Publications

November 1982 (Revised February 1985)
Case

Ruth M. Owades

By: Howard H. Stevenson, Richard O. von Werssowetz and Robert W. Kent

Ruth Owades developed a concept for a new mail order venture offering gardening products. Her current employer turned down the idea, so with permission to try it independently, she has begun the process of raising funds and preparing for a separate operation. She still... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decisions; Entrepreneurship; Borrowing and Debt; Resignation and Termination; Operations; Risk and Uncertainty

April 1999 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Be Our Guest, Inc.

By: Dwight B. Crane and Penny Joseph

Be Our Guest is a rapidly growing equipment rental company with substantial seasonality in its revenues and profits. In the spring of 1998, the senior management team is reviewing its financial plans in preparation for a meeting with the company's bank. The case... View Details

Keywords: Financial Strategy; Borrowing and Debt; Banks and Banking; Revenue; Management Teams; Business Plan; Forecasting and Prediction; Utilities Industry; Service Industry

28 Mar 2018
Research & Ideas

Sophisticated Investors May Be Harming Fintech Lending Platforms

iPhoto Marketplace lending platforms such as LendingClub and Prosper have made significant competitive inroads against traditional banks in recent years by bringing together people who want to borrow with... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Banking; Financial Services

January 1994
Case

National Convenience Stores, Inc.

By: Steven R. Fenster, Stuart C. Gilson and Roy Burstin

National Convenience Stores seeks to emerge from Chapter 11. Central to the nature of the reorganization plan is the company's determining enterprise value. The various constituencies (secured debt, unsecured debt, etc.) will seek to find an enterprise value that... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Valuation; Restructuring; Strategic Planning; Borrowing and Debt; Food and Beverage Industry; Texas

October 1991 (Revised November 1993)
Case

Dynashears, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Piper

A senior loan officer is reviewing the recent performance of a company that has failed to repay its loan as scheduled. The failure results from a cyclical downturn in sales, coupled with a lag in cutting back production. Inventory risk is minimal. Teaching objective:... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Business Cycles; Financial Condition; Risk and Uncertainty; Failure

February 1997 (Revised December 2012)
Case

Jim Sharpe: Extrusion Technology, Inc. (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Barbara Feinberg

Jim Sharpe, 11 years after receiving his MBA from Harvard and working for others, has finally become his own boss and 100% owner of manufacturer of aluminum extrusions. After 10 months of an unfunded search, he acquires the business in an LBO and prepares to face his... View Details

Keywords: Acquisitions; Search Funds; Entrepreneurial Management; Entrepreneurs; Turnarounds; Bank Loan; Manufacturing; Metals Processing; Entrepreneurial Finance; Leveraged Buyouts; Labor Unions; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Crisis Management; Management Skills; Experience and Expertise; Borrowing and Debt; Manufacturing Industry

fall 2001
Article

Structuring Loan Syndicates: A Case Study of the Hong Kong Disneyland Project Loan

By: Benjamin C. Esty

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Borrowing and Debt; Entertainment; Hong Kong

Find at Harvard

22 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 22

misvaluation for a firm's borrowing and investment decisions. Using an ex-post measure of the accuracy of credit ratings to capture debt market misvaluation, we find evidence... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2000 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Catalyst Medical Solutions

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Richard M.J. Bohmer and Naomi Atkins

Faced with a drop in the NASDAQ, four eHealth entrepreneurs must decide between two distribution strategies for their new company's technology. The team, comprised of three full-time resident physicians and an MBA, has developed software to enable electronic... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Health Care and Treatment; Distribution; Strategy; Venture Capital; Applications and Software; Partners and Partnerships; Borrowing and Debt; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry

Find at Harvard

Web

HBS - Financials | Statement of Activity & Cash Flows

Non-Cash Items - 1 - Cash Available from Capital Activities $72 $76 $150 Capital Expenses $(22) $(43) $(38) Change in Capital Project-Prefunding (14) 8 (3) Use of Gifts for Capital Projects 6 5 6 Net Capital Expenses $(30) $(30) $(35) New View Details

February 2011
Journal Article

Minimal Settlement Assets in Economies with Interconnected Financial Obligations

By: Julio J. Rotemberg

A model is developed where firms belonging to a group are obliged to make payments to one another by using a liquid asset. The paper studies the exogenous endowments of this asset that are necessary to assure that all obligations are met. Conditions are presented under... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Financial Liquidity; Financing and Loans; Networks

Find at Harvard

Web

HBS - Financials | Statement of Activity & Cash Flows

Cash Available from Capital Activities $107 $72 $76 Capital Expenses $(43) $(22) $(43) Change in Capital Project-Prefunding 10 (14) 8 Use of Gifts for Capital Projects 5 6 5 Net Capital Expenses $(28) $(30) $(30) New Borrowings $0 $0 $0... View Details

July 1997
Teaching Note

Jupiter Management Company, Teaching Note

By: W. Carl Kester

Teaching Note for (9-292-107). View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Services Industry

11 Feb 2015
Research & Ideas

Politicians Benefited From Using Toxic Loans

their study on France, having gained access to two valuable data sets: The first contained the entire debt portfolio for most of the 300 largest French local governments as of December 31, 2007; and the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

February 1991
Case

Burlington Northern: The ARES Decision (B)

By: Julie H. Hertenstein and Robert S. Kaplan

The ARES team formally proposes that Burlington Northern implement the ARES system. The project meets resistance. In light of financial restructuring and high level of debt, executives wonder whether the company can afford ARES. Weak links during the ARES development... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Restructuring; Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Borrowing and Debt; Capital Budgeting; Projects; Technology Adoption; Service Industry

March 2025
Case

Taylor Guitars: Making Employee Ownership Work the Taylor Way

By: Dennis Campbell, Petros Kusmu and Stacy Straaberg

In 2013, guitar manufacturer Taylor Guitars’ co-founders Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug were considering several exit options including selling to a competitor or to a private equity firm. The co-founders decided, instead, to embark on a seven-year process to transfer 100%... View Details