Publications

September 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Case

Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A1)

By: Fabrizio Ferri, V.G. Narayanan and James Weber

Two activist investors, one a founder and one a hedge fund manager, seek to improve board oversight at a chain restaurant company. Prestley Blake founded Friendly Ice Cream in 1935 with his brother, and the two created a chain of full-service restaurants. In 1979, they... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Governing and Advisory Boards; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Conflict of Interests; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

Benjamin Esty is the Roy and Elizabeth Simmons Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Over the years, he has taught a variety of courses ranging from advanced corporate finance and project finance to competitive strategy and leadership. He... View Details

Keywords: banking; asset management; investment banking industry; consumer products; shipping; wine; financial services

Research Summary

Dawn Matsumoto's research investigates managers' financial reporting decisions including the incentives driving these decisions and the impact of these decisions on capital market participants. She is interested in the role of financial intermediaries (such as... View Details

September 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Supplement

Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A2)

By: V.G. Narayanan, Fabrizio Ferri and James Weber

The A1 and A2 versions of the “Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A)” split the original A case into two parts. The A1 case ends as activists Sardar Biglari and Phil Cooley prepare to meet with CEO Don Smith at Friendly's headquarters in September 2006. The... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Business and Shareholder Relations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Conflict and Resolution; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

21 Sep 2017
HBS Seminar

Nicholas Argyres, Washington University in St Louis

27 Aug 2013
Working Paper Summaries

The Impact of Patent Wars on Firm Strategy: Evidence from the Global Smartphone Market

Keywords: by Yongwook Paik & Feng Zhu; Legal Services

11 Jan 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Does Shareholder Proxy Access Improve Firm Value? Evidence from the Business Roundtable Challenge

Keywords: by Bo Becker, Daniel B. Bergstresser & Guhan Subramanian; Financial Services

February 2007
Case

Update: The Music Industry in 2006

By: John R. Wells and Elizabeth Raabe

The global recorded music industry was undergoing a major transition in 2006. Sales had been declining for a decade, and consumers were buying music in new formats and through different distribution channels. CD sales still accounted for the majority of revenues, but... View Details

Keywords: History; Arts; Music Entertainment; Intellectual Property; Market Timing; Performance Evaluation; Trends; Music Industry

Article

Policy Implications of Weak Patent Rights

By: James J. Anton, Hillary Greene and Dennis Yao

Patents vary substantially in the degree of protection provided against unauthorized imitation. In this chapter we explore a range of work addressing the economic and policy implications of "weak" patents—patents that have a significant probability of being overturned... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Motivation and Incentives; Entrepreneurship; Competition; Policy; Innovation and Invention; Rights; Monopoly; Business Startups

Find at Harvard

Business transactions take widely varying forms―from multibillion-dollar corporate mergers to patent licenses to the signing of an all-star quarterback. Yet every deal shares the same goal, or at least should: to maximize the joint value created and to distribute... View Details

15 Mar 2024
HBS Case

Let's Talk: Why It's Time to Stop Avoiding Taboo Topics at Work

You feel your career stalling, with no clear path for advancement or a raise. You know the right conversation, artfully navigated, with the right individual at the right time is necessary—but approaching that moment requires ingenuity and... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

August 2023
Case

Ripple 2023

By: David B. Yoffie, Andy Wu and Sarah von Bargen

This case covers Ripple’s events from 2020–2023. The focus of this case is Ripple’s 2023 victory over the SEC, which sued Ripple in 2020 claiming that they did not register their XRP coins as securities. After Ripple’s victory, CEO Garlinghouse faced numerous... View Details

Keywords: Cryptocurrency; Currency; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business Strategy