Publications

Web

Morgan Hall | About

and restoring troubled businesses to profitability became widely known, and investors were eager to support his ventures. J.P. Morgan & Company organized and financed some of the largest corporate mergers of the early 20th century,... View Details

Web

Research Design - Impact Investments

research is archival and constructs a timeline of how our sampled companies evolved, including key events such as executive hires and departures, mergers and acquisitions, set-backs and successes, as well as exits. Next, we conduct... View Details

15 Jul 2019
Book

Many Executives Are Afraid of Finance. Here's How They Can Gain Confidence

and how investors can disagree so sharply on controversial companies ranging from Netflix to Uber to Tesla. Gerdeman: When a company has a lot of cash, a CEO can choose to grow the company organically—through expansion—or inorganically—through View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

01 Aug 1998
News

Spangler Family Gift Endows New Campus Center

and real-estate firm and in banking, where, among other achievements, he led a merger of the Bank of North Carolina with the North Carolina National Bank Corporation - now NationsBank - in the early 1980s. With the enrollment of his two... View Details

Keywords: Nancy O. Perry

Web

Investing in Emerging Industries | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

advised on the merger of Keith-Albee and Orpheum theaters in the 1920s, which became RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corporation), creating a circuit of more than 700 theaters. Lehman Brothers also supported Paramount Pictures, Inc. and... View Details

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HBS Alumni Conference: Accelerating Climate Solutions - Alumni

Generation, the Center for American Progress, and the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. Gordon got her start on energy and climate issues at the national Apollo Alliance, where she ultimately served as co-executive director until the View Details

June 2022 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Individual FoodService, Kelso, and Ken Sweder

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

When and how much risk to take? In October 2020, Ken Sweder, CEO of Individual FoodService (“IFS”), contemplated this question as he evaluated a proposal to acquire Brady Industries, a distributor of janitorial and sanitation products. Sweder and his private equity... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Risk Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Value Creation; Business Divisions

08 Jul 2019
Research & Ideas

Are Paywalls Saving Newspapers?

jobs across the country and a slew of mergers and acquisitions as companies struggle to regain financial footing. As of 2015, 78 percent of US print media firms with a daily circulation of over 50,000 were using a digital subscription... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Journalism & News; Media & Broadcasting

October 2020 (Revised July 2023)
Case

The Walt Disney Company: The 21st Century Fox Acquisition and Digital Distribution

By: David J. Collis

This case describes the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by the Walt Disney Company and the subsequent launch by Disney of three streaming channels to compete with Netflix. View Details

Keywords: Disney; Streaming; Corporate Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Distribution; Competitive Strategy; Vertical Integration; Media and Broadcasting Industry

February 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Roche's Acquisition of Genentech

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin, Bo Becker and Vincent Marie Dessain

Franz Humer, CEO of the Roche Group, must decide whether to mount a hostile tender offer for the publicly-owned shares of Roche's biotechnology subsidiary, Genentech. The case provides opportunities to analyze Roche's strategy with respect to Genentech, the pros and... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Subsidiaries; Negotiation Offer; Organizational Culture; Corporate Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Switzerland

November 2023
Case

Tata Group in 2021: Pursuing Profits through Purpose

By: Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu and Vidhya Muthuram

October 8, 2021: Tata Sons won a bid to acquire India’s national carrier Air India, marking the airline's return to its original owners after 68 long years. The winning bid of $2.4 billion gave Tata Sons full ownership of the airline and its coveted network of 6,200... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Emerging Markets; Mergers and Acquisitions; Ownership; Air Transportation; Air Transportation Industry; India

Web

The 20th Century Zeitgeist - Leadership

Rationing Influence: Medium-Low 50 1950 s 19 Military spending shifts to nuclear deterrents Small Business Administration created Influence: Medium 60 1960 s 19 Great Society Consumer and environmental protection movements strengthen Vehicle Safety Act and Highway... View Details

09 Feb 2021
News

Investing in Entrepreneurship

that gave Venrock 10 percent of the company—his reputation for integrity, hard work, and picking people is what he finds most satisfying. “No Venrock company ever went bankrupt,” he noted in the Computer History Museum interview. “However, we had some ‘respectable... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

Web

From C-Suite to CEO - Alumni

CEO or Board: I‘ve been with the company in X role for Y years, how am I stacking up against my peers? Would I be considered for the CEO role in the future? I would like to be more involved in XYZ (examples include a merger integration,... View Details

23 May 2018
News

Carla A. Harris, MBA 1987

talking about great things,” says Harris, who, two years later, enrolled at HBS as a first-year student. Harris thrived at HBS, and the experience launched her career at Morgan Stanley. She joined in 1987 and worked her way up, holding positions in View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

01 Feb 1999
News

Too Much of a Good Thing?

solve overcapacity dilemmas elsewhere in the world. Jensen, arguing for the salutary effects of the financial markets, says that merger and takeover activity - "the market for corporate control" - can, if it is permitted to, perform this... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons

William E. Fruhan

Professor WILLIAM E. FRUHAN, JR. is George E. Bates Professor, Emeritus at the Harvard Business School. He received his BS degree from Yale University, and his MBA and DBA degrees from Harvard University. He has served as Senior Associate Dean and Director of... View Details

Keywords: aircraft; airline; chemical; electronics; grocery; medical supplies; oil ＆ gas; pharmaceuticals; retailing; steel

April 2006 (Revised September 2009)
Case

BYD Company, Ltd.

By: Robert S. Huckman and Alan D. MacCormack

Considers whether BYD Co., Ltd., the largest Chinese maker of rechargeable batteries, should enter the Chinese automobile industry by acquiring Qinchuan Auto, a state-owned car manufacturer. Set just after BYD's initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Labor; Production; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Auto Industry; Battery Industry; Manufacturing Industry; China