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June 2014
Article

Acquirer-Target Social Ties and Merger Outcomes

By: Joy Ishii and Yuhai Xuan

This paper investigates the effect of social ties between acquirers and targets on merger performance. Using data on educational background and past employment, we construct a measure of the extent of cross-firm social connection between directors and senior executives... View Details

Keywords: Mergers; Acquisitions; Social Ties; Social Connections; Mergers and Acquisitions; Relationships; Outcome or Result

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October 2018 (Revised July 2023)
Case

The Boston Beer Company (A): New CEO

By: Christina R. Wing and Marco Iansiti

In 1984, when the Boston Beer Company’s Samuel Adams Boston Lager was first sold, founder Jim Koch had helped ignite a craft beer movement by making small-batch premium beers in an era of industry consolidation. By 2018, Boston Beer was a publicly traded company that... View Details

Keywords: Beer/brewing Industry; Succession; Leadership; Change; Supply Chain; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Supply Chain Management; Management Succession; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Boston

16 Jul 2021
Blog Post

Staying Under the 1.5°C Threshold: The Role of Government, Business, and Society

On Earth Day 2021, the HBS Business and Environment Initiative and the AMP199 Energy Circle co-hosted a conversation between Joan MacNaughton, Chair of the Climate Group and of the Advisory Board of the New Energy Coalition of Europe, and... View Details

September 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Progress Energy and Duke Energy (A)

By: Guhan Subramanian and Charlotte Krontiris

Just as Duke Energy and Progress Energy announce their merger—forming the largest utility company in the United States, to be led by the current Progress CEO—a nuclear reactor owned by Progress suffers major damage and must be taken offline. While Progress grapples... View Details

Keywords: Duke; Progress; Nuclear Energy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; United States

October 2012
Supplement

Olympus (B)

By: Jay W. Lorsch, Suraj Srinivasan and Kathleen Durante

This case outlines Michael Woodford's awards and honors, after having been fired from Olympus in October 2011. It discusses the repercussions following an investigation into the fraud and the report that was released thereafter. It also discusses the lawsuit that... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Corporate Governance; Health Industry; Electronics Industry; Japan

March 2009 (Revised July 2009)
Case

KiOR: Catalyzing Clean Energy

By: Ramana Nanda and Toby E. Stuart

Biofuels start-up KiOR was developing a proprietary technology that had the potential to dramatically impact the emerging renewable energy landscape: a process that converted cellulosic biomass into "bio-crude," a hydrocarbon mixture with properties to those of crude... View Details

Keywords: Business Headquarters; Decision Choices and Conditions; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Geographic Location

October 2001 (Revised November 2005)
Case

eBay, Inc.: Stock Option Plans (A)

The footnote disclosure for eBay, Inc. in 2000 indicates that if the company had accounted for employee stock options under the fair value method, its reported profit of $48 million would have been a loss of $91 million. The protagonist is a prospective member of the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Stock Options; Financial Reporting

23 Jan 2018
Video

Burden Seats Get New Life

April 1989 (Revised September 1989)
Case

CIBA-GEIGY AG: Impact of Inflation and Currency Fluctuations

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven

The chairman of the second-largest Swiss multinational company is preparing for a board discussion on the impact of a constantly strengthening Swiss franc. The case raises strategic issues in terms of international competitiveness, financial reporting issues of how to... View Details

Keywords: Inflation and Deflation; Currency; Financial Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Competitive Strategy; Switzerland

22 Nov 2010
News

How to Give Away Your Money More Effectively

20 May 2022
News

Musk Misconduct Allegation Won’t Stop Twitter Deal, Experts Say

14 Feb 2012
News

Avon Said to Plan Global Restructuring Amid Declining Profit

December 2011
Case

Negotiating the Path of Abraham

By: James K. Sebenius and Kimberlyn Leary

The Abraham Path Initiative board faces strategic and negotiating challenges in revitalizing a route of Middle East cultural tourism following Abraham's path 4000 years ago. The Path begins in the ancient ruins of Harran, in modern-day Turkey, where Abraham first heard... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Partners and Partnerships; Negotiation; Social Entrepreneurship; Religion; Culture; Tourism Industry; Israel; Syria; Middle East; Turkey; Jordan

February 1991 (Revised June 1991)
Case

Raymond Jackson (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Professor Jackson is offered a spot on the slate of directors that Harold Simmons, Lockheed's largest shareholder, has nominated for Lockheed's board to oppose the slate nominated by Lockheed in the Spring, 1990 elections. Jackson must decide whether to join Simmons'... View Details

Keywords: Business and Shareholder Relations; Corporate Governance; Decisions; Voting; Governing and Advisory Boards; Alliances

May 2012
Case

Westlake Lanes: How Can This Business Be Saved?

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Alisa Zalosh

Shelby Givens, a new MBA, is the general manager of Westlake Lanes, a near-bankrupt bowling alley that her grandfather founded decades earlier. Givens has been given one year to turn a profit; if the goal is not met Westlake will close. During the first few days on the... View Details

Keywords: United States; Operations Management; Small And Medium-sized Enterprises; Turnarounds; Strategy; Leading Change; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Operations; Transformation; Growth and Development Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

09 Dec 2011
News

TV’s “Shark Tank” Panelists Share Their Wisdom with HBS Students

October 2018
Case

African Bank Investments Limited (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Less than a year after joining the board of African Bank Investments Limited (ABIL), the newest director finds himself in difficult discussions with other directors about removing the struggling company’s CEO. The case is set in South Africa in mid-2014 as shares in... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Personal Finance; Corporate Accountability; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Insurance; Leadership; Management; Risk Management; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry; Africa; South Africa

August 2020 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Nubank: Democratizing Financial Services

By: Michael Chu, Carla Larangeira and Pedro Levindo

Nubank, a wholly-digital solution created to disrupt Brazilian banking, with 6 million clients and a $4 billion valuation after five years, must decide whether to expand to Mexico. The company was founded in São Paulo in 2013 by Colombian-born David Vélez to seize what... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Financial Inclusion; Digital Banking; Credit Cards; Banks and Banking; Disruption; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; South America; Brazil; North America; Mexico

October 2001 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Anagene, Inc.

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Christina L. Darwall

An entrepreneurial, publicly traded biotech company has begun production and sales of its core product--cartridges that permit DNA samples to be analyzed on a microchip. In the early quarters, sales are difficult to forecast and the company has experienced fluctuating... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Financial Reporting; Production; Performance Capacity; Risk and Uncertainty; Genetics; Governing and Advisory Boards; Biotechnology Industry; California