Publications

February 2011 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Marlin & Associates and the Sale of Riverview Technologies

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Riverview Technologies was a Stockholm, Sweden-based company that had developed software hedge funds. After spending more than a year in an organized sale process, the winning bidder had become increasingly difficult to work with and the closing had been substantially... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation Deal; Negotiation Offer; Negotiation Process; Business and Shareholder Relations; Financial Services Industry

16 Nov 2021
Blog Post

How HBS Supported My Career Transitions During and After Graduation

important part of HBS is the people you meet. We generally hear that business school is a great opportunity to network, but networking is really easy when you are also making friends at the same time. I was part of a WhatsApp group after... View Details

31 Aug 2017
Blog Post

Why I Spent This Summer Coding

The summer between RC and EC year represents a great opportunity for risk-free exploration. Encouraged by our outcome at the New Venture Competition and the funding I would receive as a Rock Summer Fellow, I forwent a View Details

Keywords: Technology

November 2000
Case

Dean Foods

By: Ray A. Goldberg, David E. Bell, Ann Leamon and Kim Slack

After 50 years of successful growth, mostly by acquisition, Dean Foods, the nation's second-largest dairy processor, has established a division to develop and market branded products nationally. Can a $4 billion company rely on a $300 million growth vehicle? Is this... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Divisions; Transition; Food; Goods and Commodities; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Product Development; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

01 Jun 2014
News

Taking the Lead in Support of HBS

"When it comes to innovative business education, HBS leads the way. I contribute on a regular basis because it's important to me that the School continues on that path." —Andrew Hauptman (MBA 1995) Chairman, Andell, Inc.; Owner and... View Details

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

01 Mar 2005
News

Health-Care Initiative to Leverage Ongoing Efforts

Dean Kim B. Clark has announced the formation of a faculty initiative in health care, with HBS professor of management practice Richard G. Hamermesh serving as chair. Technology strategy, the design of care delivery, consumer-driven health care, team learning and... View Details

Keywords: Educational Support Services; Educational Services; Health, Social Assistance

August 1996 (Revised December 1999)
Case

J Boats, Inc.

By: Robert L. Simons

During the 20-year evolution of a family-owned, entrepreneurial sailboat company, two founders leverage their design and marketing skills to build one of the most recognized brands in the recreational boating industry. The founder then considers management succession... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Family Business; Risk Management; Financial Management; Leveraged Buyouts; Brands and Branding; Competitive Strategy; Capital Markets; Valuation; Shipping Industry; Transportation Industry

Article

MIT Roundtable on Corporate Risk Management

By: Robert C. Merton

Against the backdrop of financial crisis, a distinguished group of academics and practitioners discusses the contribution of financial management and innovation to corporate growth and value, along with the pitfalls and unintended consequences of such innovation.... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Market Participation; Finance; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Value; Distribution; Capital Structure; Risk Management; Business Ventures; Business Model; Strategy

Find at Harvard

Fast Answer

Africa: research, news, analysis

business environment. Search Tip: Go to Data Tool to download specific indicators of interest, including indicators relating to consumer consumption, income, demographics, etc. Oxford Business Group... View Details

2025
Working Paper

Management and Firm Dynamism

By: Nicholas Bloom, Jonathan S. Hartley, Raffaella Sadun, Rachel Schuh and John Van Reenen

We show better-managed firms are more dynamic in plant acquisitions, disposals, openings and closings in U.S. Census and international data. Better-managed firms also birth better-managed plants, and improve the performance of the plants they acquire. To explain these... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices; Productivity; Management Practices and Processes; Mergers and Acquisitions; Competition; Business or Company Management; Performance Productivity

Read Now

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

October 2018
Case

BreezoMeter: Making Air Pollution Data Actionable

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Allison M. Ciechanover and Margot Eiran

The case focuses on an Israeli startup that provides actionable air pollution data and forecasts. The company has over 50 enterprise customers and its tool reached a million people daily in 67 countries. The co-founders wrestle with which markets and customers to focus... View Details

Keywords: Startups; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Pollutants; Analytics and Data Science; Sales; Marketing; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technology Industry; Israel; United States

August 2011
Teaching Note

Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. (TN)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Erin McFee

Teaching Note for 408-066. View Details

Keywords: Investment; Information Technology; Opportunities; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Risk and Uncertainty; Employment Industry

October 2010
Background Note

Family Corporate Governance: A Brief Literature Review

By: Lena G. Goldberg and David Kiron

This note discusses competing theories of governance in family owned firms and focuses on agency theory, stewardship theory, and the sociological concept of embeddedness. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Managerial Roles; Family Ownership; Theory

February 2008 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Mellon Financial and The Bank of New York

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Ryan Taliaferro

Bob Kelly, the new CEO of Mellon Financial, is considering the terms of a proposed "merger of equals" with The Bank of New York, just before the final Board meeting to approve the deal. The combination offers a great strategic fit, and the expected synergies are large.... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Equity; Banks and Banking; Business and Shareholder Relations; Valuation; Banking Industry; Pittsburgh

01 Dec 2019
News

Capitalizing the Corner Shop

Ejeh. Instead, he grabs his phone, pulls up the Lidya banking app, applies for the cash cushion he needs, and—a day or so later—gets the money in his account and goes about the business of expansion. Since he began borrowing with Lidya in... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

September 1996 (Revised June 1998)
Case

InterSoft of Argentina (B)

By: Linda A. Hill and Stacy Palestrant

Focuses on InterSoft of Argentina, a growing software company in Argentina. In 1993, InterSoft acquires a Russian software company and Emilo Lopez, the vice president and director of InterSoft's Systems Software Lab, must manage a creative, cross-cultural, "virtual"... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Business Growth and Maturation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Management Teams; Groups and Teams; Partners and Partnerships; Conflict Management; Information Technology Industry; Argentina; Russia

March 2019
Supplement

KITEA (B): Getting Ready to Face IKEA

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in September 2015, when IKEA is about to open its first store in Morocco. It then chronicles the efforts of KITEA CEO Amine Benkirane and his son Othman between 2013 and 2015 to prepare KITEA for IKEA’s entry. After incurring losses for the first time in... View Details