Publications

April 2016
Supplement

Canadian Pacific's Bid for Norfolk Southern Spreadsheet Supplement

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Scott Mayfield

In December 2015, Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR) has just made its third bid to acquire Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC), one of the largest railroads in the United States. Having rejected the prior offers, NSC’s CEO James Squires and the NSC board must now value... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Cash Flow; Cost of Capital; Financial Strategy; Investment Activism; Bids and Bidding; Negotiation Offer; Corporate Strategy; Rail Transportation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Transformation; United States; Canada

01 Jun 2017
News

Alumni and Faculty Books for June 2017

must disrupt the way we think about social change. The author suggests how this can be done by sharing stories and case studies focused on innovative approaches to large-scale social change. Operating Model Canvas: Aligning Operations and Organization with View Details

May 2021
Case

Endeavor Kenya: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Shikhar Ghosh and Christian Godwin

In 2016, Fiona Mungai became Endeavor Kenya’s first managing director. In this role, she helped the organization build its inaugural board and select its first Endeavor entrepreneur, a fintech company called Cellulant. Throughout this process, Mungai observed the power... View Details

27 May 2014
First Look

First Look: May 27

and shapers of, beauty ideals. It uses case studies of three prominent firms to support the argument. During the nineteenth century, Coty and other French firms imagined Paris as the global capital of beauty. During the middle of the twentieth century, the View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

Sorting Out the Patent Craze

the advantage of SSOs for users? For tech companies? A: The key advantage is that it allows them to coordinate with other firms in a way that might be very difficult if they had to negotiate individual deals on a one-by-one basis. For... View Details

Keywords: by Sara Grant; Technology

Career Coach

Doug Lester

a career. Coaching sessions with Doug can range from broadly conceptual, touching on issues related to meaning in work and life, to highly focused and tactical, including formulating effective networking strategies and following through... View Details

Keywords: Auto/Transportation/Logistics; Consumer Products; Education; Emerging Markets; Entertainment / Media; Entrepreneurship; Government; Health Care; Hospitality; Insurance; Publishing / Communications / Advertising; Real Estate; Retail; Social Enterprise; Technology

March 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

The Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy: Settling the Opioid Crisis

By: Kristin Mugford, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Susan Pinckney

How to get to a fair outcome for claimants in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy given its significant role in the U.S. opioid crisis. View Details

December 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Todovino: Can Your Rival be Your Friend?

Todovino sells Spanish wines through wine clubs and web sites. Founder-CEO Gonzalo Verdera has partnered with many companies to create cobranded wine clubs, but now he is pondering a joint venture with one of his rivals, a brick-and-mortar wine chain, where Todovino... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Growth and Development Strategy; Agreements and Arrangements; Partners and Partnerships; Competition; Cooperation; Online Technology; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry

November 2006 (Revised August 2012)
Background Note

A Strategic Perspective on Bankruptcy

By: Bill George, Jim Sharpe and Andrew N. McLean

An overview of bankruptcy procedures in U.S. courts, recent filing data and a framework for evaluating a reorganization with creditors or considering opening a court-supervised reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. View Details

Keywords: Bankruptcy; Financial Distress; Turnarounds; Legal Aspects Of Business; Liquidation; Boards Of Directors; Hedge Funds; Strategy; Law; Governing and Advisory Boards; Negotiation; Crisis Management; Policy; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Credit; Financial Crisis; United States

March 2006 (Revised December 2013)
Case

Hexcel Turnaround — 2001 (A)

By: Paul W. Marshall, James Quinn and Reed Martin

Hexcel's new CEO is faced with deciding how to "take out" $60 million in cash costs in fiscal 2002, as two of the company's end markets—electronics and commercial aerospace—are expected to decline precipitously. Options include closing plants, exiting a business, or... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Negotiation; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy; Change Management; Crisis Management; Borrowing and Debt; Aerospace Industry; Electronics Industry; United States

01 Jun 2017
News

The End of the Noncompete Clause

campaign, Employee Association to Renegotiate Noncompetes (EARN) in 2016. Because EARN’s “pop-up unions,” organized under the National Labor Relations Act, are designed to only engage the company on one issue and then dissolve, companies would rather View Details

Keywords: Janelle Nanos

01 Sep 2018
News

Case Study: A Good Fit

employer would be interested. —Harry McCracken (AMP 114, 1994) A highly competitive market with one-year sales cycles on the one hand; a pilot customer in a less-competitive niche with a massive opportunity to create value for insurers on the other. If Gain Life can... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint

25 Jan 2011
First Look

First Look: Jan. 25

over-extrapolation plays a role and find some evidence in favor of these models. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-065.pdf and Cynicism in Negotiations and Other Competitive Contexts Authors:Chia-Jung Tsay, Lisa L.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Sep 2020
Op-Ed

Why American Health Care Needs Its Own SEC

Donald Trump’s administration is requiring hospitals to publish their charges in a way that consumers can easily understand, starting in January. The required information includes the rates hospitals negotiate with insurers. For their... View Details

Keywords: by Regina E. Herzlinger; Health

26 Jun 2019
Research & Ideas

Why the US-China Tariff Standoff Hurts American Companies More

Osaka, Japan. Trump said on Twitter last week that he would have an "extended meeting" with President Xi Jinping of China at the summit, a welcome development for rattled investors and other world leaders. Cavallo's research offers more urgency for the US to... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Retail; Manufacturing; Steel

December 2007
Background Note

Tools and Tactics for Transformation: Three "Whats" and Three "Hows"

By: James K. Sebenius and Stephen Friedman

Important transformation at Goldman Sachs, where one of the authors was Chairman, required analysis, political leadership, and management in order to fundamentally shift the strategy, people, and culture on a sustainable basis. After describing the actions needed to... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Tactics; Business Strategy; Organizational Culture; Transition; Strategic Planning; Core Relationships; Multinational Firms and Management; Leadership Style; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Private Equity