Publications

June 2025
Case

Redefining the Edge: Jahez’s Strategic Pivot in Saudi Arabia’s Food Delivery Battle

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Ahmed Dahawy

Jahez made its mark in Saudi Arabia’s food delivery market by serving customers willing to pay more for reliable, high-quality service—a segment largely overlooked by other platforms. As the company grew, it expanded into the mass market and developed a network of... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Conglomerates; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Innovation Strategy; Digital Platforms; Logistics; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Expansion; Food and Beverage Industry; Saudi Arabia

July 2003 (Revised February 2004)
Background Note

M&A Legal Context: Hostile Takeovers

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin, Constance E. Bagley and James Quinn

Introduces students to the main tactical maneuvers used by hostile bidders, including bear hugs, proxy fights, tender offers, and toeholds. Also describes how, in the United States, tender offers are regulated by the federal government via the Williams Act. View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Cash; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Code Law; Bids and Bidding; United States

August 1998
Case

Record Masters

By: William A. Sahlman, Michael J. Roberts and Laurence E. Katz

Kent Dauten, a former general partner at the Chicago private equity firm of Madison Dearborn Partners, has engaged in a search to personally sponsor a buyout in which he can play an active management role. He has received a selling memorandum for Record Masters, a... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Leveraged Buyouts; Valuation; Negotiation Deal; Investment

12 PM – 1 PM EDT, 16 Oct 2014
Webinars: Trending@HBS

Can China Lead?

Can China sustain its remarkable emergence of the past 35 years? Surely No, for multiple reasons. China will be a leader, but not the leader. Professor McFarlan will talk about both the challenges and opportunities for those seeking to do business with and within China... View Details

June 2024
Supplement

Legacy Partners (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: Stephen Holbrook and Austin Pulsipher (both HBS '19) had been leading Nutrishare since acquiring the company six... View Details

December 2016
Article

Deal Process Design in Management Buyouts

By: Guhan Subramanian

Management buyouts (MBOs) are an economically and legally significant class of transaction: not only do they account for more than $10 billion in deal volume per year, on average, but they also play an important role in defining the relationship between inside and... View Details

Keywords: Management Buyout; Deal Structuring; Acquisition; Design; Fairness

Keywords: Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments

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01 Dec 2009
News

Hope for Reform Dims

led to Merrill’s acquisition by Bank of America,” he recalled. Three weeks after the deal closed on January 1, 2009, Thain was forced to resign as controversy swirled around the generous terms of the $50 billion deal View Details

27 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 27

case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/210041-PDF-ENG Merger Integration at Bank of America: The TrustWeb Project Gary P. Pisano and Bradley R. StaatsHarvard Business School Case 610-054 This case... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

June 2021
Article

Engineering Serendipity: When Does Knowledge Sharing Lead to Knowledge Production?

By: Jacqueline N. Lane, Ina Ganguli, Patrick Gaule, Eva C. Guinan and Karim R. Lakhani

We investigate how knowledge similarity between two individuals is systematically related to the likelihood that a serendipitous encounter results in knowledge production. We conduct a natural field experiment at a medical research symposium, where we exogenously... View Details

Keywords: Cognitive Similarity; Innovation; Knowledge Production; Natural Field Experiment; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Sharing; Relationships

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20 Sep 2011
First Look

First Look: September 20

aspirations for what is to be gained in the current relationship, and these aspirations fuel opportunism. Finally, we show that other parties may fail to anticipate these effects, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation. State Activism... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2001 (Revised August 2005)
Case

Guinness PLC: Managing Negotiations

By: Michael A. Wheeler

Describes an initiative by Guinness, LLP to revise the process by which it centrally authorizes, supports, and reviews negotiations that are undertaken worldwide on its behalf. Senior managers wished to give regional officers enough discretion to respond to local... View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Negotiation; Acquisition

23 Feb 2011
First Look

First Look: Feb. 23

the owner of a French chain of fast food outlets is concerned about the impact on his company's balance sheets. Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/111063-PDF-ENG The Dow Acquisition of Rohm View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2010
Supplement

Compass Maritime Services, LLC: Valuing Ships (CW)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Albert W. Sheen

Tom Roberts, a founding partner of Compass Maritime Services, a New Jersey-based shipping research and consulting firm, has been asked by a new potential customer in May 2008 for advice on purchasing a capesize bulk carrier. After identifying a suitable ship with his... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Decisions; Microeconomics; Finance; Price; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Market Transactions; Partners and Partnerships; Mathematical Methods; Valuation; Consulting Industry; New Jersey

August 2017 (Revised September 2023)
Case

Altoona State Investment Board & Bain Capital Fund XI

By: Josh Lerner and Ted Berk

Considers the decision faced by state pension fund manager Rod Calhoun as he decides whether to invest $200 million in Bain Capital's eleventh global buyout fund: Bain Capital Fund XI. For the fund, Bain was offering its limited partners a choice among three different... View Details

Keywords: Equity Method; Leveraged Buyout; Management Buyout; Capital; Design; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Leveraged Buyouts; Management; Private Equity; Venture Capital; Banking Industry; Massachusetts

Keywords: Julia Hanna; department stores; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools

01 Mar 2007
News

Courting the Poor

the questions posed by the case is the classic conundrum of where and how Magazine Luiza should expand while preserving its identity and culture. The case describes a large View Details

February 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Case

AptDeco: Circular Economy Furniture Marketplace

By: Ayelet Israeli and Jamie Merkrebs

AptDeco, a used furniture marketplace, was growing rapidly in the tri-state area. The co-founders were confident that the business model, financial position, and unit economics positioned AptDeco for scaling in the massive $120 billion furniture market, despite its... View Details

May 1992 (Revised May 1993)
Supplement

Jan Carlzon: CEO at SAS (B)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Summarizes Carlzon's new focus externally on building alliances and acquiring travel service companies. Describes the financial problems resulting from the recession and the Gulf War crisis. Designed as an in-class handout to highlight the long-term management... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Financial Crisis; Problems and Challenges; Planning; Leadership; Alliances; Strategy; Air Transportation Industry

05 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 5

supplement:http://hbr.org/search/710023-PDF-ENG Home Nursing of North Carolina Richard S. Ruback and Royce YudkoffHarvard Business School Case 212-120 Ari Medoff's (HBS '11) goal was to control his own professional destiny by owning his... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2001 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Spir-It, Inc. (A): Building the Business

Early in February 1934, two and a half months after the end of prohibition, Jack Sindler sat with a friend in Boston's Ritz Hotel bar enjoying a drink. Sindler worked for the Converse Rubber Co., and he was always inventing something. He held several patents for rubber... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Production; Market Entry and Exit; Management Succession; Entrepreneurship; Product Launch; Acquisition; Growth and Development; Product Development; Manufacturing Industry; Boston