Publications

July 2022 (Revised February 2025)
Case

A Soul and a Service: North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance

By: Tom Nicholas and John Masko

The North Carolina Mutual and Provident Association (the Mutual) was founded in 1898 as a for-profit entity selling life insurance catering to the Black community. The Mutual was entering a field crowded with established White-owned competitors that largely refused to... View Details

Keywords: Black Entrepreneurs; Insurance; History; Race; Prejudice and Bias; Entrepreneurship; Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development Strategy; Insurance Industry; United States

June 1990 (Revised January 1993)
Case

Dynatronics, Inc. (Abridged)

By: Thomas R. Piper

Provides an opportunity to evaluate an investment in a new product line in strategic, competitive, organizational, and economic terms. The economic analysis involves an estimation of the relevant cash flows and discounting them at an appropriate hurdle rate. View Details

Keywords: Product; Forecasting and Prediction; Investment; Capital Budgeting

August 2010
Teaching Note

Flash Memory, Inc. (Brief Case)

By: William E. Fruhan Jr. and Craig Stephenson

Teaching Note for 4230. View Details

Keywords: Forecasting; Cash Flow; Forecasting and Prediction; Capital Budgeting

April 2005
Case

Merrill Lynch in 2003: Sunny Skies Ahead?

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and David Kiron

Merrill Lynch (ML) is at a crossroads. Stan O'Neal became its CEO and implemented a radical cost-cutting program. In addition, the company dot-com continues to recover from the fallout from the Enron and dot-com scandals. What are the future prospects for ML? Can the... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Condition; Investment; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry; United States

May 2015
Article

What Are We Meeting For? The Consequences of Private Meetings with Investors

By: David H. Solomon and Eugene F. Soltes

Regulation Fair Disclosure was passed in 2000 in response to the concern that certain investors were gaining selective access to privileged firm information. In spite of the passage of this regulation, some investors continue to meet privately with executives. Using a... View Details

Keywords: Conferences; Decision Making; Investment

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September 2012 (Revised March 2013)
Teaching Note

Ultimate Fighting Championship: License to Operate (A) & (B) (TN)

By: George Serafeim

The case describes the challenges that Ultimate Fighting Championship faced as a result of regulatory opposition and loss of the license to operate. The genesis of the business idea, the subsequent growth, and the fall of the UFC are described. The case concludes with... View Details

Keywords: Governance Compliance; Ethics; Judgments; Investment; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

02 Sep 2014
First Look

First Look: September 2

treating both its suppliers and its blue collar workforce as homogeneous, interchangeable entities as well as its view that expertise could be partitioned so that there was minimal overlap of knowledge amongst functions or levels in the organizational hierarchy and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2021
Case

The FIRE Savings Calculator

By: Michael Parzen and Paul Hamilton

This case follows Carol Muñoz, a member of the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) lifestyle movement. At the age of 45, Carol is considering retiring and living off the $1 million she has accumulated. Using Monte Carlo simulation, Carol forecasts the... View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Strategy; Investment Portfolio; Investment Return; Personal Finance; Saving; Risk and Uncertainty; Diversification; Theory; Personal Development and Career; Financial Services Industry

September 2005 (Revised May 2007)
Case

OuterLink Corporation (A)

By: Josh Lerner and Brenda Chia

Zero Stage Capital is addressing a troubled investment in OuterLink Corp., which has a capital deficit of $30 million and was written off by all but one of its investors as a victim of the technology bubble. The venture organization must decide whether to shutter the... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Decisions; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Price Bubble; Investment; Financial Services Industry

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July 2020
Case

Mortgage Backed Securities and the Covid-19 Pandemic

By: Emil N. Siriwardane, Luis M. Viceira and Dean Xu

In April 2020, global financial markets were still reeling as the COVID-19 pandemic spread rapidly across the world. Global equity markets had initially fallen by 30% in response to the pandemic, and high-yield credit markets had dropped by nearly 20%. In contrast,... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Mortgage-backed Securities; Health Pandemics; Financial Markets; Assets; Resource Allocation; Financial Instruments; Decision Making

September 1990 (Revised June 1994)
Case

Catawba Industrial Co.

By: Francis Aguilar

A department general manager has to decide whether or not to add a lightweight compressor to the line, what price to charge, and what volume to produce. The analysis requires maximizing contribution in a situation where one factor is constrained. As such, it takes into... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Capital Budgeting; Business Earnings; Cost Accounting; Cost Management; Asset Pricing

July 2001
Technical Note

Technical Note on LBO Valuation (B): The Equity Cash Flow Method of Valuation using CAPM

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

Explains the equity cash flow method of valuation as it applies to leveraged buyouts. Also explains how to implement the changing cost of equity method using the CAPM. View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Forecasting and Prediction; Cash Flow; Cost of Capital; Equity; Valuation

May 2010
Teaching Note

Ujjivan: A Microfinance Institution at a Crossroads (TN) (A) and (B)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

Teaching Note for [108057] and [108083]. View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Decision Making; Financial Services Industry

July 1998 (Revised October 2004)
Case

Custom Research Inc. (A)

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Susan Harmeling

Custom Research is considering terminating service to many clients to eliminate unprofitable work and concentrate on the more profitable client projects. View Details

Keywords: Customers; Profit; Decision Making; Service Industry