Acquisitions - Publications - Faculty & Research

April 2023
Article

Inattentive Inference

This paper studies how people infer a state of the world from information structures that include additional, payoff-irrelevant states. For example, learning from a customer review about a product’s quality requires accounting for the reviewer’s otherwise irrelevant... View Details

Keywords: Cognition and Thinking; Information Types; Behavior; Knowledge Acquisition

January 1991 (Revised May 1991)
Case

Hoechst in the United States (A)

Describes the U.S. market for chemicals following WW II to the present and the attention of the market for global chemical companies. Traces the involvement of Hoechst in this market up to the 1980s when minimum growth has been offered through Hoechst's U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Chemicals; Acquisition; Chemical Industry; United States

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01 Mar 2010
News

Alumni Books

market capitalization. The book examines how misguided investment and acquisition strategies have created the paradox that, in media, the faster revenues grow, the worse their stocks perform. The Elements of Investing by Burton G. Malkiel... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Finance; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

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

28 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 28

decide whether now is the time to sell his firm's investment in Tri-Northern Distribution. Brazos, a middle-market leveraged buyout group, created the company two years earlier through the acquisition of two electronic security... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

Building ’Brandtopias’—How Top Brands Tap into Society

by a small start-up either in North Carolina or eastern Tennessee (the drink has two origin myths, he said with a smile), the high-sugar, high-caffeine, low-carbonation beverage battled very competitively against Coke and Pepsi before its View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

October 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Case

Lehman Brothers and Peabody Coal

When Texas Utilities Company (TXU) wanted to acquire The Energy Group, the latter needed to spin-off its coal mining assets, Peabody Coal, to avoid running afoul of antitrust authorities. In this case, TXU's investment banker, Lehman Brothers, considers whether to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Investment Banking; Monopoly; Conflict of Interests; Mining Industry; Utilities Industry

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May 2000
Case

CMGI: Organizational and Market Innovation

By: Josh Lerner

CMGI is considering acquiring yesmail, an e-mail marketing firm. In assessing the potential acquisition, it must assess the fit with its own organization, which consists of a unique blend of venture capital investments and publicly traded subsidiaries. View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Structure; Venture Capital; Business Subsidiaries

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02 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 3, 2018

Vegemite, the iconic Australian spread. The team must decide whether to bid for the division and, if so, how much to offer and how to finance the all-cash bid. Making these decisions was difficult because this would be Bega’s largest View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Nov 2015
First Look

November 10, 2015

acquisition (CPA). However, these standard online advertising metrics are plagued with attribution problems and do not account for dynamics. These issues can easily lead firms to overspend on some actions and thus waste money and/or... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Apr 2002
Lessons from the Classroom

Entrepreneurship: It Can Be Taught

enough good information to continue? HS: The running of the experiments is actually part of the resource acquisition strategy. Starting with a belief and an idea, how does the entrepreneur prove a project's viability to potential backers?... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

23 Jul 2024
In Practice

The New Rules of Trade with China: Navigating Tariffs, Turmoil, and Opportunities

Chinese companies. Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel has all but been blocked despite the Japanese firm’s planned $1.4 billion investment to improve U.S. Steel’s older mills. When assessing regulatory risks as a... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Manufacturing; Retail; Fashion; Industrial Products; Consumer Products; Steel; Transportation; Telecommunications

01 Dec 2011
News

Li & Fung's Global Footprint

average compounded growth rate over that time has been about 22 percent. Acquisitions have been an important part of your growth strategy since the mid-1990s. How do you manage to fold an acquired firm into Li & Fung? To be bigger, we... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Wholesale Trade

19 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 19, 2007

this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=207005 The Dubai Ports World Debacle and Its Aftermath Harvard Business School Case 707-014 Describes the political ramifications in the United States of Dubai-based DP World's View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

31 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 31, 2009

or is it still too early?" Dick Costolo wondered as he reflected on the latest acquisition offer. He had been building FeedBurner with his three co-founders for almost four years and was staring at the details of an View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 2021
Case

Diversifying P&G's Supplier Base (A)

By: Kris Ferreira, Kym Lew Nelson, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Sarah Mehta

In February 2003, P&G hosted two meetings—one with its largest woman- and minority-owned suppliers and one with its largest non-minority-owned suppliers. Attendees in each meeting heard the same message: P&G was keen to grow its commitment to inclusive supply chains,... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Business Organization; Family Business; Joint Ventures; Demographics; Diversity; Ethnicity; Race; Ethics; Fairness; Ownership; Supply Chain Management; Consumer Products Industry; Service Industry; United States; Ohio

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June 2009
Teaching Note

COFCO Xinjiang Tunhe Co., Ltd. (TN)

By: David E. Bell, Sarah Morton and Mary Louise Shelman

Teaching Note for [508079]. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Focus and Relationships; Goals and Objectives; Quality; Price; Competitive Strategy; Contracts; Supply and Industry; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Safety; Cost Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; China

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January 2019 (Revised February 2024)
Teaching Note

Hubble Contact Lenses: Data Driven Direct-to-Consumer Marketing

By: Ayelet Israeli

Teaching Note for HBS No. 519-011. As its Series A extension round approaches, the founders of Hubble, a subscription-based, social-media fueled, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand of contact lenses, are reflecting on the marketing strategies that have taken them to a... View Details

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July 2011
Teaching Note

Weber Shandwick: The Client Relationship Leader Program (TN)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Penelope Rossano

Teaching Note for 408077. View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams; Employees; Growth and Development; Situation or Environment; Consolidation; Acquisition; Digital Platforms; Blogs; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet and the Web; Public Relations Industry

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October 2008 (Revised June 2010)
Case

State of Emergency at Mercy Hospital

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Chirag D Shah

Dr. Scott Gabu, Chairman of the Emergency Department of the world-renowned, university-based Mercy Hospital, was deeply disturbed when he read the letter from the family of John Samson, a patient who had come to the emergency room one week earlier, that described an... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Knowledge Acquisition; Leadership Development; Behavior; Personal Characteristics; Health Industry

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