Publications

December 2017 (Revised January 2020)
Case

The Campbell Home (A)

By: Leslie K. John and Matthew G. Preble

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

Campbell siblings Thomas and Sally are faced with selling their childhood home. They need to make several difficult consequential decisions, all the while navigating their... View Details

Keywords: Agents; Bidding Process; Negotiation; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Preparation; Negotiation Participants; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; United States

June 2012 (Revised October 2018)
Case

Home Nursing of North Carolina

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Ari Medoff's (HBS '11) goal was to control his own professional destiny by owning his own company. His search identified a suitable acquisition in Home Nursing of North Carolina, and he had negotiated a purchase price of $3.5 million, or 4.2x trailing EBITDA. Medoff... View Details

Keywords: Search Funds; Small Companies; Acquisitions; Negotiation; Medical Services; Negotiation Process; Valuation; Investment; Acquisition; Health Industry

January 2025
Supplement

Colbún’s Angostura Dam Project (B)

By: James K. Sebenius and Nicolas Andrade

The A case describes Colbún Chile’s plans for the Angostura dam in the Bío Bío River, a hydroelectric construction venture with major challenges given the region’s history of indigenous resistance. This context was especially unfavorable given the highly contentious... View Details

Keywords: Bargaining; Conflict Resolution; Dam; Stakeholder Analysis; Environmental Negotiation; Negotiation; Chile

January 2017 (Revised August 2017)
Case

Earl Gordon - Eastern Circle

By: Steven Rogers and Greg White

This case follows an African-American entrepreneur through the process of sourcing a potential acquisition, valuing a company, and securing the funding to purchase the company. This entrepreneur must decide if he should close the deal and which financing term sheet to... View Details

January 2017
Supplement

Bayer AG: Bidding to Win Merck's OTC Business

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Marc Baaij and Arjen Mulder

Keywords: Acquisition; Bidding Strategy; Valuing Synergies; Negotiations; Corporate Strategy; Business Unit Strategy; Bidding Process; Discounted Cash Flow; Cross-border M＆A; Tax Shields; Valuation; Competitive Strategy; Auctions; Germany; United States; United Kingdom

September 2024
Article

Political Elite Cues and Attitude Formation in Post-Conflict Contexts

By: Natalia Garbiras-Díaz, Miguel Garcia-Sanchez and Aila M. Matanock

Civil conflicts typically end with negotiated settlements, but many settlements fail, often during the implementation stage when average citizens have increasing influence. Citizens sometimes evaluate peace agreements by voting on referendums or the negotiating... View Details

Keywords: Civil Unrest; Peace Process; Political Leadership; Peace; Politics; Policy Change; Policy; Government and Politics; Government Administration; Governance; Political Elections; Civil Society or Community; Negotiation; Negotiation Participants; Public Relations Industry; Colombia; Latin America; South America

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January 2017
Case

Bayer AG: Bidding to Win Merck's OTC Business

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Marc Baaij and Arjen Mulder

Shortly after submitting their best and final offer to acquire Merck's Consumer Care Division (a collection of "over-the-counter" (OTC) products with sales totaling $2 billion), the Bayer M&A team was given a chance to revise their bid because another potential... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Bidding Strategy; Valuing Synergies; Negotiations; Corporate Strategy; Business Unit Strategy; Bidding Process; Discounted Cash Flow; Cross-border M＆A; Tax Shields; Valuation; Competitive Strategy; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Germany; United States; United Kingdom

January 2025
Case

Colbún’s Angostura Dam Project (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Nicolas Andrade

The A case describes Colbún Chile’s plans for the Angostura dam in the Bío Bío River, a hydroelectric construction venture with major challenges given the region’s history of indigenous resistance. This context was especially unfavorable given the highly contentious... View Details

Keywords: Bargaining; Conflict Resolution; Dam; Stakeholder Analysis; Environmental Negotiation; Negotiation; Energy Generation; Construction; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Energy Industry; Chile

December 2021
Case

Slice Labs: Creating a Fraud-free Online Insurance Platform

By: Amit Goldenberg, Max Bazerman and Ruth Page

"Slice Labs: Creating a Fraud-Free Online Insurance Platform" engages students with the challenge of how to influence other parties to not engage in fraud in the context of digital insurance. The case is centered around Slice, a digital insurance company that was... View Details

