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- August 2017
- Article
Voter Registration Costs and Disenfranchisement: Experimental Evidence from France
By: Céline Braconnier, Jean-Yves Dormagen and Vincent Pons
A large-scale randomized experiment conducted during the 2012 French presidential and parliamentary elections shows that voter registration requirements have significant effects on turnout, resulting in unequal participation. We assigned 20,500 apartments to one... View Details
- July 2017
- Supplement
Centerbridge Partners and Great Wolf Resorts (B)
By: Josh Lerner, John D. Dionne and Amram Migdal
The case examines the aftermath of the March 2015 Centerbridge Partners acquisition of Great Wolf Resorts, a North American family-oriented indoor water parks and hotel operator, from a private equity (PE) competitor, Apollo Global Management. View Details
Keywords: Private Equity Financing; Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities; CMBS; Secondary Buyouts; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Leveraged Buyouts; Business Exit or Shutdown; Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Cost; Cost of Capital; Equity; Private Equity; Financial Instruments; Debt Securities; Accommodations Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; North and Central America; United States
- July 2017
- Case
Centerbridge Partners and Great Wolf Resorts: Buying from a Highly Regarded Competitor
By: Josh Lerner, John D. Dionne and Amram Migdal
The case examines the March 2015 Centerbridge Partners investment decision regarding whether to acquire Great Wolf Resorts, a North American family-oriented indoor water parks and hotel operator, from a private equity (PE) competitor, Apollo Global Management. The case... View Details
Keywords: Private Equity Financing; Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities; CMBS; Secondary Buyouts; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Cost; Cost of Capital; Equity; Private Equity; Financial Instruments; Debt Securities; Accommodations Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; North and Central America; United States
- June 2017
- Teaching Note
The U-Turns of National Truck Stops
By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Alexander W. Schultz
Raj Makam had spent months trying to restructure a 2006 investment he had made in National Truck Stops, Inc. (“NTS”) as a senior member of Oaktree Capital Management’s (“Oaktree”) Mezzanine finance business within their Corporate Debt platform. It was the first time... View Details
- June 2017 (Revised October 2017)
- Case
Becton Dickinson: Innovation and Growth (A)
By: Raffaella Sadun, Michael Beer and James Weber
In late 2015, CEO Vince Forlenza was reviewing Becton Dickinson’s transformation efforts designed to enable the company to innovate and grow in a changing environment. Becton Dickinson had been a successful medical device company for over 100 years. In recent years,... View Details
Keywords: Transformation; Change Management; Innovation Leadership; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States
- Article
Repositioning and Cost-Cutting: The Impact of Competition on Platform Strategies
By: Robert Seamans and Feng Zhu
Organizational structures are increasingly complex. In particular, more firms today operate as multi-sided platforms. In this paper, we study how platform firms use repositioning and cost-cutting in response to competition, elucidate external and internal factors that... View Details
- 2019
- Chapter
Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)
Return on invested capital (ROIC) is a financial measure of the profitability of a firm or business unit. If it is greater than the business's cost of capital, then reinvestment of earnings increases shareholder VALUE. The ROIC also determines a maximum self-sustaining... View Details
- June 2017
- Article
The Political Economy of Financial Innovation: Evidence from Local Governments
By: Christophe Pérignon and Boris Vallée
We examine the toxic loans sold by investment banks to local governments. Using proprietary data, we show that politicians strategically use these products to increase chances of being re-elected. Consistent with greater incentives to hide the cost of debt, toxic loans... View Details
- 2017
- Working Paper
Digital Agility: The Impact of Software Portfolio Architecture on IT System Evolution
By: Alan MacCormack, Robert Lagerström, Martin Mocker and Carliss Y. Baldwin
