publicly traded Indonesian oil company Medco Energi Internasional, is striving to regain majority control of the company his brother Arifin founded in 1980. The Asian financial crisis of 1999 led to a major restructuring that... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Family Business; Restructuring; Financing and Loans; Ownership Stake; Business and Shareholder Relations; Indonesia; Singapore