Publications

January 2002
Case

Noranda Inc.: Mining, Smelting, and Sustainability?

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Noranda is a $7 billion international mining and smelting company headquartered in Canada. It has been cited for its fine environmental record. This case explores the issue of sustainability--in this case, for a mining company. Over time, and under nongovernmental... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Mining; Cost Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Environmental Sustainability; Mining Industry

April 1991 (Revised July 1994)
Case

Southland Corp. (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback

Examines Southland's financial difficulties following the LBO in 1987 up to the first restructuring plan in July 1990. The teaching objectives are: to explore the complexities of a failed leverage buyout and the operating restrictions that result from financial... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Equity; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financing and Loans; Crisis Management

2017
Article

Blunted Ambiguity Aversion During Cost-Benefit Decisions in Antisocial Individuals

By: Joshua W. Buckholtz, Uma R. Karmarkar, Shengxuan Ye, Grace M. Brennan and Arielle Baskin-Sommers

Antisocial behavior is often assumed to reflect aberrant risk processing. However, many of the most significant forms of antisocial behavior, including crime, reflect the outcomes of decisions made under conditions of ambiguity rather than risk. While risk and... View Details

Keywords: Ambiguity; Neuroscience; Neuroeconomics; Choice; Psychology; Decision Choice And Uncertainty; Behavior; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost vs Benefits; Health Disorders

Read Now

19 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 19, 2009

salinity; and poses strategic choices for a start-up company operating at the intersection of business, agriculture, and climate change. Purchase this case: http://hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=709019 CalPERS'... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

11 Sep 2007
First Look

First Look: September 11, 2007

provide funding to mobilize thousands of youth volunteers, Trellu-Kane needed to decide how Unis-Cite would proceed. Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=407106 A Note on European Private... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

August 1999 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Catanese and Vulcan (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Sanjay Pothen

A small CPA firm puts in a new performance measurement system, and profits increase by 350% in less than a year. This case illustrates the reasons for improved profitability as well as the sustainability of levels of growth, the opportunities, and the threats that... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Performance Evaluation; SWOT Analysis; Profit

10 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 10, 2007

Kerr-McGee. They demand two board seats and ask the company to make several operational and financial changes, including the repurchase of equity and divestiture of their... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Aug 2006
Research & Ideas

Investor Protection: The Czech Experience

makes the costs of having weak institutions much more tangible. The desire of the Czech Republic to join the EU made it more willing to pay the settlement and adhere to the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Media & Broadcasting; Entertainment & Recreation

28 Apr 2023
Blog Post

Creating a Workplace That Supports Employees in Work and Life

the company norms and culture.” Actively solicit feedback and listen to members of your community about their lived experience so that these practices are part of the conversation. View Details

Keywords: All Industries

12 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: Jan. 12

real actions to boost earnings to meet different types of earnings benchmarks. We estimate that marketing actions can be used to boost quarterly net income by up to 5% depending on the depth and duration of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

13 Mar 2018
First Look

March 13, 2018

standardized, and centralized repository, it mitigates information costs for buyers and sellers and, thus, facilitates transactions in the market for ideas. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53959... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2015 (Revised February 2017)
Case

BRF

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

In 2015, BRF's new leadership team is transforming several aspects of the Brazilian protein giant, which had grown sluggish after the 2011 merger that created it. Underlying their reforms are the common goals of reducing bureaucracy, streamlining decision making, and,... View Details

November 1990 (Revised June 1993)
Case

FMC Corp.: A Recapitalization

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Julie H. Hertenstein

A proposed recapitalization will use new debt to pay a large dividend to some shareholders in return for a reduction of their voting power. The result will be a highly leveraged financial structure and negative owners' equity. Students can trace the effects of proposed... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Financial Strategy; Asset Management; Financial Management; Business Conglomerates; Borrowing and Debt; Business and Shareholder Relations; Capital Structure; Equity; Private Equity; Chemical Industry

Find at Harvard

January 2024
Supplement

Accounting Red Flags or Red Herrings at Catalent? (B)

By: Joseph Pacelli, ZeSean Ali and Tom Quinn

GlassHouse Research identified accounting red flags at Catalent. Fiat Lux Partners countered most of GlassHouse’s claims. Who was right? This update explores the aftermath of the short seller duel. View Details

20 May 2008
First Look

First Look: May 20, 2008

labor materially alters pre-retirement portfolio choice by significantly raising optimal equity holdings. Using this model, we also investigate the welfare costs of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

10 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 10, 2009

prior to retirement. However, variable labor materially alters pre-retirement portfolio choice by significantly raising optimal equity holdings. Using this model, we also investigate the welfare costs View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 1980 (Revised August 1986)
Case

General Electric vs. Westinghouse in Large Turbine Generators (A)

By: Michael E. Porter

Describes the U.S. large turbine generator industry in early 1963, a period of severe price cutting and depressed industry conditions. Presents data to allow a structural analysis of the industry and an analysis of the strategies of the major players since 1946. The... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Machinery and Machining; Cost Management; Price; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Marketing Strategy; Industry Structures; Competition; Manufacturing Industry; United States

17 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 17, 2018

the partner type and private consumption. We estimate our model using the 2013 "Living Costs and Food Survey" database. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54695 forthcoming The Economics View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

January 2011 (Revised August 2011)
Supplement

Kanebo Ltd. (B)

By: David F. Hawkins, Suraj Srinivasan and Akiko Kanno

Financial statements before and after restatement following revelation of fraud. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Financial Statements; Crime and Corruption; Business Conglomerates; Japan