The modern industrial firm increasingly relies on software to support its competitive position. However, the uncertain and dynamic nature of today’s global marketplace dictates that this software be continually evolved and adapted to meet new business challenges. This... View Details
- May 2017
- Supplement
Boston Children's Hospital Process Map Video
By: Robert S. Kaplan and Mary Witkowski
The 13 minute video simulates a discussion among orthopedic surgeons and cast room technicians about the processes and resources used when applying long leg casts for patients. The video should be used when teaching Boston Children’s Hospital (Abridged) case, #914-407,... View Details
- Article
Third-Party Punishment as a Costly Signal of High Continuation Probabilities in Repeated Games
By: Jillian J. Jordan and David G. Rand
Why do individuals pay costs to punish selfish behavior, even as third-party observers? A large body of research suggests that reputation plays an important role in motivating such third-party punishment (TPP). Here we focus on a recently proposed reputation-based... View Details
- May 2017 (Revised November 2017)
- Case
Cotopaxi: Managing Growth for Good
By: Andy Wu and Laura Huang
Cotopaxi, an innovative outdoor gear business targeting millennials, focuses on profit and social impact. This registered benefit corporation was formed by Davis Smith who coalesced his experiences as a Wharton MBA student along with professional knowledge from an... View Details
- May 2017
- Teaching Note
Promontory, Inc. (Brief Case)
By: Frank V. Cespedes and Amy Handlin
Teaching Note for HBS No. 917-535. The Promontory teaching note covers a) how and why buying processes in Promontory’s market generate the array of selling approaches illustrated in the case; b) the impact of incremental sales increases on the firm’s cost structure and... View Details
- 2017
- Chapter
Corporate Moral Agency, Positive Duties, and Purpose
By: Nien-hê Hsieh
A long-standing question in business ethics is whether business enterprises are themselves moral agents with distinct moral responsibilities. To date, the debate about corporate moral agency has focused on responsibility for past wrongdoing that involves violating... View Details
- May 2017
- Article
Experimental Evidence of Pooling Outcomes Under Information Asymmetry
By: William Schmidt and Ryan W. Buell
Operational decisions under information asymmetry can signal a firm's prospects to less-informed parties, such as investors, customers, competitors, and regulators. Consequently, managers in these settings often face a tradeoff between making an optimal decision and... View Details
- 2018
- Working Paper
Opportunistic Returns and Dynamic Pricing: Empirical Evidence from Online Retailing in Emerging Markets
By: Chaithanya Bandi, Antonio Moreno, Donald Ngwe and Zhiji Xu
We investigate how dynamic pricing can lead to higher operational costs through more product returns in the online retail industry. Dynamic pricing has been widely applied by many online retailers. Research has shown that, in response to dynamic pricing, some customers... View Details
- May 2017
- Article
When Discounts Raise Costs: The Effect of Copay Coupons on Generic Utilization
By: Leemore S. Dafny, Christopher Ody and Matt Schmitt
Branded pharmaceutical manufacturers frequently offer “copay coupons” that insulate consumers from cost sharing, thereby undermining insurers’ ability to influence drug utilization. We study the impact of copay coupons on branded drugs first facing generic entry... View Details
- April 2017 (Revised July 2017)
- Case
ISRO: Explore Space or Exploit CubeSats?
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) achieved global acclaim by launching successful missions to the moon and Mars at a fraction of the cost of prior Western missions. It is now faced with an important strategic dilemma—whether to continue exploring deep space... View Details
- April 2017
- Case
Imprimis (A)
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karen Elterman and Marc Appel
This case examines the strategic choices and evolving business model of Imprimis Pharmaceuticals from the perspective of CEO Mark Baum. The (A) case provides a brief history of the company and of the compounding business, outlining the challenges faced by Imprimis in... View Details
- April 2017
- Supplement
Imprimis (B)
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karen Elterman and Marc Appel
This case is a supplement to Imprimis (A). It describes the company’s decision to enter into the pharmaceutical compounding business in 2013–2014. Imprimis purchased a compounded ophthalmological medication called Dropless Therapy, which was injected into patients’... View Details