Publications

October 1997 (Revised May 1998)
Case

Asda (A1)

By: Michael Beer and James Weber

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Crisis Management; Management Teams; Business Strategy; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United Kingdom

September 1998 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Interactive Insurance Services: Redefining Insurance Distribution

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Marla Malcom-Nagler

Founded in July 1995, Interactive Insurance Services provided personal lines of insurance over the World Wide Web. In June 1996, the company was acquired by Intuit for $7.5 million. The case details the competitive and organizational issues faced by this rapidly... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Restructuring; Growth and Development; Distribution; Business Processes; Competitive Strategy; Web; Insurance Industry

Find at Harvard

October 2012 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Innova Capital: The Transition

By: Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

The partners at Innova Capital, a leading mid-market private equity investor in Poland, must negotiate a transition of power between the two ex-patriate founders and three talented young Polish partners. If they fail to find an accomodation, the entire firm will... View Details

Keywords: Firm Structure; Career Management; Emerging Market; Succession; Entrepreneurship; Private Equity; Venture Capital; Negotiation; Investment; Restructuring; Transition

01 Dec 1996
News

New Releases

in their organizations." restructuring -- innovations intended to make companies more competitive -- routinely fall short, says HBS professor John Kotter, because they fail to alter behavior. In his new book, Leading Change, Kotter, one... View Details

01 Oct 1998
News

A Long and Winding Road

and hips and repaired with laser surgery. Laptop computers, the Internet, and cell phones make the 24-hour workday a virtual reality. As we journey even deeper into middle age, will we decide to restructure the priorities we've placed on... View Details

Keywords: Wayne R. Vibert (MBA 1973)

25 Aug 2014
News

Wendell P. Weeks, MBA 1987

brink of failure through a painful restructuring and commitment to both innovation and the diversification of its product lines. “We make products that change the world,” he says, noting Corning’s development of LCD glass; tools to... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

May 2005
Supplement

GlaxoSmithKline: Reorganizing Drug Discovery (B)

By: Robert S. Huckman and Eli Strick

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decisions; Operations; Performance; Research and Development; Restructuring; Organizations; Pharmaceutical Industry

December 1995
Supplement

EnClean: Malcolm Waddell, CEO, Video

By: David J. Collis

Presents Malcolm Waddell in a question-and-answer session (the actual questions do not appear on the tape) with HBS MBA students following a class in which the case is discussed. View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Restructuring; Corporate Strategy; Going Public; Decision Making; Acquisition; Interactive Communication

04 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Is Your Org Chart Stuck in a Rut? Try a Scientific Experiment

But with few exceptions, organizational structure has failed to keep up with other market-fueled technological innovation. As a result, a lot of companies are stuck in a structure rut, and aren’t operating as smoothly as they could be. “We have this sort of binge diet... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

March 2010
Case

Sonoco Products Company (A): Building a World-Class HR Organization (Abridged)

By: David A. Thomas and Boris Groysberg

Describes the steps the vice-president of human resources takes in revamping an HR function that was noncooperative and, at times, competitive and introducing the company to the notion of HR as a strategic business partner. Explores changes made to the company's... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Organizations; Restructuring; Partners and Partnerships; Management Succession; Strategic Planning; Performance

April 2012 (Revised August 2013)
Teaching Note

Parmalat Uruguay (A) & (B)

By: Paul W. Marshall and Jim Sharpe

This teaching note is for cases Parmalat Urguguay A & B. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Entrepreneurship; Borrowing and Debt; Negotiation; Performance Improvement; Financial Services Industry; Uruguay

November 2006 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Kerr-McGee

By: Robin Greenwood and André Perold

Activist investors Carl Icahn and Barry Rosenstein acquire a stake in Oklahoma-based company 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: Investment Activism; Restructuring; Equity; Investment; Management; Governance Controls; Corporate Strategy; Chemical Industry; Energy Industry; United States

February 2005 (Revised November 2012)
Supplement

UAL 2004: Pulling Out of Bankruptcy (CW)

By: Daniel Baird Bergstresser, Kenneth A. Froot and Darren Robert Smart

UAL is a large air transportation company with roots that go back to the 1920s. As a legacy carrier, going back to before the 1978 deregulation of air transportation markets, United Airlines is burdened with cost structures that make it difficult to compete with newer... View Details

Keywords: Bankruptcy; Compensation; Costs; Loans; Reorganization; Restructuring; Financing and Loans; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Compensation and Benefits; Air Transportation Industry; United States

October 1997 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Asda (A)

By: Michael Beer and James Weber

In the mid-1980s, Asda was one of the most successful retail companies in the United Kingdom. By 1991, the chain of 200 grocery stores had a lack of direction, a demoralized workforce, declining profits, rising debt, collapsing stock price, and was facing bankruptcy.... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Crisis Management; Management Teams; Business Strategy; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United Kingdom

2007
Chapter

Labor Market Regulations and European Restructuring: Evidence from Private Equity Investments

By: Ant Bozkaya and William R. Kerr

Keywords: Labor; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Restructuring; Private Equity; Investment; Europe

February 2001
Case

Bang Networks, Inc.

By: Paul A. Gompers and Sergio Rattner

Bob Rosin, president and CEO of Bang Networks, must decide how much debt financing to take on. The company is a raw start-up and is considering taking on $10 million in debt. The firm has six offers and needs to identify the best one. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Restructuring; Decisions; Borrowing and Debt; Venture Capital