Publications

January 2017
Case

The Six CEOs of Tyco International Ltd.

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In September 2016, Johnson Controls, Inc. completed the acquisition of Tyco International PLC, a $9.9 billion business with operating profits of $884 million. The purchase consideration was $14.4 billion. Although the deal was billed as a merger, Ireland-based Tyco... View Details

Keywords: Tyco; Dennis Kozlowski; Edward Breen; Fire Safety; Fire Protection; Security; Packaging; Securities And Exchange Commission; Fraud; Accounting; Accounting Audits; Earnings Management; Financial Statements; Goodwill Accounting; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Headquarters; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Restructuring; Crime and Corruption; Engineering; Applied Optics; Chemicals; Construction; Metals and Minerals; Ethics; Finance; Cash Flow; Public Equity; Stock Options; Financing and Loans; Initial Public Offering; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Disclosure; Health Care and Treatment; Business History; Executive Compensation; Selection and Staffing; Courts and Trials; Lawfulness; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Value; Chemical Industry; Construction Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry; Energy Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Mining Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Utilities Industry; Republic of Ireland; Switzerland; Bermuda; United States; New Hampshire

28 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

Supply Chain Risk: Deal With It

instability in Third World countries, and last year's shutdown of West Coast shipping docks—have awakened managers as never before to supply chain risks, some of which had been introduced or heightened by the very actions companies had... View Details

Keywords: by David Stauffer

28 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Coronavirus Could Create a 'Bankruptcy Pandemic'

many new cases arrive at the same time, companies could be much less well-served by the bankruptcy reorganization process.” What makes the current financial crisis unique is that the economic harm caused by forced shutdowns is being felt... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Banking

14 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restarting Under Uncertainty: Managerial Experiences from Around the World

As economies reopen after forced shutdowns caused by COVID-19, managers around the world are faced with a dual challenge: keep the workforce safe while preserving business viability in an evolving and volatile market. How should... View Details

Keywords: by Raffaella Sadun, Andrea Bertoni, Alexia Delfino, Giovanni Fassio, and Mariapaola Testa

April 2000 (Revised July 2000)
Case

Family Feud (B): Andersen versus Andersen

By: Ashish Nanda

Arbitration proceedings have been initiated between Andersen Consulting and Arthur Andersen. The case details developments during 1999 and 2000, as the arbitration nears a decision. View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Service Industry; Consulting Industry; United States

1976
Chapter

Barriers to Exit

By: M. E. Porter and R. E. Caves

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown

December 2017
Teaching Note

Centerbridge Partners and Great Wolf Resorts: Buying from a Highly Regarded Competitor

By: Josh Lerner, John D. Dionne and Amram Migdal

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 818-023 and 818-024. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity Financing; Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities; CMBS; Secondary Buyouts; Sbo; Business Exit or Shutdown; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry

01 Jun 2006
News

Sending a Message

In March, bankers, lobbyists, lawyers, and other messaging-intensive professionals heaved a collective sigh of relief and kept on thumbin’ like nobody’s business. Thanks to $612.5 million shelled out by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM) over a patent... View Details

Keywords: Telecommunications; Information

01 Mar 2014
News

W50 Next Steps

Carroll (MBA 1989) as CEO of global mining giant Anglo American. Both cases center on her decisions around the temporary shutdown of mines in South Africa, one of many steps the company would take under her leadership to prevent worker... View Details

Keywords: W50; Educational Services; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

01 Feb 2000
News

Staying Afloat

foreign investors or foreign capital. In 1991, due in large part to defaults on payments by customers in the Soviet Union and other crumbling communist economies, the shipyard found itself $260 million in debt, hounded by five thousand angry creditors, and targeted for... View Details

December 1995 (Revised February 1997)
Case

Vickers Incorporated: Omaha Plant

The new vice president of the industrial group at Vickers, Inc., a pump manufacturer, must decide whether to shut down the company's largest production facility located in Omaha, Nebraska. The plant is plagued by antiquated equipment, antagonistic union relations, and... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Operations; Manufacturing Industry

05 May 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Survival of the Fittest: The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Firm Exit

Keywords: by Dara Lee Luca and Michael Luca; Food & Beverage

February 2003 (Revised December 2005)
Case

Susan Griffin: Formulation of a Long-Term Investment Strategy

By: Dwight B. Crane and Julia Stevens

Susan Griffin, owner and cofounder of a small manufacturing company, is formulating a long-term investment strategy. Griffin plans to sell her $10 million company and invest the revenue. She must decide how to allocate her investment so that she can rely entirely on... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business Exit or Shutdown; Investment

March 2001
Supplement

Francisco de Narvaez at TIA: Selling the Family Business

By: Linda A. Hill and Kristin Doughty

Francisco de Narvaez reflects on the process of selling his family's retail business. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Business Exit or Shutdown

February 2003 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Arthur Andersen LLP

By: David F. Hawkins and Jacob Cohen

This case highlights the history of Arthur Andersen and the collapse of the firm following the Enron Corp. audit and the Department of Justice obstruction of justice conviction. View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Financial Statements; Business Exit or Shutdown; Lawfulness; United States

2006
Other Unpublished Work

Structural Closure and Exposure: Market Reactions to Announcements of Acquisitions and Divestitures

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and Nitin Nohria

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Exit or Shutdown; Market Entry and Exit

Read Now

October 2006 (Revised February 2009)
Teaching Note

Spyder Active Sports - 2004 (TN)

By: Belen Villalonga and Dwight B. Crane

Teaching Note to (206-027). View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Business Exit or Shutdown; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry

August 2001
Case

Finnigan Corporation

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Barbara Feinberg

Finnigan Corp., headquartered in San Jose, CA, was the world's leading producer of mass spectrometers, holding a 45% market share of instruments used for chemical analysis in pharmaceutical product development, environmental testing, genetic testing, and other... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Financial Crisis; Machinery and Machining; Technology Industry; San Jose

Find at Harvard

March 2001 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Security Factors

By: Jay O. Light

A very successful entrepreneur who has built a factoring business in Atlanta is trying to decide how to sell this business. The issues are how to value the company and the strategy of selling. View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation; Strategy; Valuation; Atlanta