Publications

2024
Working Paper

The Value of AI Innovations

By: Wilbur Xinyuan Chen, Terrence Tianshuo Shi and Suraj Srinivasan

We study the value of AI innovations as it diffuses across general and application sectors, using the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) AI patent dataset. Investors value these innovations more than others, as AI patents exhibit a 9% value premium,... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Valuation; Technological Innovation; Open Source Distribution; Patents; Policy; Knowledge Sharing; Technology Industry

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March 2003 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Northrop versus TRW

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and James Quinn

TRW, a leading supplier of advanced technology products for the auto, defense, and aerospace markets, receives an unexpected stock-for-stock offer from defense company Northrop Grumman Corp. The $11.4 billion aggregate offer, which represents a 22% premium over the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Laws and Statutes; Negotiation Tactics; Valuation; Aerospace Industry; Auto Industry; Ohio

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September 1997 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Automated Intelligence Corporation

By: James K. Sebenius and David T. Kotchen

Precision Controls is a Minnesota-based manufacturer of electronic control devices. To enhance its product line, Precision would like to establish an artificial intelligence research group, either through internal development or, preferably, by merging with or... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Valuation; Research and Development; Stock Shares; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics; Mergers and Acquisitions; Manufacturing Industry; Electronics Industry; Minnesota

10 May 2017
Research & Ideas

Amazon Web Services Changed the Way VCs Fund Startups

don’t work out.” On the positive side, the firms that did succeed substantially increased their valuation after second-round funding, implying that the spray and pray approach has been effective in identifying long-shot companies that... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Banking; Financial Services; Information Technology

08 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

You Won't Make It If You Fake It

single drops from the finger. Holmes’ rapid rise to fame put her on a fast track to success, with high expectations and intense pressures. Yet she hadn’t had adequate leadership experience leading people through difficult and complex business problems. Holmes created a... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

21 Feb 2005
Research & Ideas

The VC Quandary: Too Much Money

for any individual companies to succeed, and valuations got pushed up…I wonder if you think that phenomenon has gone away?" Marc A. Friend, a general partner with twenty-year-old Summit Partners, said the reason you see... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette; Financial Services

28 Apr 2021
Blog Post

Alumni Spotlight: Cissy Chen (MBA 2019)

environmental concerns (for example, water treatment and usage) that a company needed to pay more attention to. The goal was to work with portfolio companies to improve their ESG ratings. By doing so we believe they could potentially improve View Details

20 Jan 2016
Research & Ideas

Maybe Uber isn't God's Gift to Mankind

recently filed for an additional $2.1 billion. And according to various analysts, Uber is on track for an estimated valuation north of $60 billion. To say the least, the company can afford lots of lawyers to fight its global legal... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Transportation; Insurance

January 2018
Case

Environmental Technology Fund Partners and E-Leather

By: Vikram S. Gandhi and Aldo Sesia

It is 2014 and Environmental Technologies Fund (ETF) Partners, a UK-based venture capital firm, has an opportunity to invest in a privately held UK company that manufactured engineered composition leather extracted from waste leather using an environmentally friendly... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Venture Capital; Investment Strategy; Investment; Strategy; Ownership; Valuation; Energy Conservation; Equity; Technological Innovation; Environmental Sustainability; Performance Efficiency; Manufacturing Industry; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

December 2017
Supplement

Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle

In January 2017, the leadership team of Bega Cheese—the Australian dairy company—was considering a bid for Mondelēz International’s Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) grocery business which included several leading consumer brands (Vegemite—the iconic Australian spread,... View Details

March 2005
Case

Henkel Iberica (A)

By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez, V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

In 2002, Esteban Garriga, customer service director at Henkel Iberica, questions whether Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR) would help manage retail promotions and limit their impact on the stock-outs and obsolete inventory. Describes the... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Forecasting and Prediction; Price; Distribution Channels; Strategic Planning; Commercialization; Valuation; Rail Industry; Germany; Spain

18 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 18

corruption geographic segments. In contrast, there is no relation between residual anticorruption ratings, sales growth, and changes in profitability in low corruption geographic segments. The net effect on valuation from sales growth and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles of 2011

valuation we place on products we build ourselves. The researchers discuss the implications of the IKEA Effect for marketing managers and organizations more generally. Key concepts include: Successful assembly of products—no matter how... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

07 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: February 7

Internet/entertainment company Tencent, Supercell has a valuation of $10.2 billion, making it Europe’s first “decacorn” (a start-up with a $10 billion or greater value). Supercell’s success is due in part to its unconventional company... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Oct 2004
Research & Ideas

The Bias of Wall Street Analysts

specialization and constraints on time. For example, I am currently teaching Business Analysis and Valuation in the Elective Curriculum, and the students are learning how to do their own stock research. If we are successful in class,... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

January 1994 (Revised June 1994)
Case

Dean Witter, Discover & Co.

By: Dwight B. Crane and W. James Whalen

Early in 1993, Sears was in the process of spinning off its Dean Witter, Discover subsidiary. This subsidiary consisted of a securities brokerage that was acquired in 1981 and also the Discover Card, a general purpose credit card, the firm introduced in 1985. The key... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Business Subsidiaries; Initial Public Offering; Credit Cards; Corporate Strategy; Asset Pricing; Financial Services Industry

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July 1990 (Revised October 1992)
Case

Consolidated Equipment Co.

By: Samuel L. Hayes III

A mature company seeks to rejuvenate itself with internal R&D and external acquisitions. It has developed a DCK model for analyzing the value of a proposed acquisition. A rewritten version of an earlier case by J.K. Butters. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Valuation; Business Growth and Maturation; Research and Development; Acquisition; Capital Budgeting

January 2022
Supplement

Kornit Digital: The Amazon Warrants (C)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

As of 12/31/21, Amazon held $22 billion of equity and warrants in related companies. In fact, it often requests a free grant of warrants when it enters into a new commercial agreement with a supplier. Over the past 20 years, Amazon has gotten warrants almost 20... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Value Creation; Consumer Behavior; Negotiation; Distribution; Ownership; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Equity; Distribution Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

2014
Working Paper

Private Equity's Diversification Illusion: Economic Comovement and Fair Value Reporting

By: Kyle Travis Welch

This study examines how accounting has informed private equity diversification claims and demand for private equity investments. Despite research showing private equity lacks portfolio diversification benefits, those marketing private equity assets continue to... View Details