Publications

January 2007
Article

Acquisitions and Firm Growth: Creating Unilever's Ice Cream and Tea Business

By: G. Jones and Peter Miskell

This article provides a longitudinal case study of the use of acquisitions by the Anglo-Dutch multinational Unilever to build the world's largest ice cream and tea businesses. The study supports recent resource-based theory which argues that complementary rather than... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Integration; Value; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Business and Shareholder Relations; Interests; Business Ventures; Employees; Food and Beverage Industry

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Research Summary

Comparative Financial Systems and Corporate Governance

One implication of the inherent logic of a financial system lies in the effects on corporate governance. Differences in financial systems across countries -- for instance, in terms of the role of banks, equity markets, and shareholder voting systems -- result in... View Details

September 2011 (Revised May 2013)
Case

New Resource Bank: In Pursuit of Green

By: Christopher Marquis and Juan Almandoz

New Resource Bank was founded in San Francisco in 2006 with a mission focused on environmental sustainability. The case illustrates the opportunities and challenges of banking on values and the challenges of organizations defining a social and environmental commitment.... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; San Francisco

June 2007 (Revised November 2008)
Case

Nordic Telephone Company's Bid for TDC

Nordic Telephone Company, formed by a consortium of private equity firms, has made a public tender offer for Denmark's leading telecommunications company, TDC. TDC's board of directors approved the take-private transaction, and 88% of shareholders have accepted the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Communication Technology; Decision Choices and Conditions; Negotiation Offer; Privatization; Telecommunications Industry; Denmark

August 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

New Wachovia (A), The

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Jeremy Swinson

In April 2001, First Union Corp. announced an agreement to merge with Wachovia Corp., a fellow North Carolina-based commercial bank. While the banks were preparing to consummate the merger, SunTrust Banks, Inc. of Atlanta, made a hostile offer for Wachovia, setting in... View Details

Keywords: Voting; Mergers and Acquisitions; Conflict and Resolution; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Atlanta; North Carolina

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Governance and CEO Turnover: Do Something or Do the Right Thing?

Keywords: by Ray Fisman, Rakesh Khurana & Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

April 2013
Supplement

AIG and the American Taxpayers (B)

By: Karthik Ramanna and Matthew Shaffer

Explores the decision faced by AIG's board on whether to join shareholder and ex-CEO Maurice Greenberg's lawsuit against the U.S. government. The suit, argued by super-lawyer David Boies (of Bush v. Gore and California Gay Marriage fame), claims that in September 2008... View Details

Keywords: Financial Markets; Financial Policy; Property Rights; Financial Institutions; Financial Crisis; Financial Management; Insurance Industry; United States

November 2003 (Revised July 2007)
Case

Ottawa Devices, Inc. (A)

By: Henry B. Reiling and Harry Clegg Midgley IV

A master plan accommodating two retiring brothers, the brother who will remain as president, third-generation family members, employees, philanthropic interests, and company imperatives must be developed by second-generation brothers who are controlling shareholders... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Change Management; Transition; Management Succession; Management Teams; Retirement; Conflict of Interests

2015
Chapter

Managerial Responsibility and the Purpose of Business: Doing One's Job Well

By: Nien-he Hsieh

Business managers routinely make decisions that significantly affect the lives of others in both positive and negative ways. In the light of these wide-ranging effects, much scholarship has been devoted to specifying the responsibilities of managers of for-profit... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives

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24 Mar 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Corporate Sustainability: First Evidence on Materiality

Keywords: by Mozaffar Khan, George Serafeim & Aaron Yoon; Financial Services

December 1996 (Revised July 1997)
Case

USG Corporation

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Tara L. Nells

In 1988, USG was the world's largest gypsum producer and one of the world's largest building-products companies. On May 2, 1988, USG's board of directors announced a proposed leveraged recapitalization plan to thwart a hostile cash tender offer by Desert Partners. With... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Valuation; Cash Flow; Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; United States

January 2013
Supplement

The Great East Japan Earthquake (E): Yamato Transport's Response

By: Hirotaka Takeuchi, Leonard Kosinski, Christina Royce, Anna Stetsovskaya and Evgeny Vasilyev

CEO Kikawa of Yamato Transport gave orders to his managers right after the triple disaster hit the Tohoku region of Japan to do whatever it takes to save lives and not to worry about costs. He also felt that he had to confront the government to make donations to the... View Details

Keywords: Japan; Earthquake; Yamato Transport Company; Natural Disasters; Business and Shareholder Relations; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Transportation Industry; Japan

24 Jan 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: January 24, 2017

long-run growth dynamics. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52130 Short-Termism and Shareholder Payouts: Getting Corporate Capital Flows Right By: Fried, Jesse M., and Charles C.Y. Wang Abstract—During... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2020 (Revised July 2020)
Case

BlackRock: Linking Purpose to Profit

By: Aiyesha Dey

The case revolves around the actions that Barbara Novick, co-founder and Vice-Chair of Blackrock, and Michelle Edkins, Global Head of Investment Stewardship, would need to take in response to the controversial CEO letters from Laurence (Larry) Fink, Chairman and CEO of... View Details

January 2018
Case

OldTown Berhad

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Greg Saldutte

In December 2017, Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE, a Dutch coffee company) made an offer to acquire OldTown Berhad (OTB), a Malaysian coffee company. Three large shareholders, representing more than half of the outstanding shares, have agreed to tender their shares, and... View Details

Research Summary

Executive Compensation

By: Tatiana Sandino

Professor Sandino’s other stream of research examines players that influence the design of an executive’s compensation. She has examined the role shareholder activists can play in influencing CEO pay and found that a compensation-related shareholder proposal could... View Details

July 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Equity Restructuring at Dell Technologies: Buy Out, Buy Up, Buy In (A)

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott

In November 2018, Dell Technologies was poised to re-enter the public markets by means of a complex recapitalization that would replace an entire class of publicly-traded “tracking stock,” with new shares that would trade publicly without the need of a formal IPO. The... View Details

Keywords: Technology; M＆A; Recapitalization; MBO; Equity Issues; Private Equity Buyouts; Public Ownership; Stock Shares; Mergers and Acquisitions; Equity; Technology Industry; United States