Publications

June 2010 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Dubai: Debt, Development, and Crisis (A)

By: Aldo Musacchio, Andrew Christopher Goodman and Claire K. Qureshi

On November 25, 2009, the city state of Dubai stunned markets by announcing that Dubai World, its flagship state holding company, would seek a six-month "standstill" on at least $4 billion U.S. dollars of its $26 billion in debt obligations. This case describes Dubai's... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Decision Choices and Conditions; Development Economics; Financial Crisis; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Strategy; State Ownership; Business and Government Relations; Dubai

November 1992 (Revised June 1993)
Case

International Paper (A)

Concerns the decision of International Paper, the world's largest pulp and paper corporation, about when to adopt the provisions of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards 106 (SFAS 106), "Employers' Accounting for Postretirement Benefits Other than Pensions." SFAS... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Compensation and Benefits; Pulp and Paper Industry

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08 Aug 2011
News

Blind Spots, Bernie Madoff's and Ours

November 2011
Case

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

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Aldo Sesia and Amy Kaser

The case studies the decision of the security services corporation Brink's Company 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 felt that Brink's was... View Details

Keywords: Activist Investors; Spin-off; Leveraged Recapitalization; Debt; Valuation; Hedge Funds; Conglomerates; Investment Activism

January 1999 (Revised September 2004)
Background Note

International Entrepreneurship: Managing and Financing Ventures in the Global Economy - Overview

International Entrepreneurial Finance is the study of allocation of scarce resources by and to entrepreneurs in international settings. This note provides an overview of "International Entrepreneurial Finance," a second-year MBA course developed and taught at Harvard... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Globalization; Finance

November 29, 2011
Article

The Role of The Board in Creating a Sustainable Strategy

By: Robert G. Eccles, Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim

While conceptually elegant, the belief that a corporation's role is to maximize value for shareholders is under increasing challenge as society's expectations for companies change. An equally elegant new concept that takes account of these dual pressures has yet to... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Strategy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Expectations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Practices and Processes; Decisions; Risk and Uncertainty; Cost vs Benefits; Information

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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

June 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Accounting for Leases at American Airlines (A)

By: Jonas Heese, Gerardo Pérez Cavazos and Julia Kelley

In March 2020, as coronavirus reduced demand for air travel, an analyst was forecasting American Airlines’ (American’s) first quarter financial results. To develop a forecast, she needed to familiarize herself with Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-02, “Leases... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Finance; Governance; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governing and Advisory Boards; Leasing; Accounting Industry; Air Transportation Industry; North and Central America; United States

26 Sep 2011
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Lady Gaga

their plans for "Fame Kills." Sure enough, a media attack ensued. West pulled out of the painstakingly planned tour. And Carter had to mull a decision that would have major implications for Lady Gaga, for concert promoter Live... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Entertainment & Recreation; Music

March 2002
Case

Mark Taper Forum (A)

The Mark Taper Forum, a regional nonprofit theatre in Los Angeles, has discovered and produced a highly acclaimed play entitled Angles in America. Because of the play's success, for-profit theatres on Broadway in New York have become extremely interested in... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Nonprofit Organizations; For-Profit Firms; Decision Choices and Conditions; Theater Entertainment; Los Angeles

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January 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Rural Taobao: Alibaba's Expansion into Rural E-Commerce

By: Tarun Khanna, Ryan Allen, Adam Frost and Wesley Koo

Alibaba's Rural Taobao initiative had been launched in 2014 as a public service initiative to increase e-commerce adoption in China’s remote rural areas. In the first two iterations of the initiative, dubbed “1.0” and “2.0,” Alibaba had partnered with local businesses... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business Growth; Ecommerce; Corporate Social Responsibility; Business And Government; Emerging Market; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Emerging Markets; Rural Scope; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Decision Making; E-commerce; China

July 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Pershing Square's Pandemic Trade (A)

By: Emil N. Siriwardane, Luis M. Viceira, Dean Xu and Lucas Baker

This case explores the decision that Bill Ackman, CEO and founder of the hedge fund Pershing Square Capital, was considering in late February 2020 about hedging the exposure of the fund’s portfolio from the potential financial fallout ensuing from an extreme event like... View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Financial Liquidity; Cost Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Risk Management

November 2012 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Persephone's Pomegranate: Crédit Agricole and Emporiki

By: Dante Roscini, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Jerome Lenhardt

In 2006 the French bank Crédit Agricole bought the Greek Emporiki bank, for €2.8 billion, at the peak of a bull market for bank takeovers. Six years, a major financial crisis, and €5.2 billion of losses later, in a context of great uncertainty in the European banking... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Currency; Development Economics; International Finance; International Relations; Banking Industry; Greece

March 2012
Case

The Agnellis and Fiat: Family Business Governance in a Crisis (A)

By: John A. Davis, Bernardo Bertoldi and Roberto Quaglia

After the death of Umberto Agnelli in 2004, the Agnelli family, led by John Elkann, needs to decide whether to keep Fiat CEO Giuseppe Morchio. The Fiat Group is in a delicate financial position, and John Elkann, the new family leader, is untested in this role. The... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Family Ownership; Management Teams; Leadership; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Italy

June 2014 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Molycorp: Financing the Production of Rare Earth Minerals (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

Molycorp, the western hemisphere's only producer of rare earth minerals, was in the middle of a $1 billion capital expenditure project in its effort to become a vertically integrated supplier of rare earth minerals, oxides, and metals. Yet it had just reported lower... View Details

October 2019
Case

Kaspi.kz IPO

By: Victoria Ivashina and Esel Çekin

This case follows Kaspi.kz, a private equity (Baring Vostok) co-owned retail bank in Central Asia that evolved into a fintech, payments and e-commerce company. It provides insights into private equity financing, portfolio company management, and initial public offering... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Private Equity; Initial Public Offering; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Central Asia

March 2001 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Honest Tea

By: Paul A. Gompers

This case examines the decisions of Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff, founders of Honest Tea. Honest Tea is a start-up in the ready-to-drink tea market. Goldman and Nalebuff must craft an expansion and financing strategy. View Details

Keywords: Financial Strategy; Expansion; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Decisions