Publications

February 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Versity.com

By: Leslie A. Perlow

Versity.com has grown from four college students working out of a dorm to a $125 million venture capital-backed company. The young founders and new professional managers struggle to create a company vision and grapple with the question of whether to acquire another... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Growth and Development; Organizational Design; Mission and Purpose; Strategic Planning; Conflict and Resolution; Mergers and Acquisitions; Management Teams; Core Relationships

Find at Harvard

February 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Barbarians at the Gate or Turnaround Gurus? Private Equity and the Rise of the LBO

By: Tom Nicholas and John Masko

During the 1980s, leveraged buyouts (LBOs) and the private equity (PE) firms responsible for carrying them out revolutionized both investment and management in the U.S. Between 1980 and 1989, buyout activity in the U.S. surged from $1 billion per year to $60 billion.... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Restructuring; Borrowing and Debt; Private Equity; Bonds; Investment Return; Institutional Investing; Profit Sharing; Business History; Management Style; Private Ownership; Performance Effectiveness; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry; United States

January 2025
Case

Negotiating a Legacy at Sustainable Harvest (A)

By: Jillian Jordan, Julian Zlatev, Alicia Dadlani and Martha Hostetter

The specialty coffee importer Sustainable Harvest was the first certified B Corp in the coffee industry due to its investments in building coffee farmers’ capacity and livelihood. But in 2022, after coffee prices plummeted and the company’s bank declined to extend its... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Trust; Ethics; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Volatility; Futures and Commodity Futures; Social Enterprise; Valuation; Business Model; Credit; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Europe

26 Nov 2013
First Look

First Look: November 26

find that GPs are associated with higher expected acquisition premiums and that this association is at least partly due to the effect of GPs on executive incentives. However, we also find that firms that adopt GPs experience negative... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

25 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 25

https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/717428-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 317-031 Medtronic: Making the Big Leap Forward (A) In 2014, Medtronic was about to execute a $50 billion acquisition of Ireland-based Covidien. Medtronic... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 17, 2009

manufacturing plant in West Bengal state, in the face of widespread farmer protests over land acquisition issues. This meant abandoning a project in which the company had invested $300 million and delaying the launch of the Nano, the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 2008 (Revised September 2009)
Supplement

Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Matthew Bird

P&G had used its purpose, values, and principles (PVP) to prepare for the physical integration of Gillette prior to the change of control. The execution of these plans posed numerous challenges in global business units as well as in individual country organizations.... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Change Management; Globalized Firms and Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Conflict and Resolution; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Integration

August 2005 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Politics and Prudential Supervision: ABN Amro's Bid for Antonveneta (A)

By: Rawi E. Abdelal and Christopher Bruner

Involves the March 2005 takeover bid launched by ABN Amro, the Dutch bank, for Padua-based Banca Antoniana Popolare Veneta S.p.A. (Antonveneta)--a bid that many would view as a test of Italy's commitment to the creation of a single European market for financial... View Details

Keywords: History; Transformation; Business and Government Relations; Integration; Competitive Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Emerging Markets; Financial Markets; Banks and Banking; Financial Services Industry; European Union; Italy

Find at Harvard

May 1996 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Colliers International Property Consultants, Inc.: Managing a Virtual Organization

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In less than 20 years, the real estate firm Colliers International expanded into a federation of 180 offices with close to 4,500 professionals in over 30 countries. Because Colliers expanded by signing up existing firms strong in their local markets, its leaders had to... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Globalized Firms and Management; Management Practices and Processes; Service Operations; Information Technology; Organizational Structure; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Strategy; Budgets and Budgeting; Real Estate Industry

April 2010
Supplement

The Auction for Travelport (B)

By: Andrei Hagiu and Misha Sanwal

This short case presents the epilogue of The Auction for Travelport (A). Blackstone decided to bid on its own, acquired Travelport for $4.3 billion and subsequently went on to acquire another GDS, Travelspan, for $1.4 billion. It then merged the two GDSs and partially... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Value Creation; Private Equity; Mergers and Acquisitions; Industry Structures; Initial Public Offering; Capital Markets; Market Transactions; Change; Auctions; Travel Industry

01 Jun 2018
News

June 2018 Alumni and Faculty Books

And his afterlife: “When three-headed Cerberus greeted him / Socrates replied: ‘I won’t need / an attack dog, thank you. I married one.’” Mergers and Acquisitions: Integration and Transformation Management as the Gateway to Success by... View Details

November 2008
Teaching Note

Crossing Borders: MTC's Journey through Africa (TN)

By: Tarun Khanna

Teaching Note for [708477]. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Monopoly; Strategic Planning; Mergers and Acquisitions; Leadership; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Competition; Developing Countries and Economies; Brands and Branding; Culture; Telecommunications Industry; Kuwait; Africa

March 2025
Teaching Note

Kering Eyewear

By: Rohit Deshpandé and Nicole Zelazko

This teaching note provides comprehensive documentation of how to use the Kering Eyewear case (HBS No. 525-027). View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Subsidiaries; Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Product Positioning; Distribution; Product; Luxury; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; United States

26 Jul 2004
Research & Ideas

A Better Way to Negotiate: Backward

key analyst, who made our case from the inside. Outflank Blockers While sequencing can build support for an ultimate deal, sometimes it is used to outflank potential opponents. For example, consider how Percy Barnevik brought about the View Details

Keywords: by James K. Sebenius

December 2008
Teaching Note

LinkedIn Corp., 2008 (TN)

By: David B. Yoffie

Teaching Note for [709426]. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Social and Collaborative Networks; Rank and Position; Job Search; Revenue; Competition; Valuation; Financing and Loans; Mergers and Acquisitions

January 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Metapath Software: September 1997

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Bill Wasik

In September 1997, John Hansen called together his board to debate an interesting choice that his company had to make. Hansen--the CEO of Metapath Software, a provider of software and services to wireless carriers--had two offers to describe. The first was an offer to... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Teams; Stocks; Public Ownership; Negotiation Deal; Telecommunications Industry; Information Technology Industry