Publications

Web

Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise Q4 - Course Catalog

Whose investment capital will help us, and whose money might undermine our chances of success? To what extent do commonly used performance metrics kill innovation, and how can we develop metrics that encourage new growth? Can acquisitions... View Details

13 Nov 2020
News

Insatiably Curious

acquisitions at Morgan Stanley, and then to private equity, asset allocation, and now, to leading operations. Ma recently was appointed chief operating officer (COO) of Index Ventures, a 25-year-old international venture capital firm. “We... View Details

01 Oct 1998
News

Beyond the Numbers

one moderately successful product — Stove Top stuffing mix. " Armed with this information, he quickly advised the firm to refocus its efforts on acquiring established but undermarketed concerns, which eventually led to GF's profitable View Details

Keywords: Eileen K. McCluskey

30 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

How Your Employees and Customers Drive a New Value Profit Chain

Value Exchange is improved through efficient information management. Mobil's Speedpass (read book excerpt here) is an example of how knowing your customer can lead to the creation of new products, increased loyalty, and the acquisition of... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Mahoney

07 Sep 2017
Blog Post

How One Organization Increased Their Internship Yield

performance is reviewed, what the incentive structures are – will be helpful. Yes, it takes time, but the extra effort is worthwhile.” At Corning, recruiters have turned inward to communicate outward. Kim Mosher, Corning’s Talent View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing

01 Jun 2008
News

America the Difficult

Last year, foreign investors set new records for their acquisition activity in the United States. And 2008 began with nearly daily stories of American financial executives courting foreign direct investors, particularly sovereign wealth... View Details

Keywords: Mihir A. Desai; foreign investors; Finance

November 2007
Article

If Private Equity Sized Up Your Business

By: Robert C. Pozen

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. As the dust settles on the recent frenzy of private equity deals (including... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital Structure; Private Equity; Investment Return; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

03 Feb 2021
News

Power Play

with the acquisition of three companies associated with HGP, a Texas-based energy developer, and LG Chem, one of the largest battery manufacturers in the world. Rahul Advani, Sara Graziano, and Chris Smith at SER Office Opening in Bay... View Details

Keywords: Maureen Harmon

01 Jan 2008
News

Jeffrey R. Immelt, MBA 1982

managing 7,000 people, and it was a crisis all the time. There were many hard decisions to make every day, but boy, I learned a ton.” GE has seen significant change since Immelt’s tenure began, with acquisitions in energy, aviation, water... View Details

26 Jul 2004
Research & Ideas

A Better Way to Negotiate: Backward

would have been thwarted and ABB would not exist. Manage Information Careful sequencing can help manage sensitive information. For a building developer worried about being squeezed on price if her intentions become public, the property View Details

Keywords: by James K. Sebenius

September 2013 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Antoine Leboyer and GSX

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Antoine Leboyer (HBS '92) acquired the Swiss-based software company GSX in February 2008. He managed through the recession of 2008–2009, dealt with a tumultuous separation from the founder/owner, rebuilt the management team, and upgraded the company's software... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Small Business; Finance; Private Equity; Growth and Development Strategy; France; Switzerland

February 1996
Exercise

Free Cash Flow Valuation Problem Set

By: William A. Sahlman and Andrew S. Janower

Free cash flow valuation problems: 1) build a simple pro forma, 2) value a public company's stock, and 3) evaluate a proposed LBO. View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Cash Flow; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Valuation

24 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 24, 2018

develop an active customer base, focusing on two questions. First, how does the way that customers use the service postadoption to meet their own needs (personal usage) and to interact with one another (social usage) vary across customer View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

18 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 18

may need "hot" financial markets to get through the initial period of discovery or diffusion. Download working paper: http://www.people.hbs.edu/mrhodeskropf/FinancingRiskandInnovation.pdf Cases & Course Materials Harvard Business School Case 114-049... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Eaton Corporation: Portfolio Transformation and the Cost of Capital (Abridged)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

In 2000, Eaton Corporation was a broadly diversified industrial conglomerate. But its strategy was evolving and its focus was narrowing around “power management” and more recently on “intelligent power,” the use of digitally enabled products and services designed to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Cost of Capital; Corporate Finance; Value; Valuation; Industrial Products Industry; United States; Denmark; Republic of Ireland

July 2009 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing

By: Peter Tufano

Kinecta Federal Credit Union has the opportunity to purchase Nix Check Cashing as part of their "blue ocean" strategy to reach the financially underserved and increase credit union membership and deposits. But they face financial as well as reputational risk. Check... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Credit; Financing and Loans; Personal Finance; Strategic Planning; Partners and Partnerships; Reputation; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

October 2008 (Revised September 2011)
Supplement

PepsiCo's Bid for Quaker Oats (D)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

Describes the final deal struck between PepsiCo and Quaker Oats, including the terms of collared consideration. Summarizes stock price announcement effects. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Announcements; Stocks; Price; Risk Management; Negotiation Deal; Valuation; Food and Beverage Industry

July 2008 (Revised January 2010)
Case

Affinity Labs, Inc.

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Elizabeth Kind

In November 2006, Chris Michel left Military.com, which he founded in 1999, to start Affinity Labs, a global network of online communities. That month, Michel raised a Series A round of venture funding and established a partnership with Monster, which he had sold... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Demand and Consumers; Partners and Partnerships; Social and Collaborative Networks; Online Technology