Publications

July 2003 (Revised February 2004)
Background Note

M&A Legal Context: Standards Related to the Sale or Purchase of a Company

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

Introduces students to the legal standards affecting officers and directors when selling or purchasing a company. Provides a practical understanding of the Revlon Standard, the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, Rule 10b-5, and the legal criteria for a cause of... View Details

Keywords: Laws and Statutes; Law Enforcement; Government Legislation; Acquisition; Business Exit or Shutdown; Corporate Governance; Going Public; Courts and Trials

2021
Working Paper

Elusive Safety: The New Geography of Capital Flows and Risk

By: Laura Alfaro, Ester Faia, Ruth Judson and Tim Schmidt-Eisenlohr

A confidential dataset with industry-level disaggregation of U.S. cross-border claims and liabilities, shows U.S. securities to be increasingly intermediated by tax-haven-financial-centers (THFC) and less regulated funds. These securities are risky, in... View Details

Keywords: Tax Havens; Financial Centers; Geography Of Flows; Profit Shifting; Tax Avoidance; Risk; Safe Assets; Hetergeneous Firms; Endogenous Entry; Endogenous Monitoring; Regulatory Arbitrage; Assets; Safety; Risk and Uncertainty; Capital; Global Range

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June 2013
Article

Are There Too Many Safe Securities? Securitization and the Incentives for Information Production

By: Samuel G. Hanson and Adi Sunderam

We present a model that helps explain several past collapses of securitization markets. Originators issue too many informationally insensitive securities in good times, blunting investor incentives to become informed. The resulting endogenous scarcity of informed... View Details

Keywords: Information; Debt Securities; Financial Crisis

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03 Sep 2020
Op-Ed

Why American Health Care Needs Its Own SEC

see which clinicians, hospitals, insurers, and others provide the best value." Even if the Trump rules hold up, they cannot provide the full accounting of prices and outcomes the health care system needs. For that, the United States needs a health care analog of... View Details

Keywords: by Regina E. Herzlinger; Health

August 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Grupo Martica

Grupo Martica commissions a computer security expert to conduct an audit of its systems, network, and processes. This audit reveals that Martica is quite vulnerable, and the company's de facto CIO must decide what steps to take to improve security. He wonders how... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Complexity

02 Mar 2016
What Do You Think?

Is Apple’s Real Privacy Challenge Technology Innovation Itself?

Is the Discussion of Infotech Security versus Privacy a Waste of Time? Summing Up Discussion of this month’s question devolved into a debate about the usual issues: privacy versus security, Apple versus the FBI, citizens versus their... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Technology

24 Mar 2002
Lessons from the Classroom

Case Study: A Lesson in Private Venture Financing

financing private ventures, it can also offer unique rewards. Harvard Business School associate professor Walter Kuemmerle highlighted some of the issues confronting entrepreneurs and investors in a case discussion on Gray Security... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

January 2016 (Revised January 2019)
Supplement

The Allergan Board Under Fire (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Suraj Srinivasan, John C. Coates and David Lane

In 2014, the Allergan Inc. board of directors received a surprise takeover offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals in alliance with hedge fund activist Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management. In the unprecedented arrangement between an acquirer and a hedge fund... View Details

9 AM – 10 AM EDT, 07 Aug 2019
HBS Online

HBS Online Negotiation Mastery

Hone your negotiation skills with analytical tools, interpersonal techniques, and real-world practice to secure maximum value for yourself and your organization. Program Dates: August 7, 2019 - October 2, 2019 View Details

July 1997 (Revised February 1998)
Case

Aladdin Knowledge Systems

By: John A. Quelch

The founder, president, and CEO of a leading software security company has just announced the $5.1 million cash acquisition of a key competitor. As a result, his company becomes the market share leader in Europe and number two in the United States. But now, he and the... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Marketing; Applications and Software; Globalization; Acquisition; Sales; Information Technology Industry; United States; Europe

04 Aug 2023
Blog Post

Aaron Sabin (MS/MBA 2023): Engineering a Climate Change Solution by Cutting the Cost of Carbon Capture

closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all.” To keep temperature rise to 1.5°C and avoid a cascade of climatological catastrophes—flood, drought, famine, disease, species extinction, and many, many... View Details

February 2016 (Revised April 2020)
Case

In the Name of Democracy? The Rise and Decline of India's Congress Party

By: Akshay Mangla and Jonathan Schlefer

In 1950 it looked highly doubtful that Indian democracy would hold—typical family income was $6 a month, only about 15% of the population was literate, there were deep religious and ethnic differences, and more than a dozen national languages were spoken. But after a... View Details

Keywords: Congress Party; Economic Development; Democratization; Economic Reform; Economic Systems; Government and Politics; Developing Countries and Economies; Development Economics; India

February 2015 (Revised March 2016)
Case

China Shenhua Energy Company

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, G. A. Donovan and Keith Chi-ho Wong

A leading Chinese energy firm, active in coal mining and electric power generation, analyzes coal-to-liquids technology in light of energy security and environmental concerns. View Details

Keywords: Environment; China; CO2; Coal Mining; Electricity; Sustainability; Energy; Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Energy Generation; Energy Sources; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; China; Asia

Ria is a JD/PhD student at Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. At HLS, she was a John M. Olin Fellow and the winner of the 2021 Victor Brudney Writing Prize. She previously studied Economics and Mathematics at Columbia University, where she was nominated... View Details

November 2012
Teaching Note

Brink's Company: Activists Push for a Spin-off (TN)

By: Suraj Srinivasan

The case this Teaching Note addresses studies the decision of the security services company Brink's Corporation to spin off its home security division from the rest of the company. The decision followed intense pressure on the company by three activist hedge funds that... View Details

Keywords: Activist Investors; Spin-off; Leveraged Recapitalization; Debt; Hedge Funds; Conglomerates; Valuation; Restructuring; Accounting; Business Strategy; Investment Activism; Service Industry

September 2003 (Revised February 2007)
Case

PolyMedica Corporation (A)

By: David F. Hawkins and Jacob Cohen

The Securities and Exchange Commission and investors question PolyMedica Corp.'s practice of capitalizing rather than expensing of direct-response advertising. View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Business Earnings; Advertising; Private Sector; Budgets and Budgeting; Cost Management; Capital Markets; Marketing; Private Equity; Pharmaceutical Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

9 AM – 10 AM EDT, 20 Mar 2019
HBS Online

HBS Online Negotiation Mastery

Hone your negotiation skills with analytical tools, interpersonal techniques, and real-world practice to secure maximum value for yourself and your organization. Program Dates: March 20, 2019 - May 15, 2019 View Details

October 2018 (Revised August 2019)
Case

Everybody Knows: Russia and the Election

By: Rawi Abdelal, Rafael Di Tella and Galit Goldstein

Following a contentious presidential race, Donald Trump’s 2016 election destabilized America’s status quo. Academics, journalists, politicians and the public at large examined why Trump had won. Many Americans, inside and outside the government, asserted that a... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Industry; Strategic Alliances (Business); Business And Government; Business And Public Policy; Business And Society; Media Businesses; Media Content; Media Slant; Media Regulation; Internet Of Everything; Government Policy; Politics; Political Campaigns; Political Strategy; Political Turmoil; Government; Government Regulation; Security; International Business; International Relations; National Security; Political Elections; News; Media; Internet and the Web; Rights; Problems and Challenges; Globalization; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Government Legislation; Risk and Uncertainty; Cognition and Thinking; Conflict and Resolution; Identity; Civil Society or Community; Culture; Public Opinion; Social Issues; War; Social Media; Public Administration Industry; United States; Russia