Publications

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

01 Dec 2016
News

Summing Up the New Students

Illustrations by Chris Philpot Andrew Faulkner Homer, Alaska, “Halibut Capital of the World” CV: Structural engineer, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (construction), Chicago “When I was accepted to the MBA Program,... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

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

24 Apr 2014
News

Private capital, public good

US in 2011, a nonprofit organization dedicated to mobilizing capital to drive social progress. “The vision of expanding opportunity, by applying the rigor and discipline of markets to public goals, is what compelled me to launch Social... View Details

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

December 2002 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Williams, 2002

By: Joshua Coval, Robin Greenwood and Peter Tufano

Williams, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based firm in various energy businesses, must decide whether to accept a financing package offered by Berkshire Hathaway and Lehman Brothers. The proposed one-year credit facility would provide the firm with financial resources in a... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Crisis Management; Credit; Capital Structure; Financial Strategy; Financing and Loans; Financial Instruments; Energy Industry; United States

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

01 Sep 2008
News

Letters to the Editor

that could and would welcome dynamic and burgeoning new ventures. Yet EED was the European incubator for the methods and structures of venture capital as it has since evolved and flourished. Tony Pell (PMD... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Government; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

December 1999 (Revised April 2002)
Case

International Business Machines Corporation (A)

By: David F. Hawkins

Perform financial ratio analysis to identify changes in IBM's business mix and profitability. Teaching purpose: Ratio analysis. View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Capital Structure; Performance Efficiency; Business Earnings; Business Model; Private Sector; Commercialization; Computer Industry; Accounting Industry

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

08 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

How to Hire a Millennial

General Electric isn’t moving to Boston’s waterfront for the views, however breathtaking they may be. In the increasingly fierce battle for millennial talent, GE’s decision to uproot its long-time headquarters from suburban Connecticut is nothing less than a... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Fuller

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

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

December 2017 (Revised January 2018)
Teaching Note

Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Lauren G. Pickle and Greg Saldutte

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 such as Vegemite, the iconic Australian... View Details