Publications

October 2018 (Revised August 2019)
Case

Beth Israel Deaconess: Consolidating to Strengthen, or to Stave Off, Competition?

By: Leemore Dafny

In July 2017, CEO Kevin Tabb of Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center announced his plan to consolidate 11 Massachusetts hospitals under a common management structure. These hospitals collectively generated $5 billion in patient revenue and 25% of... View Details

Keywords: Beth Israel Deaconess; Lahey; Partners; Health Care; Hospitals; Payers; Providers; Anti-trust; Health Care Regulation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Health Care and Treatment; Market Design; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Negotiation; Consolidation; Competition; Health Industry; Massachusetts; Boston

December 2007 (Revised April 2008)
Exercise

The Elcer Products Transaction: Confidential Information for Elcer Products Division President

By: James K. Sebenius and Guhan Subramanian

In a six-party negotiation exercise, the TNDA Corp. plans to sell Elcer Products Division to one of four potential buyers (industrial, financial, U.S., German). This case contains confidential information for the Elcer Divisional management role. Challenges include how... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Managerial Roles; Negotiation Deal; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics

December 2007 (Revised April 2008)
Exercise

The Elcer Products Transaction: Confidential Information for RubyFibre Enterprises

By: James K. Sebenius

In a six-party negotiation exercise, the TNDA Corp. plans to sell Elcer Products Division to one of four potential buyers (industrial, financial, U.S., German). This case contains confidential information for the RubyFibre Enterprises management role. Challenges... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation

December 2007 (Revised April 2008)
Exercise

The Elcer Products Transaction: Confidential Information for Pearl Equity Partners

By: James K. Sebenius

In a six-party negotiation exercise, the TNDA Corp. plans to sell the Elcer Products Division to one of four potential buyers (industrial, financial, U.S., German). This case contains confidential information for the Pearl Equity Partners management role. Challenges... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation

March 2000 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Jill Greenthal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (A): The TCI/AT&T Deal

By: Ashish Nanda, Thomas J. DeLong and Sarah S. Khetani

Jill Greenthal, managing director at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, is leading her team of investment bankers to negotiate on behalf of Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) on a potential landmark deal with AT&T. Representing TCI in the negotiations is the culmination of... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Negotiation Process; Service Delivery; Groups and Teams; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation Deal; Gender; Banking Industry; Service Industry; Telecommunications Industry

Find at Harvard

11 Jul 2012
News

In China, big opportunities for investors, if mutual funds can find a way in

August 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Jake Becraft and Strand Therapeutics: The Making of an Entrepreneur

By: Satish Tadikonda, William Marks and Ananya Zutshi

Jake Becraft, a PhD student at MIT disillusioned in pursuit of his dreams of becoming an academic, serendipitously finds himself discussing the potential commercial applications of his work with Tasuku Kitada, his former postdoctoral research mentor. The two decide to... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Business or Company Management

August 2022 (Revised January 2025)
Case

NOW PT (A): Should We Invest?

By: George A Riedel, Amy Klopfenstein and Mel Martin

In fall 2021, a team of students from the HBS Impact Investing Fund considered Neurologic Optimal Wellness Physical Therapy (NOW PT) for a potential investment. Dr. Banks, the founder of NOW PT, drove to visit patients. She sought an investment from the fund to open a... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Investment; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Medical Specialties; Buildings and Facilities; Health Industry; Financial Services Industry; North and Central America; United States; Massachusetts

2019
Chapter

Happiness and Prosocial Behavior: An Evaluation of the Evidence

By: Lara B. Aknin, Ashley V. Whillans, Michael I. Norton and Elizabeth W. Dunn

Humans are an extremely prosocial species. Compared to most primates, humans provide more assistance to family, friends, and strangers, even when costly. Why do people devote their resources to helping others? In this chapter, we examine whether engaging in prosocial... View Details

Keywords: Volunteering; Charity; Prosocial Behavior; Happiness; Well-being; Behavior

July 2015
Case

Vita: Cosmetics in the Nordics

By: Das Narayandas, Krishna Palepu and Kerry Herman

Vita is a Norwegian cosmetics retailer owned by FSN Capital, a Scandinavian private equity company. The company has a strong market position in Norway. The case focuses on two strategic issues: how to develop an e-commerce strategy to supplement the company's... View Details

Keywords: E-Commerce Strategy; Norway; Cosmetics; Managing Under Private Equity Ownership; Strategy; Private Equity; Internet and the Web; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Retail Industry; Norway

2008
Working Paper

Performance and Control across Multiple Markets

By: Tatiana Sandino, Dennis Campbell and Shelby Yu

Chain organizations typically operate units across different types of markets, with significantly diverging customer bases. Such market-type dispersion potentially influences performance through two channels: it makes performance a noisier indicator of store manager... View Details

Keywords: Governance Controls; Organizational Design; Markets; Franchise Ownership; Performance; Retail Industry

2014
Working Paper

De Gustibus non est Taxandum: Heterogeneity in Preferences and Optimal Redistribution

By: Benjamin B Lockwood and Matthew Weinzierl

The prominent but unproven intuition that preference heterogeneity reduces redistribution in a standard optimal tax model is shown to hold under the plausible condition that the distribution of preferences for consumption relative to leisure rises, in terms of... View Details

Keywords: Spending; Policy; Taxation; Theory; United States

SSRN

February 2011 (Revised July 2013)
Case

A123 Systems: Power. Safety. Life.

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

A123 Systems, the largest manufacturer of lithium ion batteries in North America, is producing and selling batteries for electric vehicles in China and electric buses in Europe and America. It just opened two plants in Michigan, partially funded by a grant from... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Diversification; Machinery and Machining; Renewable Energy; Transportation; Management Skills; Corporate Finance; Auto Industry; Battery Industry

February 2008
Exercise

Gerson Lehrman Group

By: Robert G. Eccles Jr. and David Lane

Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG) brought together decision makers in search of hard-to-find answers with specialized experts in nearly every imaginable field. Over time, GLG developed software to help minimize potential conflicts of interest among and between experts and... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Customer Focus and Relationships; Governance Compliance; Conflict of Interests; Competitive Advantage; Software; Consulting Industry

Find at Harvard

19 May 2015
News

The Must-Have Effect: When an Upgrade is Available, People Tend to Break What They'd Like to Replace

15 Apr 2015
News

Larry Summers' full-throated endorsement of online lending

19 Oct 2022
News

Pay Transparency

January 2024 (Revised February 2024)
Case

TPG Rise Climate: Deploying 'Climate Capital'

By: Vikram S. Gandhi, David Allen, Sarah Mehta and Shannon Roche

This case is about TPG Rise Climate, a $7.3 billion climate impact fund launched in 2021 by alternative asset manager TPG. Climate investing is a complex, capital-intensive endeavor; entering it has forced TPG to think and act differently. Relative to other funds, Rise... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Environmental Management; Ownership; Science; Value; Asset Management; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Financial Markets; Financial Services Industry; California; San Francisco; New York (city, NY)