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15 Jun 2021
News

Case Study: Inside Story

be a competitive, winner-take-all market? If so, then scaling quickly becomes important. Assuming Saga feels ready, and that now is the time in which to scale quickly, they should consider building the resources to have a portfolio of View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Information; Information

16 May 2017
News

Facing the Board

startup than an asset management firm. BlackRock, she said, was about “performance and collaboration in a real way.” Bill Gluck (MBA 1970), managing director of the Farmington Group, countered, saying BlackRock could use the acquisition... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Myers; photos by Susan Young; Blackrock; The Boardroom

05 Jun 2019
Research & Ideas

If Your Customers Don't Care What You Charge, What Should You Charge?

which determines “horizontal market power,” and consumer inertia, which generates “dynamic market power,” creates a clearer picture of market power dynamics within a given market. This can inform companies in their use of price to attract... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Energy

March 2002 (Revised June 2005)
Case

AOL Time Warner, Inc.

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Erin Sullivan

AOL Time Warner, which has been billed as the "first fully integrated media and communications company of the Internet Century," raises the fundamental question of how value will be created and captured by the merger of AOL and Time Warner. This case describes just how... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Internet and the Web; Value Creation; Organizational Culture; Consolidation; Change Management; Telecommunications Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

October 1999
Case

ZEFER: Building a Business at Hyperspeed

By: John T. Gourville and Joseph B. Lassiter III

In the past 18 months, ZEFER has gone from a several-person Internet consulting firm to a major player in the information-technology services industry. In particular, in the past six months, it has grown from 40 to 400 professionals, has hired a seasoned management... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Recruitment; Venture Capital; Acquisition; Organizational Culture; Managerial Roles; Growth Management; Information Technology Industry

July 2000 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Petstore.com

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Petstore.com is one of four contenders for leadership in the highly competitive online pet supply business. Petstore.com faces decisions regarding potential merger partners and how to brand its service within the website managed by its ultimate merger partner,... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Internet and the Web; Mergers and Acquisitions; Partners and Partnerships; Internet and the Web; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry

Profile

Matthew Boys

the first year, it tends to form groups of similar people,” he says. “The section allows you to build up a much more diverse kind of network – not just people interested in what you’re interested in. That’s a real strength.” Regarding the View Details

01 Dec 1999
News

The Way You See It

computer Television came in second, and its drawbacks too were duly noted, along with its enormous power and influence. "Television was revolutionary in its impact on information dissemination, culture, and politics; the product with most... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons. Data collection by Ericka Webb.

28 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 28

against reports from third parties is critical for modern tax enforcement and the growth of state capacity. However, there may be limits to the effectiveness of third-party information if taxpayers can make offsetting adjustments on less... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

01 Dec 2011
News

Making the Case for Leadership

and services. “Eighty percent of our success over the past decade has been based on bright ideas that came not from me or my management team but from very young people in the organization,” he says. The case ends as Zensar charts an ambitious View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons;Julia Hanna;Roger Thompson; Information; Information; Information; Information; Information; Information; Information; Information; Information; Information; Information; Information; Information; Information; Information

01 Sep 2014
News

Groundwork

In the foreground of this fall 1926 photo, workers construct the Weeks Bridge; in the distance, the HBS campus takes shape (Harvard University Property Information Resource Center) Except for the brief reign of commencement mortarboards,... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; George F. Baker III; real estate; Tata Hall; Educational Services; Real Estate

March 2000 (Revised April 2004)
Case

VacationSpot.com & Rent-A-Holiday: Negotiating a Trans-Atlantic Merger of Start-Ups

Describes a potential trans-Atlantic merger between two young companies in the Internet space. VacationSpot.com, based in Seattle, and Rent-A-Holiday, based in Brussels, both offer online listings and reservations for independent leisure lodging (i.e., villas,... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Valuation; Internet and the Web; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Travel Industry; United States; Brussels

01 Mar 2007
News

Courting the Poor

the questions posed by the case is the classic conundrum of where and how Magazine Luiza should expand while preserving its identity and culture. The case describes a large acquisition of another Brazilian retailer with a very different... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; department stores; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade

21 Jan 2009
First Look

First Look: January 21, 2009

the company into Arrow to maximize its value if he does the deal. Provides information to permit valuing the acquisition and developing a post-merger integration strategy and plan. Purchase this case:... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

25 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 25

exiting shareholders receive fair value in MBOs. This article identifies four factors that create an unlevel playing field in that market check: information asymmetries, valuable management, management financial incentives to discourage... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2024 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Finberg: Corporate Venture Capital in Türkiye

By: Paul A. Gompers and Namrata Arora

In December 2021, Murat Özyeğin, Chairman of Fiba Holding, along with Ömer Mert and İhsan Elgin, engaged in discussions about the future of United Payment, a fintech company in which Finberg, a subsidiary of Fibabanka, held a 20% stake. Finberg, established in 2018 as... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Venture Capital; Technology; Return On Investment; Venture Capital; Investment; Strategy; Technological Innovation; Competition; Valuation; Acquisition; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Middle East; North Africa; Turkey; Ukraine; Romania; Poland

01 Apr 1999
News

A Vibrant Brand

such as the Society of Publication Designers, it has been nominated for five National Magazine Awards. In fact, two of Vibe's recent accomplishments have put the enterprise in the company of Rolling Stone. With the 1997 acquisition of... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

November 2024
Teaching Note

Mercado Bitcoin: M&A, IPO, or Series B?

By: Raymond Kluender, Emanuele Colonnelli and Sabrina Howell

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 825-047. In April 2021, Brazilian cryptocurrency platform Mercado Bitcoin, had to decide how to scale: go public, M&A with a bank, or take a VC big check. In a highly volatile market, Roberto Dagnoni, chairman of the board, viewed the... View Details