Publications

June 1990 (Revised August 1990)
Case

IBM Canada Ltd.: Reorganizing for the 1990s

By: Lynda M. Applegate

Keywords: Restructuring; Organizational Design; Computer Industry; Canada

June 1995 (Revised April 1997)
Case

Integron Incorporated: The Integrated Components Division (ICD)

A high-technology manufacturing company was recently given profit-and-loss "stand-alone" status by its parent. No longer a captive supplier, it must seek new markets for its technology and products on the outside world. Describes a benchmarking study by a group of... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Restructuring; Manufacturing Industry

01 Dec 2003
News

Alumni Bookshelf

Press) Drawing from residents’ reminiscences, newspaper accounts, company newsletters and histories, and local records, Carlson looks at towns in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho and the impact that companies have had on them. Restructuring... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

February 2004
Case

Jeepers! Inc. in 2000

After the company's IPO is withdrawn, the company enters a period of severe financial distress. The consultants recommend that the company be liquidated. The CEO must convince the board, the lenders, and the landlords that the company can and should be saved. View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Restructuring; Financial Condition

August 1994
Case

Higashimaru Shoyu Company, Ltd. (B): Revitalizing the Organization

Documents how Higashimaru's plant manager converted a reluctant workforce into one that was open to change. Illustrates "human reengineering" and shows how the plant manager prepared workers for a factory modernization program. View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Employees

April 1986
Supplement

Lyric Dinner Theatre: Deborah Denenberg, General Manager, Video

By: Richard G. Hamermesh

Presents Deborah Denenberg, general manager, answering questions about her successful turnaround of an ailing dinner theatre. View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Restructuring; Business Ventures; Arts; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

25 Mar 2013
Research & Ideas

How Chapter 11 Saved the US Economy

It's no surprise that Harvard Business School professor Stuart C. Gilson gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up to the recently announced $11 billion US Airways/American Airlines merger. The deal, which came after American's parent company, AMR... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Financial Services

August 2008
Background Note

Divisive Reorganizations

By: Henry B. Reiling and Kevin Wall

The note (1) describes "spin-offs" and "split-offs," (2) summarizes the requirements to qualify for tax postponement, and (3) identifies the public policy considerations justifying this favorable treatment. View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Restructuring; Policy; Taxation

February 1996
Case

Spartan Stores Incorporated: Reengineering for Efficient Consumer Response

Describes an effort to rationalize operations at a leading grocery wholesaler, enabled by information systems. Spartan Stores, Inc., is cooperatively owned by its 238 retailers and, through training, consulting, systems support, and cost of goods efficiencies, strives... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Restructuring; Information Technology

October 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Kmart Corp.

Describes a situation in which a company (Kmart) refinances a portion of its debt. Used to illustrate how the asset and liability sides of the balance sheet are linked. View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Accounting; Borrowing and Debt; Retail Industry

November 1995
Course Overview Note

Reengineering the Organization, Course Overview and Syllabus

By: Richard L. Nolan and Donna B. Stoddard

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Restructuring

01 Oct 1999
News

Four Promoted to Full Professor

(1979) and a DBA (1992), both from HBS. Stuart C. Gilson has been a member of the HBS faculty since 1991. His research focuses on how companies can create value by restructuring their assets, operations, and financial obligations in... View Details

January 2017 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Sesame Workshop: Bringing Big Bird Back to Health

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Ryan Raffaelli and Jonathan Cohen

Sesame Workshop was transforming in 2016. CEO Jeff Dunn had reorganized and shifted the iconic institution to respond to digital disruption and a consensus culture. This case examines his efforts to turn Sesame Workshop around. It notes Sesame's storied history and the... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Technology; Education; Education Industry

01 Sep 2005
News

Predictable Surprises

then his HBS colleague, was already working on a concept he called “predictable surprises,” the collaboration that led to their widely read book by the same title was launched. A distinguished expert on managerial decision-making, Bazerman is the Jesse Isidor Straus... View Details

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

2009
Case

Mercury Athletic Footwear, Inc.: Valuing the Opportunity (TN): Brief Case No. 4051.

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Joel L. Heilprin

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Valuation; Apparel and Accessories Industry

15 Nov 2013
News

Helping Bright Ideas Shine Again

Côme Laguë by Robert S. Benchley Côme Laguë (MBA 1993) has no respect for firms he calls "patent trolls"—holding companies that buy up and bank the intellectual property of closed businesses solely for the purpose of generating income... View Details

Keywords: Robert S. Benchley

March 2015
Case

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp: Redefining Success in the U.S. (A)

By: Gautam Mukunda, Thomas DeLong and Aldo Sesia

Over the course of a tumultuous weekend in April 2010, André Wyss was put in charge of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NPC), the U.S. sales and marketing subsidiary of Novartis Pharma AG. He was brought in at a critical point in the organization's evolution with... View Details

Keywords: LEAD; Talent Management; Leadership And Change Management; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Restructuring; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

September 1999
Background Note

Revolution in the Communications Switching Industry

By: Jay O. Light, Lynda M. Applegate and Daniel J. Green

As data packet switches threatened the voice circuit switch industry in 1999, major switch and router vendors began paying high premiums to acquire venture-backed switch companies. This note explains what a switch is and suggests why large vendors might be so anxious... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Restructuring; Capital; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Communications Industry; Electronics Industry

October 1994 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, 1986

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Joanne C. Chng

Goodyear's transition to radial tires from bias and bias-belted tires was difficult and expensive, but successful. Afterward, in 1983, the company embarked on a major diversification program. Three years later, after investments exceeding $1 billion in oil and gas... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Transition; Investment; Diversification; Rubber Industry