June 2014
Supplement

eBay Partner Network — slide supplement (widescreen)

By: Benjamin Edelman

eBay considers adjustments to the structure and rules of its affiliate marketing program, eBay Partner Network (ePN). In particular, eBay reevaluates affiliate compensation structure, the role of bonuses for especially productive affiliates, and the overall rationale... View Details

Keywords: History; Online Technology; Markets; Negotiation Participants; Marketing; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Internet and the Web; Marketing Channels; Business Processes; Change; Compensation and Benefits; Web Services Industry

February 2025
Supplement

Slice Labs: Creating a Fraud-Free Online Insurance Platform (B)

By: Amit Goldenberg, Max Bazerman and Ruth Page

Keywords: Technology; Insurance; Digitization; Honesty; Trust; Negotiation; Fraud; Ethics; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics; Negotiation Types; Social Psychology

December 2012 (Revised January 2015)
Technical Note

Early Career LBOs Using the Search Fund Model

By: Howard Stevenson, Michael Roberts and Jim Sharpe

The funded search model is one alternative for individuals who, at some point in their career, want to run their own companies. This note looks at the funded search, as a means to entrepreneurship through acquisition and describes the path to buy and run a business... View Details

Keywords: Search Funds; Search; Entrepreneurial Finance; Investor Behavior; Career Planning; Entrepreneurial Management; Fundraising; Negotiation; Entrepreneurship; Capital Structure; Borrowing and Debt; Personal Development and Career; Private Ownership; Acquisition; Finance; Leveraged Buyouts

December 2013 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Paul Levy: Confronting a 'Corporate Campaign' (A)

By: James K. Sebenius

Hospital CEO Paul Levy confronts an SEIU unionization drive via a "corporate campaign" aimed at undercutting the hospital's relationships with key internal and external constituencies. Having shepherded one of Boston's top teaching hospitals much of the way through a... View Details

Keywords: Dispute Resolution; Corporate Campaign; Negotiating Campaign; Bargaining; Health Care; Hospitals; Unions; Health Care and Treatment; Negotiation; Strategy; Negotiation Process; Labor Unions; Health Industry; Boston

April 2009 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Golden Rule

By: Andrew Wasynczuk, Katherine Dowd and Sara del Nido

Jim Golden wants to radically change how catastrophic trucking accident lawsuit claims are handled by his trucking company. He wants to “do the right thing” for both the claimant and his company. Golden is a former litigator with 16 years of experience defending... View Details

Keywords: Business Ethics; Business Law; Law; Executives; Management Education; Management; Negotiator's Dilemma; Negotiations; Value; Moral Compass; Moral Leadership; Lawsuits and Litigation; Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Corporate Accountability; Negotiation; Conflict and Resolution; Value Creation

April 2017
Teaching Note

Golden Rule

By: Andrew Wasynczuk

Jim Golden wants to radically change how catastrophic trucking accident lawsuit claims are handled by his trucking company. He wants to “do the right thing” for both the claimant and his company. Golden is a former litigator with 16 years of experience defending... View Details

Keywords: Business Ethics; Business Law; Law; Executives; Management Education; Management; Negotiator's Dilemma; Negotiations; Value; Moral Compass; Moral Leadership; Lawsuits and Litigation; Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Corporate Accountability; Negotiation; Conflict and Resolution; Value Creation

2013
Book

The Art of Negotiation: How to Improvise Agreement in a Chaotic World

By: Michael Wheeler

A member of the world-renowned Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School introduces the powerful next-generation approach to negotiation. For many years, two approaches to negotiation have prevailed: the "win-win" method exemplified in Getting to Yes by Roger... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation

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December 2013
Supplement

Rough Justice: Stuart Eizenstat and Holocaust-Era Asset Restitution (B)

By: James K. Sebenius and Laurence A. Green

This case carefully traces the process by which Stuart Eizenstat handled the negotiation challenges outlined in "Rough Justice: Stuart Eizenstat and Holocaust-Era Asset Restitution (A)". It describes the outcome of the Swiss negotiations and briefly sketches... View Details

Keywords: Bargaining; Conflict Resolution; Disputes; Mediation; Dispute Resolution; Governance; History; Negotiation; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; Insurance Industry; Switzerland; Germany; Austria; France; Israel