Publications

29 Jun 2022
Blog Post

Harvard Business School Announces the 2022-2023 Blavatnik Fellows

low-income settings using open-source electronic health records. He also worked as a physician on the front lines during the civil war in Syria. Alex gained valuable experience in the financial sector as a long/short equities hedge fund investor and View Details

January 2025
Case

GE Appliances 2025: Energizing Change

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jacob A. Small

At the turn of 2025, Kevin Nolan, CEO of GE Appliances following its acquisition by Chinese appliance giant Haier in 2016, is reviewing progress toward his net zero carbon vision for homes, which would otherwise exacerbate the global warming climate crisis. An... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Transformation; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Technological Innovation

October 1981 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Quabbin Cablevision Company

By: Henry B. Reiling

Several entrepreneurs are considering the purchase of an existing cable TV business with the financial assistance of several investors. They must decide whether to establish the company as a partnership or a corporation, and how to capitalize the company for an optimal... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Organization; Television Entertainment; Entrepreneurship; Capital Structure; Taxation; Telecommunications Industry; Massachusetts

August 2010 (Revised March 2012)
Supplement

The Dow Acquisition of Rohm and Haas (D)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Melissa Barton

Dow's board and management team worked on arranging appropriate financing to complete the acquisition of Rohm and Haas. Meanwhile, the board of Rohm and Haas filed suit against Dow after it delayed the completion of the acquisition. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financing and Loans; Governing and Advisory Boards; Lawsuits and Litigation; Management Teams; Chemical Industry

August 2007 (Revised April 2008)
Case

Texas Pacific Group--J. Crew

By: Michael J. Roberts, William A. Sahlman and Lauren Barley

Describes Texas Pacific Group's purchase and operation of J. Crew, the catalog and specialty clothing retailer. Highlights the issues involved in financing such a transaction, and then focuses on the operational challenges of turning around the business, and of TPG's... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Investment; Operations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry

February 1998 (Revised May 1998)
Case

Merck-Medco: Vertical Integration in the Pharmaceutical Industry

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

Records the analyses and actions taken by Merck Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition of Medco, a channel intermediary (called "pharmacy benefit manager"). While many of its competitors seem to be faring poorly, Merck seems to have managed the Medco integration superbly. View Details

Keywords: Vertical Integration; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Marketing Channels; Mergers and Acquisitions; Pharmaceutical Industry

01 Jun 2017
News

The End of the Noncompete Clause

Dell EMC merger deal closed in September, the company’s president suggested that they would be more “thoughtful and careful” in their use of noncompetes. EARN’s efforts against Dell EMC are ongoing, and Johnson plans to use the lessons... View Details

Keywords: Janelle Nanos

March 1988
Case

Goodyear Restructuring

Features a firm with a strong, successful, clearly-defined product market strategy. In 1982, this strategy was augmented by new management to include other, conflicting goals. This has an immediate negative impact on the stock market's evaluation of Goodyear's stock... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Corporate Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Finance; Rubber Industry

August 2010 (Revised March 2012)
Supplement

The Dow Acquisition of Rohm and Haas (B)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Melissa Barton

The Dow Board made a bid for Rohm and Haas Company in order to transition its portfolio away from commodity chemicals towards specialty chemicals. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Investment Portfolio; Governing and Advisory Boards; Chemical Industry

June 2007 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Bert Twaalfhoven: The Successes and Failures of a Global Entrepreneur

Bert Twaalfhoven (70; HBS '54) is faced with two offers to acquire the manufacturing holding company he had built up over 40 years. Despite the attractive price, which would net Twaalfhoven and his family $70 million, he is reluctant to sell the company because his... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; Management Succession; Manufacturing Industry

February 2000 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Astor Park Hotel

By: William J. Poorvu, Arthur I Segel and Matthew C. Lieb

Starwood Hotels, the world's largest REIT, is interested in acquiring an underperforming hotel in the Pacific Northwest. Steve Goldman, Starwood's VP of acquisitions and development, is wondering how much to pay for the property and how to reposition it. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Mergers and Acquisitions; Asset Pricing; Property; Investment; Accommodations Industry; Northwestern United States

November 2004
Case

Barry Diller and IAC/InterActiveCorp

By: William A. Sahlman and Ryland Matthew Willis

Describes a discussion involving Barry Diller and the top management team at IAC/InteractiveCorp. about whether to buy LendingTree.com. If so, at what price and on what terms? View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Strategy; Management Teams; Business or Company Management

24 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Something Ventured, Something Gained: A European View of Venture Capital

"that's where we have a distinct advantage." For Tazartes and his colleagues, in fact, the demand for the services they render has never been greater, as governments privatize state-run operations and companies consolidate in a heady period of View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner; Financial Services

01 Jan 2006
News

William H. Donaldson, MBA 1958

News. And as soon as he graduated in 1953, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and became an officer. Fast forward to 1959. Just out of Harvard Business School, Donaldson, 28, was rooming with Dan Lufkin (MBA ’57) in New York and working in the View Details

30 May 2019
Working Paper Summaries

US Antitrust Law and Policy in Historical Perspective

Keywords: by Laura Phillips Sawyer; Education

August 1997 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Argentina's YPF Sociedad Anonima (D): The International Platform

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In March 1995, YPF (the former Argentine state-owned oil and gas utility, privatized in late 1993) acquired the Dallas-based Maxus Energy Corp., one of the world's largest independent oil and gas exploration companies. YPF's first acquisition is nearly bankrupt, with... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Globalization; Borrowing and Debt; Privatization; Managerial Roles; Energy Industry; Argentina; Texas

27 Sep 2004
Research & Ideas

How Leaders Build Winning Streaks

change, which included the 300 top executives plus another 100 natural leaders from the ranks without fancy titles. The 1,350 South Koreans I met at the Shinhan Financial Group Summit outside of Seoul in the fall of 2003 were all designated leaders for the View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

2015
Working Paper

Cashing Out: The Rise of M&A in Bankruptcy

By: Stuart Gilson, Edith Hotchkiss and Matthew Osborn

The use of M&A in bankruptcy has increased dramatically in recent years, leading to concerns that the Chapter 11 process has shifted toward excessive liquidation of viable firms. In this paper, we argue that the rise of M&A has blurred traditional distinctions between... View Details

Keywords: M＆A; Chapter 11; Distress; Bankruptcy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Insolvency and Bankruptcy