Publications

July 2001 (Revised February 2004)
Case

Gerdau (A)

By: Joseph L. Bower, Luiz Felipe Monteiro and Sonja Ellingson Hout

Gerdau Group is a family-controlled Brazilian manufacturer and distributor of long steel products. Describes the evolution of the company's strategy, organization, and smart management, making it the No. 2 steel producer in Brazil. The company must decide whether to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Family Business; Decision Choices and Conditions; Developing Countries and Economies; Globalization; Competitive Strategy; Steel Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Brazil; United States

November 1996 (Revised August 1997)
Case

Project "Dial-Tone"

By: William A. Sahlman and Andrew S. Janower

Bob Hellman, a partner in a West Coast middle-market buyout firm, is attempting to simultaneously acquire and merge three disparate firms in the rapidly consolidating telemarketing services industry. Hellman must value the individual companies as well as the combined... View Details

Keywords: Complexity; Private Equity; Integration; Mergers and Acquisitions; Negotiation Deal; Strategic Planning; Investment; Opportunities; Valuation; Service Industry

April 1993 (Revised September 1996)
Case

ABB Deutschland (A)

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven

Describes Europe's most famous postwar multinational merger between Asea of Sweden and Brown Boveri of Switzerland. Gives background on both companies and focuses particularly on BBC's geographic organization, its corporate culture, and the relationship between its... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Subsidiaries; Corporate Governance; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Behavior; Business Strategy; Sweden; Switzerland

Find at Harvard

April 2010
Supplement

The Auction for Travelport (B)

By: Andrei Hagiu and Misha Sanwal

This short case presents the epilogue of The Auction for Travelport (A). Blackstone decided to bid on its own, acquired Travelport for $4.3 billion and subsequently went on to acquire another GDS, Travelspan, for $1.4 billion. It then merged the two GDSs and partially... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Value Creation; Private Equity; Mergers and Acquisitions; Industry Structures; Initial Public Offering; Capital Markets; Market Transactions; Change; Auctions; Travel Industry

14 Nov 2016
Op-Ed

5 Lessons I Hope Marketers Don’t Learn from Donald Trump

dreams of consumers, because a brand that’s built on such appeals will find it hard to grow to be a source of pride. Apparently misogyny, xenophobia, and contempt for the disabled have worked as customer acquisition tools for soon-to-be... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Deighton

01 Jun 2009
News

Crisis and Creativity

creates an opening for entrepreneurs who can meet the profitability challenge by reexamining the whole business model — a process that might involve customer acquisition or retention, or pricing innovations. It is only fitting for the... View Details

Keywords: Bhaskar Chakravorti

17 Feb 2022
Blog Post

The Fifth Year of Short Intensive Programs (SIPs) at HBS

investments, and environment of the global food supply chain, with an immersive look at the role of plant-based foods. Professor Max Bazerman, accompanied by Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni, entrepreneur and director of the venture firm Natural Order View Details

December 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

21Seeds: Taking Shots at Breakout Growth

By: Elie Ofek, Julian De Freitas, Michael Moynihan and Nicole Tempest Keller

21Seeds, a female-founded flavor-infused tequila startup launched in 2019, had made inroads into the alcoholic beverage industry by focusing on an underserved consumer segment in spirits—women, primarily in their 30s and 40s, many of whom were moms—and by following a... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution Channels; Sales; Food and Beverage Industry

December 1998 (Revised December 1999)
Case

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Private Client Services

By: Thomas J. DeLong, David M. Darst, Ann K Rusher and Catherine M. Conneely

The 1997 merger of retail giant Dean Witter and investment bank Morgan Stanley was a year old when Bob Sculthorpe was appointed director of Private Client Services (PCS) at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (MSDW). The firm was still operating under two separate broker-dealer... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Divisions; Investment Banking; Brands and Branding; Salesforce Management; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry

February 2016 (Revised December 2016)
Case

IMAX: Scaling Personalized Learning in India

By: John Jong-Hyun Kim, Michael Chu and Rachna Tahilyani

IMAX is a provider of comprehensive testing and personalized content across mid-range and low-cost private K-10 schools in India. It aims to improve learning outcomes by providing schools with an integrated product suite including textbooks, workbooks, assessments,... View Details

Keywords: Curriculum and Courses; Learning; Acquisition; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Education Industry; India

June 2013
Teaching Plan

Citigroup-Wachovia-Wells Fargo

By: Guhan Subramanian and Charlotte Krontiris

This case follows the events of a crucial week in the 2008 financial crisis, when the federal government orchestrated the sale of Wachovia Bank first to Citigroup and then, in a surprise move, to Wells Fargo. We examine the extraordinary relations between government... View Details

Keywords: Citigroup; Wachovia; Wells Fargo; FDIC; Acquisition; Financial Crisis; Banks and Banking; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; United States

July 2008
Case

Aurora Capital Group - Douglas Dynamics

Aurora Capital, a U.S. Private Equity firm, contemplates whether to acquire Douglas Dynamics, the leading U.S. maker of snow plows. Does a business that is highly dependent on the weather, and is seasonal, make a good LBO candidate? This case provides a good... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Private Equity; Investment; Goods and Commodities; Value Creation

10 Jan 2014
News

Year of the Business Remix

Article

Do Strong Fences Make Strong Neighbors?

By: Mihir Desai and Dhammika Dharmapala

Many features of U.S. tax policy towards multinational firms-including the governing principle of capital export neutrality, the byzantine system of expense allocation, and anti-inversion legislation-reflect the intuition that building "strong fences" around the United... View Details

Keywords: International Taxation; Initial Public Offerings; Foreign Portfolio Investment; Policy; Taxation; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Initial Public Offering; Mergers and Acquisitions; Foreign Direct Investment; United States

SSRN

Find at Harvard

01 Oct 2000
News

Raymond A. Baxter: Sweet Smell of Success

the strong belief that I could succeed in any business environment." Baxter's latest challenge has been managing the successful acquisition and integration of Norse Dairy Systems, a leading manufacturer of ice-cream cones and other... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

01 Jun 2009
News

Alumni Books

multinationals as Bharat Forge, Hindalco, Mahindra, and Suzlon will increasingly be making acquisitions and building their brands in Western markets. This book profiles India’s pioneering multinationals, describing their transformation... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

01 Dec 2015
News

Ink

something well, you’re not just looking at a Kuwaiti investor or a regional investor—it’s a global scene.” —Faisal Al-Hamad (MBA 2005), discussing the $170 million acquisition of Kuwaiti online food delivery service Talabat by Germany’s... View Details

November 2008
Teaching Note

Crossing Borders: MTC's Journey through Africa (TN)

By: Tarun Khanna

Teaching Note for [708477]. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Monopoly; Strategic Planning; Mergers and Acquisitions; Leadership; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Competition; Developing Countries and Economies; Brands and Branding; Culture; Telecommunications Industry; Kuwait; Africa

July 2024
Supplement

Fail Safe Testing, Inc. (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Pre-Abstract: Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.
Abstract: Fail Safe Testing, Inc., founded in 1988, was the leading provider of fire hose pressure testing, ground ladder and pump... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Business Plan; Acquisition; Customers