Publications

May 2014 (Revised April 2016)
Case

Three-Year Planning at Li & Fung Limited

By: Paul M. Healy and Keith Chi-ho Wong

Having been able to follow its own "three-year plan" on course constantly, Li & Fung Limited fell short of meeting its stretch earnings target for the first time in almost two decades, leading to a double-digit drop in stock price overnight. Questions were raised on... View Details

Keywords: Li ＆ Fung; Financial Planning; Accounting; Financial Reporting; Distribution Industry; Service Industry; Hong Kong; China

September 2002 (Revised March 2003)
Technical Note

Technical Note on Equity-Linked Consideration, Part 2: Announcement Effects

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

The announcement of merger or acquisition conveys new information to the capital markets. Shareholders and portfolio managers assess the news and trade on the basis of their new appraisals of value. Thus, from the actual Pstks of the two companies one can infer from... View Details

Keywords: Announcements; Price; Acquisition; Business and Shareholder Relations

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March 2009
Background Note

Evaluating M&A Deals: Floors, Caps, and Collars

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

As equity consideration has become more popular in acquisitions, so has the use of the "pricing-protection" mechanisms, such as floors, caps, and collars. These contractual devices provide insurance to the shareholders of the target and may protect the buyer as well.... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Equity; Price; Contracts; Business and Shareholder Relations

June 2018 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Valuing Snap After the IPO Quiet Period (A)

By: Marco Di Maggio, Benjamin C. Esty and Gregory Saldutte

Snap, the disappearing message app, went public at $17 per share on March 2, 2017, making its two 20-something founders the youngest self-made billionaires in the country. Over the next three weeks, 14 analysts made investment recommendations on Snap: two with buy... View Details

28 Nov 2018
HBS Case

On Target: Rethinking the Retail Website

jimkruger In the mid-1990s, Target was a discount superstore behemoth. The retailer had set itself apart from chief rival Walmart with a focus on more upscale but wallet-friendly fashion and lifestyle lines, spurring double-digit growth... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail

December 2023
Article

Advances in Power-to-Gas Technologies: Cost and Conversion Efficiency

By: Gunther Glenk, Philip Holler and Stefan Reichelstein

Widespread adoption of hydrogen as an energy carrier is widely believed to require continued advances in Power-to-Gas (PtG) technologies. Here we provide a comprehensive assessment of the dynamics of system prices and conversion efficiency for three currently prevalent... View Details

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April 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

PayPal Merchant Services

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Lauren Barley

In early 2006, PayPal management is deciding how to respond to Google's entry into online payments. PayPal, owned by eBay, has targeted online merchants outside eBay's auction community for its next wave of expansion. Google represents a potential threat to PayPal's... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Competition; Expansion; Service Operations; Auctions; Web Services Industry; Service Industry

2015
Working Paper

Initial Offer Precision and M&A Outcomes

By: Petri Hukkanen and Matti Keloharju

Building on recent research in social psychology, this paper analyzes the link between the precision of initial cash offers and M&A outcomes. About one-half of the offers are made at the precision of $1 or $5 per share, and an additional one-third at the precision of... View Details

Keywords: Price; Mergers and Acquisitions; Negotiation Offer

SSRN

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06 Mar 2018
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, March 6, 2018

not receive such evidence. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=45842 Targeted Price Controls on Supermarket Products By: Cavallo, Alberto, and Diego Aparicio Abstract—We... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2013 (Revised January 2016)
Case

Château Margaux: Launching the Third Wine

By: Elie Ofek and Eric E. Vogt

Château Margaux, one of only five prestigious estates in the Bordeaux Medoc wine region to have been classified as a "first-growth", is facing a host of strategic decisions in early 2013. Up until this point the estate had been selling two red wines, a first wine whose... View Details

Keywords: New Product Launch; Marketing Plan; Brand Management; Go To Market Strategy; Channels Of Distribution; Wine Industry; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; France

26 Nov 2001
Op-Ed

Why Corporate Budgeting Needs To Be Fixed

Corporate budgeting is a joke, and everyone knows it. It consumes a huge amount of executives' time, forcing them into endless rounds of dull meetings and tense negotiations. It encourages managers to lie and cheat, lowballing targets and... View Details

Keywords: by Michael C. Jensen

September 17, 2021
Article

AI Can Help Address Inequity—If Companies Earn Users' Trust

By: Shunyuan Zhang, Kannan Srinivasan, Param Singh and Nitin Mehta

While companies may spend a lot of time testing models before launch, many spend too little time considering how they will work in the wild. In particular, they fail to fully consider how rates of adoption can warp developers’ intent. For instance, Airbnb launched a... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Algorithmic Bias; Technological Innovation; Perception; Diversity; Equality and Inequality; Trust; AI and Machine Learning

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October 2001 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Harrah's Entertainment Inc.

By: Rajiv Lal and Patricia Carrolo

Describes a situation facing Philip Satre, chairman and CEO of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. Satre was reading a May 2000 Wall Street Journal story that discussed the company's marketing success in targeting low rollers, the 100% growth in stock price and profits in the... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Marketing; Marketing Reference Programs; Performance Evaluation; Motivation and Incentives; Competitive Strategy

March 1997
Background Note

Asymmetric Information: Market Failures, Market Distortions, and Market Solutions

Presents a conceptual framework for thinking about markets characterized by asymmetric information. Presents the standard economic analysis of "the lemons problem," and demonstrates how asymmetric information may lead to market inefficiencies and alter the distribution... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy

08 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: Nov. 8

Abstract In many service industries, companies compete with each other on the basis of the waiting time their customers experience, along with other strategic instruments such as the price they charge for their service. The objective of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2023
Working Paper

Advances in Power-to-Gas Technologies: Cost and Conversion Efficiency

By: Gunther Glenk, Philip Holler and Stefan Reichelstein

Widespread adoption of hydrogen as an energy carrier is widely believed to require continued advances in Power-to-Gas (PtG) technologies. Here we provide a comprehensive assessment of the dynamics of system prices and conversion efficiency for three currently prevalent... View Details

Keywords: Clean Tech; Decarbonization; Carbon Emissions; Learning By Doing; Environment; Energy; Environmental Management; Sustainable Cities; Price; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Transportation Industry; Europe; North America; South America; Africa; Asia

SSRN

August 2009 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Eddie Bauer (A)

By: Paul Healy, Sharon Katz and Aldo Sesia

In June 2005, Eddie Bauer, the specialty apparel retailer, emerged from bankruptcy. Under the plan of reorganization former creditors converted their debt into common shares, taking 100% ownership in the reconstituted company. Large banks-including Bank of America and... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Stock Shares; Valuation; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; United States