Publications

July 1996
Case

Bayside Controls, Inc.

By: H. Kent Bowen, Jennifer Kochman and Sylvie Ryckebusch

Two recent MBA graduates acquire a small and ailing metal-machining company that had manufactured small aerospace components. Through clever application of state-of-the-art manufacturing, engineering, and marketing/sales concepts, they turned the company into a growing... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Leveraged Buyouts; Machinery and Machining; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Production; Personal Development and Career; Sales; Aerospace Industry

01 Sep 2009
News

Jesse Markham Dies at 93

Jesse Markham, an economist who joined the HBS faculty in 1968, died in his sleep on June 21 in Nashua, New Hampshire. Markham, whose work focused on price theory and industrial organization, was a well-known proponent of the “rule of... View Details

Keywords: faculty; obituary; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools

June 1991
Case

Continental Carriers, Inc.

By: W. Carl Kester

A U.S. trucking company is considering using debt for the first time to acquire another company. The directors of the company are divided in their opinion of the likely impact of leverage on Continental Carriers' performance. Their differences must be reconciled and a... View Details

Keywords: Debt Securities; Financing and Loans; Acquisition; Borrowing and Debt; Equity; Transportation Industry; United States

February 1985
Teaching Note

Duncan Field (A), Teaching Note

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Michael J. Roberts

Teaching Note for (9-382-137). View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Negotiation; System; Personal Development and Career; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

August 2009 (Revised December 2012)
Background Note

Researching a Company

By: Willy Shih and Meghan Dolan

This note was written to help students at the Harvard Business School do a more thorough job of researching a company, utilizing the extensive resources of the Baker Library, as well as other widely available databases. Exhibits provide detailed information on key... View Details

Keywords: Business Education; Knowledge Acquisition; Research

May 2024
Supplement

DRSi (A)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

In March of 2019, Jen Ransom Fuller purchased DRSi. DRSi, located in Bellevue, Washington, printed and reproduced architectural plans and drawings. Fuller planned to use her first year of ownership to learn the business and to run it in much the same way as the seller.... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Small Business; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Business Education; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Health Pandemics; Selection and Staffing; Employee Relationship Management; Production; Logistics; Safety; United States; Washington (state, US)

March 2008
Exercise

Exercise: Challenging Operational Assumptions

By: Frances X. Frei

This exercise provides students with an opportunity to thoroughly test an operating assumption. Students state an assumption as a testable hypothesis, collect and analyze relevant data, and communicate the results. At HBS, it is incorporated in a second-year elective... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Employees; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Service Operations; Performance Improvement

Find at Harvard

April 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Internet Securities, Inc.: Path to Sustainability

By: Lynda M. Applegate, William R. Kerr and Ryan Johnson

Founded in 1994 when the Internet was still a "toy for techies," the case is set in 1998 when Internet IPOs were red-hot. Internet Securities provides hard-to-find financial, business, economic, and political information on emerging markets. Information from over 600... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Model; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Cash Flow; Initial Public Offering; Analytics and Data Science; Growth and Development Strategy; Valuation

October 1987 (Revised January 1989)
Background Note

Purchasing a Business: The Search Process

Describes the steps necessary to purchase a small to medium size company. Provides an eight-part analytical framework. Issues covered in the framework include the following: the self-assessment, deal criteria, deal sources, resources necessary to purchase a business,... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Framework; Resource Allocation; Negotiation Deal; Business Processes; Valuation

June 2023 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Collaboration Wars: Slack vs. Microsoft Teams 2023

By: David B. Yoffie, Kriti Gupta, Mehek Punatar, Poonam Sacheti and Poorvi Vijay

What's the future of corporate communications? Email? Corporate messaging? The battle for corporate messaging in 2023 was stacking up as a fight between Slack, which had been recently acquired by Salesforce, and Microsoft Teams. This case explores a classic judo... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Acquisition; Technology Industry; Communications Industry

09 Feb 2016
First Look

February 9, 2016

shareholder. The case presents students with many of the decisions Allergan's directors faced amid challenges to Allergan's governance, management, and business model. In particular, the Allergan board must decide whether to pursue a $10... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Career Coach

Kelsey Holland

through – Acquisition club and plans to launch her own search fund after graduation with the goal of acquiring a software company. She would love to help you think through the right startup role, stage of... View Details

14 Nov 2007
First Look

First Look: November 14, 2007

and in the number of analysts covering the target prior to the merger announcement. This evidence is consistent with the notion that both financial statement recognition and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

16 Oct 2007
First Look

First Look: October 16, 2007

NPIL's new acquisitions in Canada and the United Kingdom to market NPIL globally. His three direct reports are each involved in different aspects of NPIL—the Canadian operations, the British operations,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

How to Look at Globalization Now

global share have been dispersed across an increasing number of competitors—deconcentrating effects that the recent wave of mergers and acquisitions has barely begun to... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

09 May 2005
Research & Ideas

Hold or Fold? Sizing Up Business Risk

divest a recent acquisition or buy other assets to build this business area would check the same column. The law partner who is thinking about retirement from a lucrative law practice and who really wants to... View Details

Keywords: by Eileen C. Shapiro & Howard H. Stevenson

May 2024
Supplement

DRSi (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: In March of 2019, Jen Ransom Fuller purchased DRSi. DRSi, located in Bellevue, Washington, printed and reproduced... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Small Business; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Business Education; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Health Pandemics; Selection and Staffing; Employee Relationship Management; Production; Logistics; Safety; Washington (state, US); United States

June 1998 (Revised June 1999)
Case

Dixon Corporation: The Collinsville Plant

By: W. Carl Kester

Dixon Corp.faces the task of valuing a plant and an associated project that it is considering buying. The revisions are designed to enable the application of adjusted present value technique for valuation. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Valuation; Projects; Forecasting and Prediction; Acquisition; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry