Publications

October 2012
Supplement

Hill Country Snack Foods Co., Spreadsheet for Students (Brief Case) (CW)

By: W. Carl Kester and Craig Stephenson

Keywords: United States; Debt Management; Retail Trade; Risk Management; Food; Capital Structure; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Strategy; Retail Industry; United States

October 2019 (Revised February 2025)
Case

A Conversation with Ellen J. Kullman, Chairman & CEO of DuPont, 2009-2015

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Ellen J. Kullman, the retired Chairman and CEO of DuPont, describes how she guided the storied science and technology company through a contentious proxy battle with activist investor Trian Partners, which acquired DuPont shares in 2013 and sought to break up the... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Capital Structure; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Institutional Investing; Leadership; Leadership Style; Management; Transformation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Chemical Industry; United States

January 2011 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott

One of the leading publishers of textbooks and other educational materials for the U.S. K-12 educational instruction market has suffered a dramatic decline in sales and profits in the wake of the 2008-2009 financial market crisis and economic recession, and is now... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Capital Structure; Financial Crisis; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Publishing Industry; Massachusetts

February 2014 (Revised March 2022)
Case

School Specialty, Inc.

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Kristin Mugford

Set in 2013, School Specialty was a financially troubled supplier of educational products to primary and secondary schools in the United States. The company planned to file Chapter 11 in order to address its excessive debt load, but needed to arrange... View Details

Keywords: School Specialty; Bankruptcy; Section 363; Financing; Chapter 11; Capital Structure; Financing and Loans; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Distribution Industry; Education Industry; United States

23 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 23, 2018

reduce risk, though the effectiveness depends upon the role of capital structure in volatility. To address this question, we build a statistical model of equity volatility that accounts for leverage. Our... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Overview

By: Andy Wu

How can technology entrepreneurs build competitive advantage from the ground up? Professor Andy Wu conducts scholarly research and develops course materials that document how technology entrepreneurs can (1) organize for innovation to create new market opportunities... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Growth Management; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Technology Platform; Technological Innovation; Information Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Video Game Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States; China; Southeast Asia; South Asia

February 1997 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Stone Container Corporation (A)

By: W. Carl Kester and Kirk Goldman

In early 1993, Stone Container was heavily burdened by debt following a series of highly leveraged acquisitions. A prolonged depression in paper prices necessitated the development of a comprehensive financial plan to relieve the financial pressures on Stone. Among the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Borrowing and Debt; Capital Structure; Equity; Price; Strategic Planning

Web

2021 Symposium - Race, Gender & Equity

few—all stemming from structural features and systemic pressures related to race, capitalism and democracy, our themes for today. And of course, we are also seeing how these themes are intertwined this year,... View Details

18 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Is Greed Ruining Private Equity Firms?

missing the consequences and longer-term effects.” UNEQUAL PAY FALLOUT Partnerships remain key to the way the professional service and investment sectors are run. Previous research has shown that the partnership structure has many... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Banking; Financial Services

July 1995 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Nutra Foods

By: David F. Hawkins

An investor reviews his equity investment and asks for help in understanding how the stock splits and dividends impact his investment and the company's stockholders' equity portion of the balance sheet. View Details

Keywords: History; Financial Management; Private Equity; Capital Structure; Valuation; Investment Return; Business and Shareholder Relations; Financial Services Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

Find at Harvard

March 2011
Teaching Note

First Boston's Union Carbide Deal: Acquiring a New Client (TN)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Penny Rossano

Teaching Note for 897201. View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Negotiation Offer; Investment Banking; Relationships; Revenue; Capital Structure; Chemical Industry

January 2001 (Revised August 2003)
Case

Diageo plc

A major U.K.-based multinational is reevaluating its leverage policy as it restructures its business. The treasury team models the tradeoffs between the benefits and costs of debt financing, using Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the savings from the interest tax... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Multinational Firms and Management; Capital Structure; Restructuring; United Kingdom

01 Jun 2010
News

Alumni Books

A Vision for Venture Capital: Realizing the Promise of Global Venture Capital & Private Equity by Peter A. Brooke (MBA ’54) with Daniel Penrice (New Ventures) This book chronicles the career of Peter Brooke, who has been called “the... View Details

Keywords: mathematics; statistics; Finance

Profile

Alika Phipps

Ratings and Capital Structure Advisory Group, “advising clients on the optimal capital structure to maintain a favorable credit rating. JP Morgan... View Details

Fast Answer

Executive changes

desired company and click to add to the search. Enter other desired search criteria, then click Search. Capital IQ:
Screen for changes: Mouse over Screening, then click Key Developments. In the menu box for Key Developments, click... View Details

December 2017
Supplement

Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle

In January 2017, the leadership team of Bega Cheese—the Australian dairy company—was considering a bid for Mondelēz International’s Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) grocery business which included several leading consumer brands (Vegemite—the iconic Australian spread,... View Details

October 2000 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Off-Balance Sheet Leases in the Restaurant Industry

By: Amy P. Hutton, Paul M. Healy and Jacob Cohen

Amid mounting concern by credit agencies about off-balance sheet liabilities, an analyst for one of the leading credit-rating agencies has been asked to make a presentation about off-balance sheet liabilities, the strategic analysis behind leasing versus purchasing... View Details

Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; Property; Leasing; Financial Statements; Capital Structure; Credit; Financial Services Industry

11 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Group Therapy

business groups can help foster entrepreneurship in a variety of ways. They can supply seed capital for budding entrepreneurs, when such capital is exceedingly scarce. Groups are also able to provide a... View Details

Keywords: by Peter Jacobs

June 2003 (Revised August 2003)
Case

Pension Policy at The Boots Company PLC

By: Luis M. Viceira and Akiko M. Mitsui

In early 2000, the trustees of the pension scheme at Boots considered a proposal to move 100% of the pension assets into a bond portfolio, which would be passively managed. The Boots Co. PLC was a leading retailer of cosmetics and toiletries in the United Kingdom, and... View Details

Keywords: Performance Productivity; Employees; Asset Management; Capital Structure; Investment Portfolio; Consumer Products Industry; United Kingdom