Publications

February 2003 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Mobile Energy Services Company

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia

When Al "Chainsaw" Dunlap became CEO of the Scott Paper Co., the company owned a large, vertically integrated production facility in Mobile, Alabama. Dunlap sold part of the production facility, a cogeneration power plant (later known as Mobile Energy Services Co.), to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Risk and Uncertainty; Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Investment; Projects; Vertical Integration; Energy Sources; Bonds; Ownership; Restructuring; Energy Industry; Alabama

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01 Mar 2009
News

Damon Silvers

to restructure home mortgages in a manner homeowners can afford is at the heart of our financial crisis. We have paid a terrible price for not addressing the foreclosure crisis at its inception, but it is never too late to start. How can... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Administration of Economic Programs; Government; Transportation Equipment Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Transportation

January 1990 (Revised March 1991)
Case

American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region

By: Robert L. Simons

Recounts the financial difficulties and management changes experienced by American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region (NER) during the 1980s. After summarizing industry-wide changes in the collection, testing, and distribution of blood and blood products, the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Budgets and Budgeting; Financial Management; Restructuring; Health; SWOT Analysis; Social Enterprise; Marketplace Matching; Management Style; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry; North and Central America

April 2001 (Revised July 2001)
Case

Zaplet, Inc.

By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Brian DeLacey

Start-up Zaplet, Inc., has radical software, prestigious venture capital funding, and a multitude of business opportunities. New CEO Alan Baratz must select a strategy and redesign the organization to deliver. This case describes the roles and philosophies of the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Information Technology; Organizational Design; Venture Capital; Valuation; Business Strategy; Restructuring; Expansion; Product Development; Innovation Strategy; Human Resources; Information Technology Industry; California

June 2000
Case

Lifeline Systems, Inc. (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Marilyn Matis

Lifeline Systems provides emergency response equipment to the elderly who live at home. The company uses local hospitals to market, sell, and install these units in homes, while the hospital monitors and calls for aid to respond to emergency calls from the elderly... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Product Marketing; Sales; Problems and Challenges; Growth and Development Strategy; Managerial Roles; Service Operations; Information Infrastructure; Age; Service Delivery; Restructuring; Crisis Management; Health Industry; Service Industry

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28 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 28

therapy innovations. To bolster Medtronic's near-term prospects, he has supported creative product and business model innovations aimed at overcoming adoption barriers in emerging economies. Ishrak restructured his executive team and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 15

Looking back, how should the company's restructuring be assessed? Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/811030-PDF-ENG Caijing Magazine (B) Karthik Ramanna and G.A. DonovanHarvard Business School Supplement 112-049 In... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

29 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 29

Waves No abstract available. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/816063-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 410-139 Managing the Client Portfolio The German country managing partner of a global law firm must decide how to respond to a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

GM’s IPO: Back to the Future

decision by the Bush White House to provide more than $20 billion to GM, Chrysler, and their financial subsidiaries, the auto task force put together by President Obama managed a restructuring of both companies at a breathtaking pace.... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Auto

24 Jun 2008
First Look

First Look: June 24, 2008

EU10 exhibit a pattern of geographical concentration close to a random distribution, i.e. the process of regional concentration and redistribution of industry is in a very early phase. If Europe is to build a more competitive economy, industrial View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

23 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 23, 2007

2007) Abstract The role of acquisitions has been widely discussed in management literature. There is considerable evidence that many acquisitions fail, often because of post-acquisition problems. More recently business historians have examined their role in the View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

07 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 7

2015 Journal of Financial Economics The Ownership and Trading of Debt Claims in Chapter 11 Restructurings By: Ivashina, Victoria, Benjamin Iverson, and David C. Smith Abstract—What is the ownership structure of bankrupt debt claims? How... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2019 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Scandal at Steinhoff

By: Kristin Mugford and Phil Caruso

Keywords: Volatility; Borrowing and Debt; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Liquidity; Bonds; Corporate Accountability; Failure; International Finance; Restructuring; Business Conglomerates; Crime and Corruption; Retail Industry; South Africa; Austria; Netherlands

19 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 19, 2009

provides a mandate for restructuring. But survival is not the end goal. In fact, cost cutting and restructuring are simply the first steps in repositioning and leading a company and industry through the crisis and in defining how business... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

06 May 2008
First Look

First Look: May 6, 2008

destructive competitions and bidding wars completely. But managers can help prevent competitive arousal by anticipating potentially harmful competitive dynamics and then restructuring the deal-making process. They can also stop irrational... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2022 (Revised January 2024)
Supplement

Winning Business at Russell Reynolds (C)

By: Ethan Bernstein and Cara Mazzucco

In an effort to make compensation drive collaboration, Russell Reynolds Associates’ (RRA) CEO Clarke Murphy sought to re-engineer the bonus system for his executive search consultants in 2016. As his HR analytics guru, Kelly Smith, points out, that risks upsetting—and... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Talent and Talent Management; Compensation and Benefits; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Motivation and Incentives; Consulting Industry