Publications

22 Jun 2010
First Look

First Look: June 22

the restructuring of Chrysler in the midst of the financial crisis of 2008-2009. It describes how debtors can use section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to sell assets quickly. It allows for discussion of who benefits and who loses in... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

April 2022
Supplement

PG&E and the First Climate Change Bankruptcy

By: Stuart C. Gilson

Keywords: Chapter 11; Utilities; Liabilities; Restructuring; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Debt Securities; Legal Liability; Climate Change; Utilities Industry; United States

September 2021 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Serving Bud Moore (A)

By: David G. Fubini and Patrick Sanguineti

In only his third year at a Leading Strategy Consulting Firm (LSC), Gregory Davis has been assigned to a select group tasked with advising General Motors (GM), one of the largest companies in the world by revenue, on how to reorganize their entire North American... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Decisions; Relationships; Cooperation; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Outcome or Result; Restructuring

August 2008 (Revised May 2009)
Case

Kmart and ESL Investments (A)

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah Abbott

A major bankrupt retailer is poised to emerge from Chapter 11. Two activist hedge funds ("vulture investors") will own over 50% of reorganized Kmart's common stock, based on prior investments in Kmart's debt claims, and an infusion of new equity financing. The Chapter... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment; Investment Activism; Valuation; Financial Services Industry; Retail Industry; United States

November 2002 (Revised April 2003)
Case

Charoen Pokphand Group: A Renewed Focus

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Cate Reavis

As one of Asia's biggest agriindustrial conglomerates, Charoen Pokphand, although solidly positioned in Thailand, was facing an increasingly competitive and complex business environment in China, where it made 30% of revenues. A change in management of the family-owned... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Agribusiness; Business Conglomerates; Family Business; Competition; Restructuring; Partners and Partnerships; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Thailand; China

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15 Nov 2012
Research & Ideas

Funding the Design of Livable Cities

emissions, restructuring the urban environment can have an enormous positive impact on the global climate. Within a relatively contained geographic space, a city's "inputs" of water, transportation infrastructure, energy and breathable... View Details

Keywords: by Lisa Chase; Construction; Real Estate; Energy; Utilities

02 Jun 2011
What Do You Think?

Is it Time for a National Bankruptcy?

Is this what it would take to bring us to our fiscal senses? Is it time for a national bankruptcy? Or would a restructuring of the Greek debt (a smaller redistribution of wealth) without imposing bankruptcy be a better solution? What do... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

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

July 1996 (Revised January 1997)
Case

Northwest Airlines: Brush with Bankruptcy (A)--November 1992

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Davis Dyer

Deals with Northwest's financial crisis between the fall of 1992 and the following spring. Northwest's leaders face the problem of how to meet an impending $600 million payment on the 1989 LBO loan when the airline had run out of cash. Concludes by outlining options... View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Restructuring; Leveraged Buyouts; Crisis Management; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Strategy; Financial Crisis; Air Transportation Industry; United States

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24 Sep 2024
Research & Ideas

Why Small Businesses Deserve More Credit

investing, mostly through term debt. Debt capacity expansion led to firm growth, with profits increasing by 35 percent annually. Growth is even larger for firms further away from debt limits. Delinquency or debt restructuring rates didn’t... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services; Banking

08 May 2020
In Practice

Nonprofits Hurt by COVID-19 Must Hoard Cash to Hold On

advice on how the social enterprise can restructure or redeploy its staff to be more effective. Preserving cash is the dominant issue. F. Warren McFarlan is the T.J. Dermot Dunphy Baker Foundation Professor of Business Administration,... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

January 1990 (Revised March 1991)
Case

American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region

By: Robert L. Simons

Recounts the financial difficulties and management changes experienced by American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region (NER) during the 1980s. After summarizing industry-wide changes in the collection, testing, and distribution of blood and blood products, the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Budgets and Budgeting; Financial Management; Restructuring; Health; SWOT Analysis; Social Enterprise; Marketplace Matching; Management Style; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry; North and Central America

April 2001 (Revised July 2001)
Case

Zaplet, Inc.

By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Brian DeLacey

Start-up Zaplet, Inc., has radical software, prestigious venture capital funding, and a multitude of business opportunities. New CEO Alan Baratz must select a strategy and redesign the organization to deliver. This case describes the roles and philosophies of the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Information Technology; Organizational Design; Venture Capital; Valuation; Business Strategy; Restructuring; Expansion; Product Development; Innovation Strategy; Human Resources; Information Technology Industry; California

June 2000
Case

Lifeline Systems, Inc. (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Marilyn Matis

Lifeline Systems provides emergency response equipment to the elderly who live at home. The company uses local hospitals to market, sell, and install these units in homes, while the hospital monitors and calls for aid to respond to emergency calls from the elderly... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Product Marketing; Sales; Problems and Challenges; Growth and Development Strategy; Managerial Roles; Service Operations; Information Infrastructure; Age; Service Delivery; Restructuring; Crisis Management; Health Industry; Service Industry

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October 2013 (Revised December 2013)
Teaching Note

Blackstone and the Sale of Citigroup's Loan Portfolio Teaching Note

By: Victoria Ivashina and David Scharfstein

Keywords: Derivatives; Bankruptcy; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Private Equity; Restructuring; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

February 2003 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Large Scale Change at The WSSC

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Corey B. Hajim

Describes the organizational transformation occurring at the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), a public utility. Faced with the possibility of privatization after decades of providing service in the absence of competition or performance pressures, the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose; Change Management; Restructuring; Privatization; Resignation and Termination; Utilities Industry

28 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 28

therapy innovations. To bolster Medtronic's near-term prospects, he has supported creative product and business model innovations aimed at overcoming adoption barriers in emerging economies. Ishrak restructured his executive team and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 15

Looking back, how should the company's restructuring be assessed? Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/811030-PDF-ENG Caijing Magazine (B) Karthik Ramanna and G.A. DonovanHarvard Business School Supplement 112-049 In... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

December 1996 (Revised July 1997)
Case

USG Corporation

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Tara L. Nells

In 1988, USG was the world's largest gypsum producer and one of the world's largest building-products companies. On May 2, 1988, USG's board of directors announced a proposed leveraged recapitalization plan to thwart a hostile cash tender offer by Desert Partners. With... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Valuation; Cash Flow; Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; United States