Publications

July 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Formosa Plastics Group: Business Continuity Forever

Wang Yung-ching, legendary Taiwanese businessman and philanthropist, passed away in 2008. He left behind an estate worth US $5.5 billion, but did not leave a will. The case discusses the potential motivation for Wang, and uses it to study succession planning for family... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Governance Controls; Management Succession; Family Ownership; Planning; Motivation and Incentives; Chemical Industry; Taiwan

March 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch

By: Guhan Subramanian and Nithyasri Sharma

In September 2008, as Lehman Brothers struggled to survive, John Thain, CEO of Merrill Lynch, realized that his bank was also on the brink of failure. Throughout the weekend of September 13–14, 2008, Thain successfully negotiated a deal with Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Crisis; Financing and Loans; Negotiation Deal; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; United States

2009
Working Paper

Banking Deregulations, Financing Constraints and Firm Entry Size

By: William R. Kerr and Ramana Nanda

We examine the effect of US branch banking deregulations on the entry size of new firms using micro-data from the US Census Bureau. We find that the average entry size for startups did not change following the deregulations. However, among firms that survived at least... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Financing and Loans; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Market Entry and Exit; Banking Industry; United States

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19 Jan 2017
News

Finding Purpose in Profit

how business is done in Colorado and to make it the leader in responsible business practice,” she says. “There are more than 1,800 Certified B Corporations, in more than 130 industries and 50 countries. Colorado, with more than 80 such... View Details

Keywords: Robert S. Benchley; B corporations

01 Jun 2007
News

Steve Schwarzman

business, politics, media, and the arts. With a personal fortune estimated by Forbes to surpass $3.5 billion, Schwarzman has come a long way since leaving Lehman Brothers in 1985 to cofound Blackstone with start-up capital of $400,000.... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Finance

February 1999
Case

PDVSA & Citgo (A): Seeking Stability in an Uncertain World

By: Ashish Nanda

In order to secure demand for its heavy oil, PDVSA buys 50% of the U.S. refining and retail company Citgo. In 1990, it buys the remaining 50% ownership of Citgo. The case describes the challenges faced by PDVSA and Citgo managements as they try to make their... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Business Subsidiaries; Mergers and Acquisitions; Energy Sources; Mining Industry; Mining Industry

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February 2002 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Argentina's Financial System: The Case of Banco de Galicia

By: Rafael M. Di Tella, Tarun Khanna, Huw Pill, Alexandra de Royere and Ingrid Vogel

Describes the development of Argentina's financial system after the "Tequila Crisis" that came about as a result of the speculative attack on the Mexican peso's peg to the U.S. dollar in December 1994. Although Argentina's banking system was strengthened overall due to... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Emerging Markets; Macroeconomics; Business Strategy; Banks and Banking; Financial Crisis; Family Business; Acquisition; Banking Industry; Argentina

June 1997 (Revised May 1998)
Case

Mobil USM&R (A1)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

First of a two-part case on the development and use of a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) at Mobil's US Marketing and Refining Division. Split from the original (A) case to give students an opportunity to suggest objectives and measures for the division's initial BSC, without... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Measurement and Metrics; Restructuring; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Marketing Strategy; Motivation and Incentives; Mining Industry; Mining Industry; United States

September 1990 (Revised November 1991)
Supplement

Procter & Gamble Japan (C)

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

Updates the (A) case. The issues facing P&G were two-fold. 1) General manager, Japan--how to keep both the business and organization growing; 2) President, international--what role should the Japanese operation play in the P&G worldwide business? View Details

Keywords: Business Offices; Business Growth and Maturation; Globalization; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizations; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Japan

July 1967 (Revised September 1982)
Case

Head Ski Co., Inc.

By: Howard H. Stevenson

Describes the development of the company to its present preeminence in high-priced skis and the avenues that it can follow to obtain new growth. View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

March 2009
Teaching Note

Proteus Biomedical: Making Pigs Fly (TN)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh

Teaching Note for [809051]. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Information Technology; Competition; Negotiation Deal; Health Industry; Health Industry

November 1984 (Revised March 1985)
Case

Restructuring European Petrochemicals: French Companies and the French Government

By: Francis Aguilar, Joseph L. Bower and Benjamin Gomes-Casseres

Keywords: Restructuring; Corporate Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; France

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07 Jun 2016
First Look

June 7, 2016

spreads have lower means, lower cross-country correlations, and lower sensitivity to global risk factors. We discuss several major sources of credit-spread differentials, including positively correlated credit and currency risk, selective default, View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2022
Case

Volt Lines: Leading a B2B Service Provider through a Crisis (A)

By: Navid Mojir and Gamze Yucaoglu

Volt Lines was a next-generation transportation service in Istanbul, Turkey. The company was trying to disrupt the traditional corporate transportation market by developing software that allowed it to offer subscription-based transportation. Under the subscription... View Details

Keywords: Business To Business Marketing; B2B Marketing; B2B Pricing; Subscription Model; Crisis Marketing; Startup; Service Management; Information Technology; Transportation; COVID-19 Pandemic; Disruptive Innovation; Digital Platforms; Business Model; Price; Crisis Management; Opportunities; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; Turkey

June 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Teaching Note

Qualcomm Inc., 2019

By: David B. Yoffie

Teaching Note for HBS No. 718-514. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Intellectual Property; Information Technology; Standards; Business Model; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Telecommunications Industry; Telecommunications Industry

March 2004 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Newell Rubbermaid: Strategy in Transition

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery, Rhonda Kaufman and Carole Winkler

Describes the transformation of a company's corporate-level strategy. Begins by laying out the strategy that brought the Newell Co. stunning success for nearly three decades. The highly integrated, internally consistent strategy was tailored for manufacturing and... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Corporate Strategy; Transformation; Problems and Challenges; Acquisition; Product Development; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States

March 2008 (Revised January 2023)
Supplement

Cadbury Schweppes: Capturing Confectionery (B)

By: David Collis, Toby Stuart and Troy Smith

In late 2002, global confectionery and beverage maker Cadbury Schweppes needed to decide whether or not to make an acquisition bid for Adams, an underperforming gum company which had been put up for sale by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. Examining the decision from a... View Details

Keywords: Food; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry