Publications

September 2024
Case

Leadership for Stretch Goals: Inspiring Employees to Achieve the Impossible at Charter Next Generation

By: Ethan Rouen and Elisabeth Powell

In 2023, Kathy Bolhous, CEO of Charter Next Generation (CNG), set out to achieve an ambitious "Moonshot"—increasing profits by $100 million within three years, purely through internal innovations and efficiency gains, without layoffs or new revenue streams. After years... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Growth Management; Mission and Purpose; Employee Ownership; Motivation and Incentives

April 2002 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel, 2001, The

By: Peter Tufano

Bethlehem Steel's 2001 bankruptcy filing inspires an employee's daughter to evaluate her father's pension plan, weeks after September 11's tragedies exacerbated a weakening U.S. economy and just months before her father planned to retire. Battered equity markets and... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Financial Instruments; Retirement; Steel Industry; United States

24 Jan 2012
Working Paper Summaries

What Do Development Banks Do? Evidence from Brazil, 2002-2009

Keywords: by Sergio G. Lazzarini, Aldo Musacchio, Rodrigo Bandeira-de-Mello & Rosilene Marcon; Banking

March 2007 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Chiaphua Group Vietnam

By: Nicolas P. Retsinas and Michael Shih-ta Chen

As part of its expansion and diversification strategy, the Chiaphua Group explored real estate investments in emerging markets. The Group was one of the largest privately held company groups based in Hong Kong, with international investments in a variety of... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Laws and Statutes; Emerging Markets; Market Entry and Exit; Business and Government Relations; Diversification; Hong Kong

November 1994
Case

VideoGuide, Inc. (A)

By: William A. Sahlman and Jason Green

VideoGuide is emerging from a development stage start-up and requires a significant capital infusion to commercialize its product. Various financing options are considered including going public, venture capital, private placement, or a strategic partner. Given the... View Details

Keywords: Capital Budgeting; Capital; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Initial Public Offering; Markets; Partners and Partnerships; Growth and Development Strategy; Going Public

Asim Ijaz Khwaja is the Director of the Center for International Development and the Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School, and co-founder of the View Details

February 2004
Case

Czech Mate: CME and Vladimir Zelezny (A)

By: Mihir A. Desai, Alberto Moel and Kathleen Luchs

This case examines how insiders can expropriate value from shareholders in emerging markets when property rights are ill-defined. As such, it provides a platform for considering how institutions and legal rules impact financing patterns and economic outcomes. CME,... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Fairness; Financial Institutions; Corporate Governance; Rights; Ownership Stake

15 Nov 2010
News

Harvard Business School Faculty on General Motors IPO

January 2007 (Revised May 2008)
Case

National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins

Scott Taylor, CEO & founder of NLM, is a serial entrepreneur faced with an important decision. As his industry consolidates, he knows that his company must grow quickly, yet he believes he has reached the limit of what organic growth can achieve. Should he accept the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Supply and Industry; Supply Chain

Find at Harvard

February 2005
Case

Mahindra & Mahindra: Creating Scorpio

By: Tarun Khanna, Rajiv Lal and Merlina Manocaran

Details the emergence of a private sector automobile manufacturer in India that has created globally competitive and cheap versions of an SUV commonly available worldwide. Asks us to think about the parent corporation's next steps in leveraging this success. In... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Global Range; Multinational Firms and Management; Emerging Markets; Commercialization; Expansion; Auto Industry; India

February 1997
Case

RPG Enterprises--1995

By: Tarun Khanna

As in most emerging markets, a significant portion of the Indian private sector is dominated by extensively diversified, often family-owned or controlled, business groups. This case examines the strategy and structure of one of the largest business groups in India, at... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Restructuring; Corporate Strategy; Alignment; Policy; Problems and Challenges; India

June 2014 (Revised May 2020)
Supplement

Busse Place (B): Hannah's Dilemma

By: Arthur I. Segel and John H. Vogel, Jr.

Marisa Sanchez, a new Associate at Douglas Private Equity Advisors, confronts a dilemma when she is asked by a Senior Vice President (SVP) to do due diligence on a deal he wants to bring before the investment committee which will include the SVP, Douglas' owner and... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Financial Analysis; Property; Finance; Analysis; Ethics; Real Estate Industry; United States

Pietro Satriano is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School. He sits on the boards of CarMax, the largest omni-channel used car retailer in the U.S. and Metro, a large regional grocery retailer in Canada. Pietro advises a number of food-tech startups and acts... View Details

November 2014 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Micromax: Scaling the Largest Indian Mobile Handset Company

By: Ranjay Gulati, Rachna Tahilyani and Alicia DeSantola

It is January 2014 and Rahul Sharma, cofounder of Micromax Informatics (Micromax), the largest Indian mobile handset company, is preparing for an emergency conference call with his private equity investors. In the last six years, Micromax had grown its annual product... View Details

Keywords: Mobile; Scaling; Indian Software Development; Consumer Behavior; Management Turnover; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Management; E-commerce; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; India

March 1986 (Revised December 1986)
Case

British Telecommunications, PLC

Presents a description of international equity markets, including comparisons of the U.S., Japanese, and British markets and recent trends toward deregulation of these markets. The decision focus of the case is on the initial public offerings of British... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Initial Public Offering; Capital Markets; Canada; London; Tokyo

August 2017 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Berkshire Partners: Party City

By: Victoria Ivashina and Jeffrey Boyar

In 2005, Berkshire Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm specializing in growth equity, was one year into their ownership of Amscan, the market leader of designed, manufactured, and distributed decorated party goods and accessories. However, Amscan's primary... View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Fundraising; Cross-fund Investment; Private Equity; Vertical Integration; Governance; Valuation; Manufacturing Industry; Retail Industry; United States

March 2000 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Silicon Valley Bank

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Silicon Valley Bank, a $4 billion institution in California, has made its reputation by working with venture capitalists in backing start-up companies. In 1999, it is forced to compete with nonbank financial institutions that can give money on better terms and in a... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Business Startups; Competitive Strategy; Financial Institutions; Financing and Loans; Financial Markets; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Entrepreneurship; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; California