Publications

June 2011
Case

Fighting a Dangerous Financial Fire: The Federal Response to the Crisis of 2007-2009

By: David Moss and Cole Bolton

By the summer of 2009, many observers concluded that a catastrophic financial collapse- which seemed all but imminent the previous fall and winter - had been averted. Although the recession had still yet to be declared over and the economy's footing remained far from... View Details

Keywords: Business Cycles; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Financial Crisis; Financial Institutions; Financial Markets; Financial Strategy; Policy; Knowledge Acquisition

2009
Working Paper

Firsthand Experience and the Subsequent Role of Reflected Knowledge in Cultivating Trust in Global Collaboration

By: Mark Mortensen and T. B. Neeley

While scholars contend that firsthand experience—time spent onsite observing the people, places, and norms of a distant locale—is crucial in globally distributed collaboration, how such experience actually affects interpersonal dynamics is poorly understood. Based on... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Experience and Expertise; Globalized Firms and Management; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Trust

Read Now

November 2005 (Revised October 2012)
Case

The Auction for Burger King (A)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and James Quinn

Paul Walsh, CEO of Diageo, must evaluate bids received in an auction of the Burger King restaurant unit. Describes how Diageo came to own Burger King, the attempts to turn the unit around, the strategic reasons for its sale, the auction process, and various bidders'... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Leveraged Buyouts; Bids and Bidding; Valuation; Auctions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Negotiation Tactics; Service Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

April 2000
Case

Francisco Partners

By: Josh Lerner and David L. Gallo

Francisco Partners (which focuses on buyouts of high-technology firms) aims to be the largest first-time fund ever raised. The rationales for the fund, fundraising strategy, and partnership terms and conditions are among the topics explored. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Strategy; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry

28 Oct 2019
Research & Ideas

Brick-and-Mortar Stores Are Making a Comeback

meant to be a channel of distribution; it’s an acquisition engine and a way to make a brand splash in a particular market. Moreno: Warby Parker also has photo booths in some of their stores, where you can try on the glasses and take... View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint; Retail

11 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

In the Future of Sports Investing, Media Is the Best Bet

"Sports fans like statistics," he says. He is also looking at ways to incorporate his sports media expertise into the classroom. "I am percolating the idea of a course on sports media," Higgins says, explaining that the industry offers great... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Sports; Financial Services

13 Dec 2004
Research & Ideas

Sharing News That Might Be Bad

of directors recently gave the department mixed reviews: some directors are dubious about the unit's long-term prospects and are open to acquisition offers; others, however, continue to believe in the unit's promise and want to give it a... View Details

Keywords: by Paul Michelman

August 2010
Article

Sell-Side School Ties

By: Lauren H. Cohen, Christopher J. Malloy and Andrea Frazzini

We study the impact of social networks on agents' ability to gather superior information about firms. Exploiting novel data on the educational backgrounds of sell-side equity analysts and senior officers of firms, we test the hypothesis that analysts' school ties to... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Knowledge Acquisition; Social and Collaborative Networks

04 Jun 2013
First Look

First Look: June 4

through acquisitions were from Deshpande's seed investments; Bay's LPs were ecstatic with Bay's turnaround; and the office atmosphere was upbeat and fun. Now was a logical time to begin fundraising for the next fund, Bay XII. Although... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas and Research: May 23, 2017

personality theory into a multi-level model of information acquisition and idea generation. We posit that innovator and peer personality are critical factors conditioning who will generate high-quality ideas, and that our proposed... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

12 Aug 2014
First Look

First Look: August 12

late 2009, Marisa worked in acquisitions at Douglas Private Equity Advisors. During the first year Marisa spent a lot of her time reviewing documents, making site visits, and running numbers, using a sophisticated software program called... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 23

(1990) and Petersen-Rajan (1995) models of information acquisition in credit markets. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-077.pdf Strategies to Fight Ad-sponsored Rivals Authors: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Feng Zhu... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Oct 2007
First Look

First Look: October 2, 2007

This paper examines the effect of corporate governance on investor reactions to accounting choice in the context of accounting for business combinations. Using a sample of 324 recent stock swap acquisitions I find that, contrary to... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

10 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 10, 2007

issues is brief and non-technical. Provides actual deferred tax information from AOL's Form 10-K, where net operating loss carry forwards result in a large deferred tax asset and the accounting for software and deferred subscriber View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2017 (Revised August 2017)
Case

Earl Gordon - Eastern Circle

By: Steven Rogers and Greg White

This case follows an African-American entrepreneur through the process of sourcing a potential acquisition, valuing a company, and securing the funding to purchase the company. This entrepreneur must decide if he should close the deal and which financing term sheet to... View Details

August 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Supplement

Arla Foods: Data-Driven Decarbonization (B)

By: Michael Parzen, Michael W. Toffel, Susan Pinckney and Amram Migdal

The case describes Arla’s history, in particular its climate change mitigation efforts, and how it implemented a price incentive system to motivate individual farms to implement scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions mitigation measures and receive a higher milk price. The... View Details

June 2024
Supplement

Legacy Partners (A)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.

Stephen Holbrook and Austin Pulsipher (both HBS '19) had been leading Nutrishare since acquiring the company six months earlier in mid-2021.... View Details

April 2007 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Bankinter: Growing Through Small and Medium Enterprises

Surveys the overall sequence of processes needed for the success of a strategy based on customer analytics. In particular, it charts the formulation and implementation of this strategy by a Spanish bank that decided to expand into the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME)... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Data and Data Sets; Knowledge Acquisition; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Segmentation; Banking Industry; Spain

May 1999 (Revised September 2003)
Case

Advanced Inhalation Research, Inc.

This case presents a look at the early start-up phase and development of Advanced Inhalation Research (AIR), a company engaged in the development of a new drug-delivery technology. Focuses on the risks, the steps taken to manage it, and the manner in which the company... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Risk Management; Valuation; Financing and Loans; Health Care and Treatment; Acquisition; Business Startups; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry