Publications

February 2001 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Apax Partners and Dialog Semiconductor: March 1998

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner, Antonio Alvarez-Cano and Borja Martinez

Apax Partners is considering a complex buyout of a semiconductor manufacturer. The firms must assess in a compressed timeframe the complex technological, financial, and operational risks that the proposed transaction poses. View Details

Keywords: Market Transactions; Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Time Management; Production; Risk Management; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

June 1999 (Revised May 2017)
Teaching Note

Guidant Corporation: Shaping Culture Through Systems

By: Robert Simons and Antonio Dávila

Teaching Note for (9-198-076). View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Risk And Uncertainty; Service Industry; Service Industry

April 1985 (Revised November 1987)
Case

Lou Gerstner

By: John J. Kao

Describes Lou Gerstner and his approach to managing entrepreneurship and organizational change at American Express Travel Related Services Company. Mr. Gerstner is chairman and CEO of the firm. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

15 Mar 2016
First Look

March 15, 2016

transparency and weak governance in resource rich countries. However, we document that industry self-regulation has generated information to substitute for the gap in voluntary company disclosure. We also find some evidence that these... View Details

06 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

Sorting Out the Patent Craze

The great thing about standards, tech industry pundit Andrew Tanenbaum once said, is that there are so many to choose from. In fact, standard setting organizations (SSOs) are the unsung heroes of the technology age. Without standards, Web... View Details

Keywords: by Sara Grant; Technology

February 2005 (Revised June 2006)
Case

UAL, 2004: Pulling Out of Bankruptcy

By: Daniel Baird Bergstresser, Kenneth A. Froot and Darren Robert Smart

UAL is a large air transportation company with roots that go back to the 1920s. As a legacy carrier, going back to before the 1978 deregulation of air transportation markets, United Airlines is burdened with cost structures that make it difficult to compete with newer... View Details

Keywords: Bankruptcy; Compensation; Costs; Loans; Reorganization; Cost; Restructuring; Financing and Loans; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Compensation and Benefits; Air Transportation Industry; United States

September 2000 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Netflix (2000)

By: E. Scott Mayfield

The CEO of a successful Internet start-up must decide whether to delay the company's initial public offering following a significant decline in the NASDAQ market during the spring of 2000. The company's CFO is asked to reevaluate the company's projected cash flow needs... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Contracts; Initial Public Offering; Cash Flow; Service Delivery; Financial Strategy; Web Services Industry

September 1999
Case

CIBC Corporate and Investment Banking (B): 1992-1997 (Condensed)

By: Joseph L. Bower and Michael Raynor

From 1992 to 1997, CIBC CEO Al Flood and head of investment banking John Hunkin integrate the struggling investment bank Wood Gundy with CIBC's corporate bank. The impact and interaction of organization design, compensation schemes, and communication initiatives are... View Details

Keywords: Investment Banking; Banks and Banking; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Design; Business Plan; Communication; Banking Industry

May 2024
Case

Naked Wines: The Profit vs. Growth Decision

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Edward A. Meyer

Nick Devlin faced a difficult strategic decision in October 2022. As the CEO of a UK-based subscription business connecting wine drinkers in the US, UK, and Australia with winemakers from around the world (which one journalist called the “Netflix of Wine”), he had to... View Details

March 2018
Supplement

The Rise and Rise (?) of Walmart (B): Kmart Declares Bankruptcy

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case follows up on the competition between Kmart and Walmart as discussed in the A case. It summarizes the companies' positions in the early 2000s, and discusses events between 1990 and Kmart's declaration of bankruptcy in 2002. Walmart grew significantly,... View Details

Keywords: Bankruptcy; Walmart; Kmart; Controversy; Strategy; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Competition; Public Opinion; Retail Industry; United States

October 1995 (Revised January 1999)
Case

Western Chemical Corporation: Divisional Performance Measurement (A)

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Roger Atherton

The president and controller of Western Chemical Corp. are discussing the best way to measure and report performance of foreign subsidiaries. One subsidiary is a joint venture with its own borrowing capacity; another is wholly owned; and a third is wholly owned and... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Financial Reporting; Performance Evaluation; Chemical Industry

07 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 7

response of the U.S. government to the excessive compensation of executives following the market collapse of 2008. In particular, the case focuses on the special committee that was formed to oversee and regulate any financial companies... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Dec 2012
News

50 Years & Counting

administrative decision-making as academic dean of the Kennedy School, says that firms from the financial services, pharmaceuticals, and telecommunications industries have expressed interest as well. Adds... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

Web

“It’s like a pie-eating contest” | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

top levels of the hospital’s executive team. Josh started as a Special Assistant to Alastair, who oversaw a hospital-wide strategy team responsible for a wide range of initiatives. “On my first assignment, I used skills I already had to make a View Details

Web

Content & Community for Students | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

by-product, but as an intentional outcome that motivates me to get up and go to work every day. Molly: To me, social enterprise means any organization that purposefully seeks to combine positive social and environmental impact with View Details

01 Dec 2020
News

Finding The Right Patient-Provider Match

second year,” he says. Gardner has built Kyruus into an industry leader in providing search, scheduling, and data management services for health systems. Simplifying the Process “We don’t define what is right for the patients. Our job is... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

2008
Working Paper

Fixing Market Failures or Fixing Elections? Agricultural Credit in India

By: Shawn A. Cole

This paper integrates theories of political budget cycles with theories of tactical electoral redistribution to test for political capture in a novel way. Studying banks in India, I find that government-owned bank lending tracks the electoral cycle, with agricultural... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Political Elections; State Ownership; Banking Industry; India

Read Now

July 1997
Teaching Note

U.S. Bank of Washington (TN)

By: W. Carl Kester

Teaching Note for (9-292-057). View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Cash Flow; Financial Statements; Business Subsidiaries; Commercial Banking; Managerial Roles; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; United States