Publications

1986
Chapter

Investing in the Defense Workforce: The Debt and Structure of Military Pensions

By: Dutch Leonard

Keywords: Human Capital; Compensation and Benefits; Borrowing and Debt; Sovereign Finance; National Security

March 1985 (Revised November 1985)
Case

Wilmington Tap and Die

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The general manager of a division manufacturing taps and dies must decide whether to continue a major capital investment program. The program was designed to replace aging mechanical machines with modern, electronically controlled equipment. A post-audit, after an... View Details

Keywords: Capital Budgeting; Investment; Accounting Audits; Cost Management; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Performance Productivity; Production; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Manufacturing Industry

March 1985 (Revised November 1988)
Case

Precision Parts, Inc. (A)

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of a decision confronting two entrepreneurs in mid-1981. They are considering purchasing a small manufacturer of precision electromechanical parts. Among the issues in the case are the following: 1) Should Taylor and Grayson buy Precision Parts,... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Cost vs Benefits; Investment Return; Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Risk and Uncertainty; Outcome or Result; Manufacturing Industry

January 1985 (Revised February 1997)
Case

Lotus Development Corp.

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of the history and venture capital financing of Lotus Development. Focuses on issues related to the possible terms of investment in Lotus by a major venture capital firm. The pedagogic objectives in the case are: to explore the elements of the... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Venture Capital; Organizational Structure; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Outcome or Result; Corporate Finance; Planning; Computer Industry

February 1984
Background Note

Managing Capital Investment (B)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

February 1984 (Revised February 1986)
Case

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.: Titanium Dioxide

By: W. Carl Kester, Robert R. Glauber, David W. Mullins Jr. and Stacy S. Dick

Disequilibrium in the $350 million TiO2 market has prompted Du Pont's Pigments Department to develop two strategies for competing in this market in the future. The growth strategy has a smaller internal rate of return than the alternative strategy due to large capital... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Cash Flow; Investment Return; Growth and Development Strategy; Strategic Planning; Projects; Chemical Industry

February 1984
Background Note

Managing Capital Investment (A)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

October 1982 (Revised September 1988)
Case

Steven B. Belkin

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Richard O. von Werssowetz

Steven Belkin, 26 years old and 2 1/2 years out of HBS, has decided to leave a group travel company he has run for the last year to start his own similar business. In the course of several months he has written a business plan, attracted several partners and employees,... View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Business Startups; Decisions; Equity; Investment; Personal Finance; Recruitment; Resignation and Termination; Failure; Partners and Partnerships

June 1982
Article

Optimal Sequential Investment When Capital is Not Readily Reversible

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

Keywords: Capital

Article

Inflation and Taxes in a Growing Economy with Debt and Equity

By: M. Feldstein, Jerry R. Green and Eytan Sheshinski

Our tax system was designed for an economy with little or no inflation. The current paper shows that inflation causes capricious changes in the effective rate of tax on capital income and therefore in the real net rate of return that savers receive. This is not only a... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Inflation and Deflation; Economy

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January 1977
Case

MRC, Inc. (Consolidated)

By: Thomas R. Piper

A large diversified company must develop a strategy for a division whose performance has deteriorated due to its aging product. Alternatives range from liquidation to a major investment in a new product. The formal capital budgeting system is compared with the informal... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Business Divisions; Capital Budgeting

June 1975 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Angus Cartwright III

By: Kenneth J. Hatten, William J. Poorvu, Howard H. Stevenson, Arthur I. Segel and John H. Vogel, Jr.

Judy and John DeRight, looking to diversify their investment portfolios, have retained Angus Cartwright, Jr. to identify prospective real estate acquisitions. Mr. Cartwright has four potential properties that he feels merit an in-depth financial analysis. The case... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Cash Flow; Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Taxation; Balanced Scorecard; Valuation

April 1975 (Revised November 1984)
Case

Enzone Petroleum Corp.

By: Thomas R. Piper

A large integrated oil company is debating whether to switch from a single hurdle rate to multiple hurdle rates for project analysis purposes. Raises questions on: 1) determination of the cost of equity; 2) the usefulness of multiple hurdle rates to adjust for project... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Cost; Investment Return; Equity; Capital Budgeting; Energy Industry

October 1973 (Revised May 1983)
Case

Zenith Radio Corp. (A)

By: Robert H. Hayes

Provides an analysis of capital investment (new plant and equipment), production, and operations management. View Details

Keywords: Management; Capital; Investment; Production; Infrastructure

Forthcoming
Article

Catching Outliers: Committee Voting and the Limits of Consensus When Financing Innovation

By: Andrey Malenko, Ramana Nanda, Matthew Rhodes-Kropf and Savitar Sundaresan

We document that investment committees of major VCs use a voting rule where one partner `championing' an early-stage investment is sufficient to invest. Their stated reason for this rule is to `catch outliers'. The same VCs use a more conventional `majority' rule for... View Details

Keywords: Optimal Voting Rules; Innovation and Invention; Venture Capital; Investment; Decision Making; Voting