Publications

January 2013
Case

Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service, and Company Culture (MM)

By: Frances X. Frei and Robin J. Ely

On July 17, 2009, Zappos.com, a privately-held online retailer of shoes, clothing, and other soft-line retail categories, learned that Amazon.com, a $19 billion multinational online retailer, had won its Board of Directors' approval to offer to merge the two companies.... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Internet and the Web; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry

September 2009
Teaching Note

iZumi (TN)

By: Robert F. Higgins

Teaching Note for [809105]. View Details

Keywords: Perspective; Intellectual Property; Venture Capital; Innovation and Invention; Investment; Financing and Loans; Information Technology; Mergers and Acquisitions; Commercialization; Biotechnology Industry

August 2009 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Shenzhen Development Bank

By: Li Jin, Yuhai Xuan and Xiaobing Bai

Weijian Shan, Managing Partner of Newbridge Capital, faces a tough call in regard to his firm's investment in Shenzhen Development Bank, China's fifteenth-largest commercial bank listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Due to the aggressive lobby of the existing... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Commercial Banking; Investment; Emerging Markets; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; China

September 1999
Case

CIBC Corporate and Investment Banking (B): 1992-1997 (Condensed)

By: Joseph L. Bower and Michael Raynor

From 1992 to 1997, CIBC CEO Al Flood and head of investment banking John Hunkin integrate the struggling investment bank Wood Gundy with CIBC's corporate bank. The impact and interaction of organization design, compensation schemes, and communication initiatives are... View Details

Keywords: Investment Banking; Banks and Banking; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Design; Business Plan; Communication; Banking Industry

February 2004 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Random House

By: Bharat N. Anand, Kyle F. Barnett and Elizabeth Lea Carpenter

On June 12, 2003, the proposed merger of Random House and Time Warner Book Group was called off by the CEO of Random House's parent company, Bertelsmann. The announcement was welcomed by several critics who had questioned the logic of further consolidation in the book... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Information Publishing; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Vertical Integration; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Publishing Industry

February 2001
Case

PlanetFeedback: The Voice of One ... The Power of Many (A)

By: James L. Heskett

The management of PlanetFeedback in proposes a merger with Intelliseek. Their goal is to create a comprehensive C2B and B2B business focused on the generation and analysis for business clients of consumer feedback data via the Internet, Planet Feedback's board of... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decisions; Information Management; Analytics and Data Science; Business Strategy; Internet and the Web; Information Technology Industry

July 2016
Supplement

The EC Rains on Oracle/Sun (B)

By: Lena G. Goldberg

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Law; Antitrust; EC Regulation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Multinational Firms and Management; International Relations; Laws and Statutes; Monopoly; Business and Government Relations; Technology Industry; European Union; United States

October 2001 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Philipp Justus at eBay Germany (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Maria Farkas

A week after becoming country manager of eBay's recently acquired German auction site, Philipp Justus must steer the company through a massive technical integration with eBay's Web site. Throughout the seven-month project, Justus and his team must master the challenge... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Leadership; Internet and the Web; Globalized Firms and Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Managerial Roles; Management Teams; Management Practices and Processes; Auctions; Retail Industry; Information Technology Industry; Germany

07 Feb 2019
News

A Course Correction at Chris-Craft

Stephen Heese (MBA 1988), left (photo by mbr/Sarasota Herald-Tribune/Thomas Bender, AP) Stephen Heese (MBA 1988), left (photo by mbr/Sarasota Herald-Tribune/Thomas Bender, AP) A recent article in the Des Moines Register detailed the story of how two alumni—Stephen... View Details

01 Mar 2009
News

Honoring HBS’s Organization Men

sole influence was rational self-interest. “We have acquisitive and social instincts. It’s not all or nothing, it’s both — that’s what makes us such interesting creatures.” Related Links A Modern-Day Classic View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

22 Jan 2019
News

Remembering Walter Shipley

foundation for one of the biggest financial institutions in the world with JPMorgan Chase, an acquisition that took place shortly after Shipley’s retirement in 1999. The Financial Times writes: Mr. Shipley’s deep sense of collegiality is... View Details

March 1998 (Revised June 1998)
Case

BCI Growth III: November 1993

By: Josh Lerner

Supplements BCI Growth III: May 1993. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Business Growth and Maturation; Consolidation; Acquisition; Wastes and Waste Processing; Service Industry; United States

March 1998 (Revised December 1998)
Case

BCI Growth III: May 1993

By: Josh Lerner

A Vermont solid-waste company seeks mezzanine financing to finance its strategy of acquiring and consolidating local competitors. The mezzanine private equity group must decide whether this investment offers an attractive risk-return tradeoff. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Business Growth and Maturation; Consolidation; Wastes and Waste Processing; Acquisition; Service Industry; Vermont

April 1991 (Revised July 1992)
Case

Koito Manufacturing Ltd.

By: W. Carl Kester and Robert W. Lightfoot

Having acquired a 26% stake in Koito Manufacturing, a Japanese automotive parts supplier in the Toyota Group, T. Boone Pickens seeks a seat on Koito's board of directors. Koito's management resists, claiming Pickens is an unhelpful greenmailer, not a true long-term... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Debates; Corporate Governance; Production; Supply Chain; Performance Efficiency; Welfare; Auto Industry; Japan; United States

October 2013
Article

Corporate Venturing

By: Josh Lerner

For decades, large companies have been wary of corporate venturing. But as R&D organizations face pressure to rein in costs and produce results, companies are investing in promising start-ups to gain knowledge and agility. The logic of corporate venturing is... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Knowledge Acquisition; Corporate Strategy; Research and Development; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention

Find at Harvard

January 1983 (Revised July 2007)
Case

Neill Hance

Neill Hance takes advantage of all available information and resources to insure a smooth entry into a culture--an entry that would have normally been rather difficult to deal with because of stereotyping and perceived threat. View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Organizational Culture; Personal Development and Career; Planning; Prejudice and Bias