Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(206)
- Faculty Publications (63)
- June 2017
- Article
The Surprising Effectiveness of Hostile Mediators
By: Ting Zhang, Francesca Gino and Michael I. Norton
Contrary to the tendency of mediators to defuse negative emotions between adversaries by treating them kindly, we demonstrate the surprising effectiveness of hostile mediators in resolving conflict. Hostile mediators generate greater willingness to reach agreements... View Details
Keywords: Mediation; Conflict; Negotiation; Hostility; Negotiation Style; Emotions; Conflict and Resolution
- April 2017 (Revised October 2023)
- Supplement
Central European Distribution Corporation: Hostile Takeover, Bankruptcy Makeover
By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott
- March 2017 (Revised December 2018)
- Case
Reawakening the Magic: Bob Iger and the Walt Disney Company
By: David Collis and Ashley Hartman
Mickey Mouse, Snow White, and Buzz Lightyear strolled down Main Street at the grand opening of Hong Kong Disney in the fall of 2005, pausing to snap selfies with enthusiastic children in Mickey Mouse ears. Bob Iger, newly appointed CEO of The Walt Disney Company,... View Details
Keywords: Franchise Management; Brand Management; Culture Change; Business Units; Acquisition Strategy; Technological Change; Disney; ESPN; Cord-cutting; Bob Iger; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Integration; Media; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Consumer Products Industry
- March 2016 (Revised October 2023)
- Case
Central European Distribution Corporation: Hostile Takeover, Bankruptcy Makeover
By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott
In early 2013, Central European Distribution Corporation (CEDC), a large publicly traded producer and distributer of vodka and spirits in Eastern and Central Europe, has suffered significant declines in its financial performance, is at risk of defaulting on its debt,... View Details
- February 2016 (Revised July 2017)
- Case
A Nation Divided: The United States and the Challenge of Secession
By: David Moss and Marc Campasano
Americans elected Abraham Lincoln as the nation's first Republican president in November of 1860. Northern political leaders had formed the Republican Party only a few years before, in large measure to combat the spread of slavery. Southerners had long been wary of... View Details
- November 2015 (Revised March 2018)
- Case
Air Products' Pursuit of Airgas (A)
By: Charles C.Y. Wang, Paul M. Healy, Penelope Rossano and Kyle Thomas
This case centers around the Air Products' hostile takeover attempt of Airgas in 2010. Air Products argued that its offer of a 38% premium is generous given Airgas' poor performance, which Air Products attributed to underperforming and entrenched managers at Airgas. On... View Details
- December 2013
- Case
Bruce Allyn: Negotiating with the KGB (A)
Isolated by the KGB in Moscow, Harvard graduate student Bruce Allyn faces high-pressure negotiation tactics to recruit him for the Soviet spy agency. At the tense height of the Cold War, with CIA agents systematically being exposed and executed in Russia, Allyn was... View Details
- December 2013
- Supplement
Bruce Allyn: Negotiating with the KGB (B)
This case picks up (from the end of the "A" case) the detailed story of the KGB's high-pressure negotiations with Harvard doctoral student Bruce Allyn to recruit him as a secret asset for the Soviet spy agency. The "A" case describes how, at the tense height of the... View Details
- April 2013 (Revised February 2018)
- Case
Norway: The Embarrassment of Riches
By: Sophus A. Reinert, Forest Reinhardt and Senny Munthe-Kaas
In early 2013, Norway was by many accounts the world’s most developed country; it topped various indices for everything from democracy to happiness, had a comprehensive welfare state, and massive oil revenues endowed it with a substantial, and growing, Sovereign Wealth... View Details
- November 2012
- Case
Occupy Wall Street
By: Rakesh Khurana and Eric Baldwin
This case examines the Occupy Wall Street movement, which emerged in late 2011 in response to the fallout from the global financial crisis of 2008 and the economic downturn that followed. Occupy Wall Street was born out of a sense of frustration with both a global... View Details
- May 2011
- Article
Consequences and Institutional Determinants of Unregulated Corporate Financial Statements: Evidence from Embedded Value Reporting
By: George Serafeim
I analyze Embedded Value (EV) reporting by firms with life insurance operations to assess the impact of unregulated financial reporting on transparency and to examine the institutional characteristics that promote unregulated reporting. Under EV accounting the present... View Details
- November 2010
- Article
A New Era for Raiders
The article presents information on corporate methods of preventing hostile takeovers by corporate raiders, such as the poison pill strategy. It is noted that some of these techniques have become less popular and effective. An argument is presented that Section 203 of... View Details
- May 2010
- Article
Is Delaware's Antitakeover Statute Unconstitutional? Evidence from 1988-2008
By: Guhan Subramanian, Steven Herscovici and Brian Barbetta
Delaware's antitakeover statute, codified at Section 203 of the Delaware corporate code, is by far the most important antitakeover statute in the United States. When it was first enacted in 1988, three bidders challenged its constitutionality under the Commerce Clause... View Details
- February 2010 (Revised September 2011)
- Case
Roche's Acquisition of Genentech
By: Carliss Y. Baldwin, Bo Becker and Vincent Marie Dessain
Franz Humer, CEO of the Roche Group, must decide whether to mount a hostile tender offer for the publicly-owned shares of Roche's biotechnology subsidiary, Genentech. The case provides opportunities to analyze Roche's strategy with respect to Genentech, the pros and... View Details
- December 2009 (Revised September 2014)
- Case
TD Canada Trust
By: Dennis Campbell and Brent Kazan
The case illustrates the role of performance measurement and analytics in translating TD-Canada Trust's service model of "comfortable banking" into operational terms. In 2000, in a banking market where consumers and regulators were typically hostile to mergers and... View Details
- March 2009 (Revised September 2010)
- Case
HOYA Corporation (A)
By: W. Carl Kester and Masako Egawa
In 2007, HOYA of Japan must decide whether to change its friendly exchange offer for Pentax into a hostile cash tender offer. A surprising sequence of events had caused a friendly merger agreement to fall apart, resulting in a boardroom coup at Pentax and the... View Details
- April 2008 (Revised October 2008)
- Case
TD Canada Trust (A): The Green and the Red
By: Dennis Campbell and Brent Kazan
The case series illustrates the role of performance measurement and analytics in translating TD-Canada Trust's service model of "comfortable banking" into operational terms. In 2000, in a banking market where consumers and regulators were typically hostile to mergers... View Details
- October 2007 (Revised December 2008)
- Background Note
Evaluating M&A Deals: How Poison Pills Work
The poison pill defense against hostile takeovers was invented in 1982 by Martin Lipton, of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz. Pills are considered the most effective of all the normal defenses against a hostile bidder. Describes the two basic types of poison pills... View Details
- October 2007 (Revised July 2016)
- Teaching Note
Gordon Bethune at Continental Airlines
By: Anthony J. Mayo
A $385 million loss for the final months of fiscal year 1994 signaled Continental might go bankrupt. Could new CEO Gordon Bethune turn Continental around? Continental was in dire straits because the deregulation of the commercial airline industry in 1978 ushered in a... View Details
- January 2006 (Revised July 2016)
- Case
Gordon Bethune at Continental Airlines
By: Nitin Nohria, Anthony Mayo and Mark Benson
A $385 million loss for the final months of fiscal year 1994 signaled Continental might go bankrupt. Could new CEO Gordon Bethune turn Continental around? Continental was in dire straits because the deregulation of the commercial airline industry in 1978 ushered in a... View Details