Publications

July 2009 (Revised September 2009)
Case

The Blackstone Group: Merlin Entertainment

The Blackstone Group had conducted a roll-up of theme parks and attractions business in Europe. It was considering how to generate liquidity for its investors. Blackstone entered the theme parks and attractions business in Europe by acquiring a majority stake in... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Cost vs Benefits; Private Equity; Financial Liquidity; Investment Return; Risk Management; Leasing; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Europe

November 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Bayer Crop Science

By: David E. Bell, Damien McLoughlin, Natalie Kindred and James Barnett

In mid-2019, a year after German conglomerate Bayer Group closed its acquisition of U.S.-based seeds giant Monsanto, the leadership of Bayer’s Crop Science division (which absorbed Monsanto) is reflecting on the opportunities ahead. Some observers have questioned... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Research and Development; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Consolidation; Customer Value and Value Chain; Change Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Germany

September 2020 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Eaton Corporation: Portfolio Transformation and The Cost of Capital

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

In 2000, Eaton Corporation was a broadly diversified industrial conglomerate. But its strategy was evolving and its focus was narrowing around “power management” and more recently on “intelligent power,” the use of digitally enabled products and services designed to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Cost of Capital; Corporate Finance; Value; Valuation; Industrial Products Industry; United States; Denmark; Republic of Ireland

March 1980 (Revised December 1995)
Case

American Chemical Corp.

By: William E. Fruhan Jr. and John P. Goldsberry III

A large chemical manufacturer divests a plant that is acquired by a small specialty chemicals manufacturer. The acquisition decision is viewed from the vantage point of the small specialty chemicals manufacturer. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Chemicals; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Decision Making; Manufacturing Industry; Chemical Industry

February 1994
Case

Kathryn McNeil (A)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.

Charles Foley, vice president of the computer retailing firm Sayer MicroWorld, must decide whether or not to fire his employee, Kathryn McNeil, a 37-year-old product manager who has been unable to work as many hours as her colleagues due to her status as a single... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Employees; Work-Life Balance; Resignation and Termination; Mergers and Acquisitions; Retail Industry

09 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Leadership Lessons of the Great Recession: Options for Economic Downturns

of Cote and his leadership team and asks them to consider the choices they would have made in the face of the extreme uncertainty surrounding future business conditions in the fall of 2008. Cote joined Honeywell as CEO in 2002. The company was emerging from the 2001... View Details

Keywords: by Sandra Sucher & Susan Winterberg; Aerospace; Electronics

04 Feb 2013
Research & Ideas

Are the Big Four Audit Firms Too Big to Fail?

Big Five era (1999-2002), and the Big Four era (2003-2006). All but the final consolidation were due to mergers and acquisitions; the last contraction was due to the collapse of Arthur Andersen. The researchers studied how often and in... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Accounting

February 2010
Case

Burt's Bees: Balancing Growth and Sustainability (Multimedia)

By: Christopher Marquis

The case examines sustainability initiatives at Burt's Bees, with video segments that detail the company's history, leadership, and implementation of ambitious 2020 sustainability goals. The company traces its roots to 1984, when Roxanne Quinby and Burt Schavitz teamed... View Details

Keywords: Balance and Stability; Leadership; Problems and Challenges; Business or Company Management; Growth Management; Organizational Culture; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Mergers and Acquisitions; Social Enterprise; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Ethics

September 2017
Case

Tencent

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Tencent had undergone many transformations since it was founded in 1998 as a simple messaging service. In 2017, it was the largest online games provider in China with a wide range of game types, China’s largest social networking service provider with several of the... View Details

Keywords: Tencent; Tencent Holdings; WeChat; Social Networking; Social Networks; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Video Games; Computer Games; Mobile Gaming; Portals; Payments; Mobile Payments; O2O; Online-to-offline; E-commerce; Messaging; Subscription Model; Freemium; Mobile App Industry; Smartphone; PC; Monetization Strategy; Antitrust; Streaming; Cloud Computing; Artificial Intelligence; Big Data; Alibaba; Facebook; JD.com; Tesla; Bundling; Synergies; Digital Strategy; Imitation; Licensing; Agility; Entry Barriers; Online Platforms; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Joint Ventures; Restructuring; Communication; Communication Technology; Blogs; Interactive Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Investment; Investment Portfolio; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Social Marketing; Network Effects; Emerging Markets; Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Industry Growth; Monopoly; Media; Distribution Channels; Product Development; Service Delivery; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Business and Government Relations; Groups and Teams; Networks; Opportunities; Social and Collaborative Networks; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Cooperation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Value Creation; Communications Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; Information Industry; Information Technology Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; Asia; China; Canton (province, China)

05 Jun 2019
Research & Ideas

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

decision. But consumer inertia can keep motorists coming back to fuel up, despite more appealing offerings by competitors. “Many people, including economists, are surprised by our result, which shows that when you account for consumer inertia, View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Energy

03 Sep 2009
What Do You Think?

Are Retention Bonuses Worth the Investment?

merger activity of the 1980s when it made sense to encourage key employees to remain in place for some time after an organization, whose value was based in part on their presence, was sold. Recently, though, they have become more common... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

18 Jul 2006
First Look

First Look: July 18, 2006

debt needed to fund the transaction. Covers issues such as identifying and attracting bidders; dealing with the concerns of the managers of the selling company; negotiating issues in a definitive merger agreement; and post-sale issues.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Aug 2007
Research & Ideas

The Hedge Fund as Activist

higher price per share. (source: Figure 1 of our paper) Our hypothesis was that rather than effecting significant operational change, hedge funds create value by putting firms "in play" as potential merger or acquisition... View Details

Keywords: by Robin Greenwood; Financial Services

02 Nov 2020
What Do You Think?

Is Antitrust Just a Quaint Notion in the Digital Age?

merger of Office Depot and Staples, ending a marriage that would have reduced the number of big box office supply specialty chains to two, the other being Office Max. In seeking to stop the merger, the Federal Trade Commission argued that... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail; Technology; Telecommunications; Communications; Consumer Products; Service

03 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 3, 2007

annulled the merger—which the European Commission had approved two years earlier—after a group of independent music labels complained about the merger's effect on competition. While Sony and BMG were defending the merger in court, EMI... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 1988
Case

Richardson-Vicks--1985 (B)

Considers takeover defenses erected by Richardson-Vicks. The objective is to determine whether these defenses can by breached by a determined suitor, like Unilever. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Consumer Products Industry