Publications

June 2016 (Revised August 2017)
Case

AnswerDash

By: Elie Ofek and Jeffrey D. Shulman

It is 2014, and AnswerDash, a startup backed by venture capital, has not seen the widespread adoption of their online self-service customer support solution that they were expecting based on early success in helping clients save and generate substantial amounts of... View Details

Keywords: Pricing; Economic Value Estimation; Price Metrics; Organizational Selling; Innovation Adoption; Business To Business; Marketing; Customer Lifetime Value; Venture Capital; Customer Relationship Management; Price; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Technology Adoption; Business Startups; Sales; Innovation and Invention; Product Marketing; Financial Services Industry

December 2012 (Revised November 2014)
Case

W.R. Grace & Co.: Dealing with Asbestos Torts

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott

A manufacturer of building products and specialty chemicals, W. R. Grace & Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001 in response to a flood of lawsuits alleging that its products contained asbestos, and had caused hundreds of thousands of people to contract... View Details

Keywords: Bankruptcy Reorganization; Business Failures; Environmental Regulations; Class Action Lawsuits; Natural Environment; Valuation; Health Disorders; Capital Structure; Restructuring; Lawsuits and Litigation; Chemicals; Crisis Management; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Legal Liability; Construction Industry; Chemical Industry; United States

01 Jun 2023
News

Righting the Ship

When Ross Stuckey (PLDA 21, 2016) joined the headquarters of the NAVSEA Warfare Centers as their capital improvement program (CIP) manager in 2016, he was charged with leading divisional managers at each of the NAVSEA WC’s 10 subsidiaries. He also was responsible for... View Details

Keywords: Maureen Harmon

Mar 2012
Article

Reviving Entrepreneurship

New enterprises don't exist in a vacuum: They rise or fall depending on myriad contextual factors, all of them interrelated, and all of them affected by government policy. U.S. lawmakers must carefully consider the effects of interventions in at least 12 areas, ranging... View Details

Fast Answer

Biotech and Pharmaceuticals: R&D spending, production cost

can be found in company’s income statement that can be found in Capital IQ ABI/ProQuest - To locate articles on the topic, use search terms: drug development cost (drug development) AND (success rates) View Details

Norton W. Simon

Capitalizing on his talents at restructuring, Simon gained control of Hunt Foods by force, accumulating shares in the company with proceeds earned from selling his previous enterprise, Val Vita Foods, to Hunt in 1942. At Hunt, Simon... View Details

Keywords: Food & Tobacco

Thomas J. Burrell

Burrell created his agency to capitalize on the untapped potential of the black market in America, and in the process, he became a pioneer of target marketing and built the largest black-owned advertising agency in the United States. He... View Details

Keywords: Services

06 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

Should Entrepreneurs Pitch Products or Ideas for Products?

In trying to secure financial backing for a new product, independent innovators generally face the question of how much to invest in development before showing it around. Should they create, say, a working prototype (and maybe even generate sales) or pitch the idea for... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Motion Pictures & Video; Entertainment & Recreation; Banking

August 2022 (Revised November 2022)
Supplement

Altos Ventures (B)

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

In December 2021, Han Kim, Anthony Lee, and Ho Nam reflected on how far they had come since 2012. This B case provides an update on Altos Ventures’ decision-making and performance since the events presented in the A case. View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Venture Capital; Investment Portfolio; Partners and Partnerships

March 2010 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Disruptive IPOs? WR Hambrecht & Co.

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Tara Donovan

Bill Hambrecht faces a dilemma: should he accept a high profile client for his online Dutch auction IPO? Though it would be viewed as a real coup, what would accepting the business mean to WR Hambrecht? Should he seek other high profile clients like this, or should he... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Initial Public Offering; Disruptive Innovation; Auctions; Online Technology; Financial Services Industry; San Francisco

March 2021
Supplement

CashDrop (B1)

By: Rembrand Koning, Paul A. Gompers and Sarah Gulick

After the events in CashDrop A, Flores-Martinez received two concrete offers from VC funds for his startup business, CashDrop. This case describes the tensions between the two funds: a traditional VC fund who would offer Flores-Martinez a prestigious platform, and a... View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Internet and the Web; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technology Industry; Financial Services Industry; Chicago; Illinois

March 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Danatbank

By: David A. Moss, Cole Bolton and Andrew Novo

In the summer of 1931, Germany was struggling with a deepening economic crisis. Production had fallen, unemployment was high, and bank deposits and gold were being withdrawn from the country at a rapid pace, threatening the value of the German mark. The country's third... View Details

Keywords: History; Risk Management; Business History; Capital Markets; Financial Crisis; Banks and Banking; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; Germany

December 1999 (Revised April 2002)
Case

International Business Machines Corporation (A)

By: David F. Hawkins

Perform financial ratio analysis to identify changes in IBM's business mix and profitability. Teaching purpose: Ratio analysis. View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Capital Structure; Performance Efficiency; Business Earnings; Business Model; Private Sector; Commercialization; Computer Industry; Accounting Industry