Publications

December 2022 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Ribbit Capital and the Gauntlet Investment Opportunity

By: Shai Bernstein and Allison M. Ciechanover

Ten-year-old, Palo Alto-based Ribbit Capital is best-known for its global investments in fintech. The firm was also an early advocate of crypto and blockchain, having invested in more than two dozen startups in the space in the past decade. In the Spring of 2022,... View Details

Keywords: Alternative Assets; Cryptocurrency; Business Startups; Investment Portfolio; Decision Choices and Conditions; Negotiation Deal; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Venture Capital; Financial Services Industry; California

14 Apr 2016
News

5 Reasons Good Deals Get Rejected

December 2007
Article

Private Power in Indonesia

By: Louis T. Wells

The Asian Currency Crisis led to the collapse of agreements Indonesia had negotiated for private electric power only a few years earlier. The ensuing struggle meant bad publicity and several hundred million dollars in costs for Indonesia. As Indonesia in 2007 was... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Government Legislation; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Risk Management; Agreements and Arrangements; Business and Government Relations; Indonesia

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November 1994 (Revised November 1994)
Case

MW Petroleum Corporation (A)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman, Peter Tufano and Barbara Wall

Amoco Corp. is negotiating to sell a wholly-owned subsidiary, MW Petroleum, to Apache Corp. MW owns large reserves of oil and gas comprising many properties at different stages of engineering, development, and production. The proposed acquisition is a large one for... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Subsidiaries; Mining; Cash Flow; Stock Options; Financing and Loans; Price; Negotiation; Production; Valuation; Mining Industry

June 2001
Case

Bang Networks- The First Customer (A)

By: Jay O. Light and Mary N. Caravella

In November 2000, six-month-old start-up Bang Networks is preparing a proposal for its first paid subscription contract. The recent MBA founders of the new San Francisco--based company believe they have a unique new solution for effective delivery of real-time Web... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Negotiation Tactics; Internet and the Web; Valuation; Value Creation; Negotiation Preparation; Information Technology Industry; San Francisco

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September 1990 (Revised December 1990)
Case

Kaiser Steel Corporation, 1972

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and William Schiano

Addresses corporate restructuring. Asks students to consider how Kaiser should respond to strong competition from imported steel. Focuses particularly on labor relations in the U.S. steel industry and the feedback from contract negotiations and wage settlements into... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Decisions; Investment; Contracts; Negotiation; Labor and Management Relations; Competition; Steel Industry; United States

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January 1994 (Revised July 1998)
Case

Repligen Corporation: January 1992

By: Josh Lerner and David Kane

Sandford Smith, CEO of Repligen, faces the breakdown of negotiations about a proposed joint venture with a large pharmaceutical firm. He must decide whether to proceed using his firm's internal resources or whether to seek to revise the proposed collaboration. If the... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Decisions; Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Value

13 Jun 2019
News

Ask a Professional Negotiator: How Do You Reason With Kids?

December 2023
Case

Francis Ngannou

By: Anita Elberse

In May 2023, professional fighter Francis Ngannou is facing a choice: re-sign with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the world’s premier mixed-martial-arts (MMA) organization, or opt for a contract with the Professional Fighters League (PFL), a growing but... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Compensation and Benefits; Sports; Decision Choices and Conditions

01 Jan 2003
News

December 2000
Background Note

Intellectual Asset Valuation

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Gavin Clarkson

Discusses the shortcomings of the current "rules of thumb" for intellectual asset valuation in the context of intellectual property licensing transactions. As an alternative to the present scheme, this note proposes quantitative methods for such valuations in order to... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Intellectual Property

December 1997 (Revised September 2014)
Exercise

Discount and Hawkins Exercise: Confidential Instructions for Landlord

By: Michael A. Wheeler

This simulation involves a negotiation between a real estate developer and a prospective anchor tenant in a proposed shopping center. Students are assigned roles, given confidential information, and asked to try to break the impasse over the "use, assignment, and... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Leasing; Real Estate Industry

April 2001 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Seagate Technology Buyout

By: Gregor M. Andrade, Stuart C. Gilson and Todd C. Pulvino

In March 2000, a group of private investors and senior managers were negotiating a deal to acquire the disk drive operations of Seagate Technology. The motivating factor for the buyout was the apparently anomalous market value of Seagate's equity: Seagate's equity... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Leveraged Buyouts; Financial Strategy; Computer Industry

December 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming

By: J. Gunnar Trumbull, Vincent Marie Dessain and Elena Corsi

Presents the history and evolution of the EU Common Agricultural Policy, from early price supports to the 2003 decision to "decouple" payments to European farmers. Explores the logic behind agricultural supports, with a focus on the economic, political, and cultural... View Details

Keywords: History; Agreements and Arrangements; Price; Policy; Trade; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; France; European Union

November 1994
Case

Navistar International

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Jeremy Cott

As a consequence of laying off half its workforce in a massive downsizing program, the company--a large manufacturer of medium and heavy trucks--struggles with a huge ($2.6 billion) liability for retiree medical costs. Although the company has promised its retirees... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Process; Wages; Labor Unions; Legal Liability; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Restructuring

April 1995 (Revised August 1995)
Case

World Trade Organization, The: Toward Free Trade or World Bureaucracy?

By: George C. Lodge and Jack High

In January 1995, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) evolved into the World Trade Organization (WTO), which faced the task of implementing the recently approved Uruguay Round of international trade agreements. This case describes the development of GATT,... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Agreements and Arrangements; Negotiation Process; Business and Government Relations