Publications

December 1997
Case

American Cyanamid (A) & (B) (Combined)

American Home Products' (AHP) $9 billion hostile takeover of American Cyanamid (Cyanamid) was the largest merger-and-acquistion transaction in 1994, and made AHP the fourth largest pharmaceutical firm in the United States. At the time of AHP's offer, Cyanamid had... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Conflict and Resolution; Pharmaceutical Industry

13 Feb 2022
News

A Century of MBA Case Studies: Exacting Examples from Business Life

Jerry R. Green

Jerry R. Green

David A. Wells Professor of Political Economy

John Leverett Professor in the University

Harvard University

Jerry Green is the John Leverett Professor in the University and the David A. Wells... View Details

Keywords: aerospace; education industry; insurance industry; professional services

2010
Simulation

Finance Simulation: Capital Budgeting: Product No. 3357.

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

In this single-player simulation, students act as members of the Capital Committee of New Heritage Doll Company, tasked with selecting and allocating capital across the company's three divisions. Students evaluate a diverse set of competing investment proposals and... View Details

Keywords: Resource Allocation; Investment; Projects; Capital Budgeting; Corporate Finance

March 2022
Case

Tensions at SearchLight Cures

By: Laura Huang and Sarah Mehta

This general experience case tells the story of SearchLight Cures, a fictional biotechnology startup. Having discovered a new therapy for a rare disease, the company’s co-founders find themselves at an impasse over a pricing disagreement. View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Values and Beliefs; Management; Negotiation; Relationships; Partners and Partnerships; Science; Biotechnology Industry; United States; California; San Francisco

Steve Wheelwright is the Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus at Harvard Business School.

Following his retirement from HBS in 2006, he served with former Dean Kim B. Clark at BYU-Idaho and then from 2007-2015 he served as... View Details

July 2018 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Project Helios: Harvesting the Sun

By: Mark Egan and E. Scott Mayfield

Aware of the impact that modern society was having on the environment, Ashley Telkes had always tried to be cognizant of her own impact on the environment and to take reasonable steps to mitigate her own effects. Having already implemented a number of passive measures... View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Personal Finance; Decision Making; Environmental Sustainability

25 Oct 2018
News

Vodafone’s Innovative Approach to Advanced Technologies

23 Apr 2018
News

Governor Baker Swears In New Commission on Digital Innovation and Lifelong Learning

September 1989
Background Note

Introduction to Decision Making

By: Francis Aguilar

Describes the process of decision making (establish objectives, generate alternatives, and so on) emphasizing the human side of it (using rules of thumb, favoring one's own pet projects) yet demonstrating the role an analytic/quantitative contribution has to make. View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Goals and Objectives; Mathematical Methods; Perspective

September 1990 (Revised November 1991)
Supplement

Procter & Gamble Japan (C)

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

Updates the (A) case. The issues facing P&G were two-fold. 1) General manager, Japan--how to keep both the business and organization growing; 2) President, international--what role should the Japanese operation play in the P&G worldwide business? View Details

Keywords: Business Offices; Business Growth and Maturation; Globalization; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizations; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Japan

31 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

Encouraging Niche Content in an Ad-Driven World

Content Commercialization: Evidence from Blogs, published last year in Management Science, Zhu and coauthor Sun, of Boston University, bring an empirical approach to a question that has had many anecdotal responses but no firm results:... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Information; Publishing; Journalism & News

November 1994
Case

Electrical Distributors, Inc.

By: David F. Hawkins

The owner of a small electrical supply firm has grown beyond his ability to fund growth with internally generated funds. He seeks a bank loan, which falls short of his needs. View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financing and Loans; Borrowing and Debt; Corporate Finance; Apparel and Accessories Industry

Find at Harvard

March 1993
Supplement

Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (C)

By: Willis M. Emmons III

Describes key developments relating to Burroughs Wellcome, AZT and other AIDS drugs, and the AIDS issue in general from late 1989 through 1992. Includes excerpts from Wellcome PLC's financial statements and updated statistics on AIDS in the United States. View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Multinational Firms and Management; Financial Statements; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

July 2018
Teaching Note

The Perfect Storm: What Happens When the Market Moves Four Standard Deviations?

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Sayiddah Fatima McCree

Adam Carter was the portfolio manager for Tate Modern Finance III, L.P. (“Tate” or the “Fund”), the third in a series of U.S. commercial real estate debt funds sponsored by the London-based Tate Partners. The Fund was capitalized with $700 million of equity... View Details

Keywords: CMBS; CLO; Repo Financing; Real Estate; Financial Strategy; Investment Funds; Financing and Loans

2016
Working Paper

Financing Payouts

By: Joan Farre-Mensa, Roni Michaely and Martin Schmalz

We study the extent to which firms rely on the capital markets to fund their payouts. We find that 42% of firms that pay out capital also initiate debt or equity issues in the same year, resulting in 32% of aggregate payouts being externally financed. Most firms with... View Details

Keywords: Payout Policy; Financing Decisions; Debt Issues; Equity Issues; Capital Structure; Decision Making; Financing and Loans; Corporate Finance