Publications

February 1995 (Revised September 1995)
Case

The Bourland Companies

By: William J. Poorvu and John H. Vogel Jr.

Michael Bourland, the president of the Bourland Companies, needs to refinance two properties, an office building in southern New Hampshire and a retail property in Massachusetts. He is considering three alternatives: a renewal of a bank mini-perm, a 15-year mortgage... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Property; Mortgages; Family Business; Financial Management; Family Ownership; Real Estate Industry; Massachusetts; North and Central America

November 2022 (Revised October 2024)
Case

'A Marshall Plan for Africa': James Mwangi and Equity Group Holdings

By: Caroline M. Elkins, Debora L. Spar, Zeke Gillman and Julia M. Comeau

Financial Inclusion. Dignity. Trust. These were the core principles driving James Mwangi’s transformation of Equity Building Society, insolvent in 1991, into what is, today, Equity Group Holdings, East and Central Africa’s largest retail banking institution. Raised in... View Details

Keywords: Income Inequality; Micro Finance; Microcredit; Microfinance; Banks and Banking; Equality and Inequality; Mission and Purpose; Business Model; Social Entrepreneurship; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; Africa; Kenya

March 2005 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Ocean & Oil Holdings and the Leveraged Buyout of Agip Nigeria (A)

In 2001, a Nigerian holding company was deciding how much to pay for a major Nigerian oil marketing firm. Explores the challenges facing a fast-growing, leveraged buyout firm operating in a global economy but constrained by imperfect local financial and legal... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Emerging Markets; Nigeria

December 2019 (Revised January 2021)
Supplement

The Leveraged Buyout of TXU: (B) Energy Future Holdings

By: Trevor Fetter, Erik Snowberg and Rebecca M. Henderson

This case is designed to support a lively discussion about the relative merits of shareholder vs. stakeholder perspectives in the context of a company that provides a vital public service that has important environmental implications. The 2007 purchase of TXU, the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Transformation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Environmental Sustainability; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Energy Generation; Utilities Industry; Energy Industry; Texas

09 May 2005
Research & Ideas

Hold or Fold? Sizing Up Business Risk

it's a common one for companies whose former core products are no longer the stars they once were. In both cases, your best option is B, to get out of this game—in these instances by divesting the businesses—and then enter another game... View Details

Keywords: by Eileen C. Shapiro & Howard H. Stevenson

03 Aug 2016
What Do You Think?

How Can We Hold the “Leadership Industry” Accountable?

humans. It is undermined by any company that tries to justify decisions based on market norms . Academics and training alone will not create leaders. Life creates leaders.” Bill C., in pointing to corporate governance as an issue, said... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Education

January 2014
Case

The Weather Company

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

New CEO David Kenny transformed The Weather Company in less than two years from a primary identity as a cable television channel to a multi-platform digital company innovating in the uses of weather data. He assesses progress and considers strategic choices and... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Strategy; Strategic Change; Change Management; Expansion; Weather; Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Technology Industry

21 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

Is a Gap in Small-Business Credit Holding Back the American Economy?

(Editor's note: This first in a series of articles based on a Harvard Business School working paper by Karen Mills that analyzes the current state of availability of bank capital for small business.) Small businesses are core to America's... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills; Manufacturing

June 2013
Case

Ken Traub at American Bank Note Holographics

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Michael Norris

Ken Traub is hired as CFO for American Bank Note Holographics, the market-leading security holograph company in January 1999, but discovers on his first day that the company has misstated its financials and resigns. After consulting with the company for the next... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Moral Sensibility; Earnings Management; Crime and Corruption; Personal Development and Career; Management Teams; Technology Industry; Service Industry; United States

February 2003
Case

Whitbread Hotel Company (A)

By: Michael Beer and James Weber

Alan Parker has developed an effective organization using organizational fitness profiling and other change methodologies. Parker knows that as Whitbread continues to grow, both internally and through acquisitions, the company will have to change its organization... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Growth Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Integration

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April 2014
Article

Can an 'Ethical' Bank Support Guns and Fracking?

By: Christopher Marquis and Juan Almandoz

A case study is presented on business ethics and bank management. The situation facing the president of a community bank established to operate as a green business and to consider ethical issues of bank loans when it is considering an application for a large commercial... View Details

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02 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

Four Companies that Conquered America

company does not have a strong presence in the USA. So how do you penetrate the U.S. market? The annals of business are littered with foreign companies that have never quite succeeded in the USA. But here... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

March 2014
Teaching Note

The Weather Company

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

New CEO David Kenny transformed The Weather Company in less than two years from a primary identity as a cable television channel to a multi-platform digital company innovating in the uses of weather data. He assesses progress and considers strategic choices and... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Strategic Change; Technology; Digital; Weather; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Change Management; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Industry; Service Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

28 Sep 2009
Research & Ideas

Improving Accountability at the World Bank

Editor's Note: As an institution charged with fighting global poverty, the World Bank has found itself on the firing line of late. Critics cite a persistent lack of transparency and failure to include local insights in decision-making... View Details

Keywords: by Alnoor Ebrahim

January 2009
Case

The Federal Reserve and the Banking Crisis of 1931

By: David A. Moss and Cole Bolton

In early October 1931, in the midst of a global economic depression, the U.S. banking system was in crisis—with bank suspensions running at near record levels. At the same time, the broader economy was sputtering, and U.S. gold reserves had come under severe pressure... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Central Banking; Business History; Crisis Management; Banking Industry; United States

24 Sep 2019
Research & Ideas

Do National Security Secrets Hold Back National Innovation?

research is unlikely to influence managers’ day-to-day decisions about whether to apply for patents. Indeed, many companies already attempt to have it both ways, as patent attorneys can use obfuscating language in patent applications in... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

November 2011
Case

Pacific Grove Spice Company

By: William E. Fruhan and Craig Stephenson

Pacific Grove Spice Company is a profitable, rapidly growing manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of quality spices and seasonings. The company's business model requires significant investment in accounts receivable, inventory, and fixed assets to support sales.... View Details

Keywords: Capital Expenditures; Investments; Acquisitions; Securities Analysis; Debt Securities; Opportunities; Cost of Capital; Valuation; Investment; Capital Budgeting; Business Model; Cash Flow; Financing and Loans; Acquisition; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry