Publications

04 May 2009
Research & Ideas

What’s Next for the Big Financial Brands

consumer trust is no longer a brand; it is merely a name. The Merrill Lynch brand is unlikely to ever recover and Bank of America should drop it. Merrill View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Banking; Financial Services

21 Jan 2021
Video

Hemendra Kothari

Hemendra Kothari, chairman of DSP Investment Managers in India, discusses how his bank forged relationships with western institutions such as Dresdner Bank and Merrill Lynch during the 1970s and 1980s. View Details

November 2006 (Revised December 2011)
Case

HCA, Inc. (A)

By: Richard S. Ruback

Focuses on the buyout of HCA by three private equity firms: Bain Capital, KKR, and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity. It provides an opportunity to discuss a variety of issues related to leveraged buyouts including the process, the role of private equity, the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Private Equity; Investment; Business and Shareholder Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Valuation

April 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

BlackRock (B): Acquire MLIM? (with video links)

By: Ranjay Gulati, Jan W. Rivkin, Stuart C. Gilson and Aldo Sesia

In early 2006, BlackRock, Inc. is considering acquiring Merrill Lynch’s asset management business. The asset management industry was in a state of transition. In the prior year, more than 130 mergers and acquisitions had taken place. The proposed deal between BlackRock... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Competition; Information Technology; Asset Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Choices and Conditions; United States

10 Sep 2010
News

How to Handle CEO Pay Before Dodd-Frank Hits

October 1986 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Karen Leary (A)

By: Linda A. Hill

Describes the evolution of the working relationship of Karen Leary, a new manager of a Merrill Lynch retail branch, and Ted Chung, a new financial consultant in the branch. Leary has some concerns about her working relationship with Chung and with his performance.... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Employee Relationship Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Personal Development and Career; Performance Evaluation; Diversity; Financial Services Industry

29 May 2008
News

America the Difficult

07 Nov 2007
News

Avoiding a Succession Crisis

December 1999 (Revised December 2000)
Case

Charles Schwab: A Category of One

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Thomas H. Esperson

Examines Charles Schwab's on-line discount brokerage firm and questions whether or not Schwab has effectively balanced the old and new world of stock trading, and has remained a leader between giants like Merrill Lynch and Internet pure plays like E-Trade. Also looks... View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Banks and Banking; Technological Innovation; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

March 2005
Case

Tribune Company: The PHONES Proposal

The Tribune Co. is considering issuing a structured note to monetize its investment in another company, America Online (AOL). Tribune originally invested in AOL in 1991 and currently has approximately 10 million shares left of that investment. However, these shares are... View Details

Keywords: Financial Instruments; Taxation; Investment; Media and Broadcasting Industry

Find at Harvard

17 Aug 2010
First Look

First Look: August 17

of America Acquires Merrill Lynch (A) Robert C. Pozen, Charles E. BeresfordHarvard Business School Case 310-092 On December 22, 2008, Bank of America (BofA) chairman and CEO Ken Lewis convened a special... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 1998
Case

Vanguard Group, Inc. (1998), The

By: Andre F. Perold

Since the beginning of 1997, Vanguard's assets under management have increased more than 60% from $240 billion to almost $400 billion, making it second in market share only to Fidelity. Vanguard views this success as another vindication of its low-cost strategy of... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Cost Management; Investment Funds; Product; Service Operations; Performance Expectations; Competition; Consolidation; Expansion; Internet; Financial Services Industry

Mitch Weiss is the Richard L. Menschel Professor of Management Practice at the Harvard Business School. He created and teaches the school's course on Public Entrepreneurship—on public leaders and private entrepreneurs who invent a difference in the... View Details

March 2008 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Eliot Spitzer: Pushing Wall Street to Reform

By: Rawi Abdelal, Rafael Di Tella and Jonathan Schlefer

New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer faced a decision about how to stop wrongdoing committed by major Wall Street firms during the Internet boom. The equities analysts of Merrill Lynch and other Wall Street firms were charged with objectively advising retail... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Decisions; Financial Institutions; Stocks; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Laws and Statutes; Lawsuits and Litigation; Conflict of Interests; Internet; Financial Services Industry; United States