Publications

February 2004 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Random House

By: Bharat N. Anand, Kyle F. Barnett and Elizabeth Lea Carpenter

On June 12, 2003, the proposed merger of Random House and Time Warner Book Group was called off by the CEO of Random House's parent company, Bertelsmann. The announcement was welcomed by several critics who had questioned the logic of further consolidation in the book... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Information Publishing; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Vertical Integration; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Publishing Industry

February 2001
Case

PlanetFeedback: The Voice of One ... The Power of Many (A)

By: James L. Heskett

The management of PlanetFeedback in proposes a merger with Intelliseek. Their goal is to create a comprehensive C2B and B2B business focused on the generation and analysis for business clients of consumer feedback data via the Internet, Planet Feedback's board of... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decisions; Information Management; Analytics and Data Science; Business Strategy; Internet and the Web; Information Technology Industry

24 Sep 2018
Blog Post

Working to Keep Pirates At-Bay: My Summer in Cyber Security

ten weeks in the company, I was able to design an online marketing strategy and create acquisition funnel metrics to test different campaigns and selling pitches to brokers. I was also able to work closely with the product team to review... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship

01 Jun 2016
News

Taking Care of Business

recommended against producing sleepwear, now a highly popular line. Knock out! has been an acquisition target, but buyers always planned to offshore manufacturing—a nonstarter for the North Carolinian and mother of three whose father,... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

01 Jun 2011
News

Rust Belt Turns ‘Sun Belt’ with Solar

Abound’s CEO in 2010. Prior to joining Polaris in 1998 (he became CEO a year later), Tiller had worked at GE for fifteen years, including service as general manager of GE Silicones. He’s confident that Abound can compete with anyone in the solar field. Part of its... View Details

Keywords: Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution; Utilities

01 Dec 2001
News

Passing the Torch

17, 2001), which described Immelt as being so popular and well-liked at GE that, if it were put to a company-wide ballot, he would have been voted "Mr. Congeniality at the very least." Immelt revealed that he intends to increase the use of technology throughout the... View Details

Keywords: Support Activities for Transportation; Transportation; Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers; Retail Trade

January 2025
Case

Redwood & Strong: The Value of a Consulting Engagement

By: David G. Fubini and Patrick Sanguineti

The board of Redwood & Strong LLP (R&S), the American branch of a large global law firm, is meeting to review the findings of a recent strategic initiative designed to identify potential merger candidates. The request for the engagement originated from Daniel Crawford,... View Details

Keywords: Client Service; Professional Service Firm; Professional Services; Consulting; Mergers and Acquisitions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Reports; Strategic Planning; Value; Consulting Industry; Legal Services Industry; United States

May 2020
Teaching Note

Bayer Crop Science

By: David E. Bell, Michael Norris and Mel Martin

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 520-055. View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Research and Development; Mergers and Acquisitions; Consolidation; Innovation and Invention; Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Germany

May 2008
Teaching Note

Michael Fernandes at Nicholas Piramal (TN)

By: Michel Anteby and Nitin Nohria

Teaching Note for [408-001]. View Details

Keywords: Conflict and Resolution; Conferences; Mergers and Acquisitions; Integration; Globalization; Pharmaceutical Industry; Canada; United Kingdom

October 1998 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Farallon Capital Management: Risk Arbitrage (A)

By: Andre F. Perold and Robert Howard

Farallon Capital Management, an investment firm that specializes in risk arbitrage, has taken significant long and short positions in MCI Communications and British Telecommunications, respectively, in the belief that the proposed merger of these firms will be... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital; Capital Markets; Investment; Management; Risk Management; Strategy; Financial Services Industry

April 1993 (Revised June 1998)
Case

Time Inc.'s Entry into the Entertainment Industry (A)

Richard Munro, Time Inc.'s chairman and CEO, must respond to a hostile tender offer from Paramount Communications. Paramount conditioned its bid on cancellation of Time's plans to merge with Warner Communications. Several months before the hostile Paramount bid, Time... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Market Entry and Exit; Mergers and Acquisitions; Global Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

September 2022 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Wordle

By: Karen G. Mills, Christina Wallace, Ebehi Iyoha, Gabriella Elanbeck and Morgane Herculano

After sourdough bread, countertop chive gardens, and vaccine selfies came a pandemic-era trend that everyone seemed to be in on: one daily chance to guess a five-letter word and crow about your success on social media via little green and yellow squares. From a... View Details

Keywords: Games; Innovation; General Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Trends; Entrepreneurship; Bids and Bidding; Consumer Behavior; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Technology Industry

May 2015 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Bharti Infratel: Unlocking Value in Mobile Infrastructure

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Prashant Salwan, Tanya Bijlani and Rachna Tahilyani

Bharti Infratel, a telecom tower company, provides shared telecom infrastructure to mobile operators in India. It is a spin off from Bharti Airtel, India's largest leading mobile services operator. Bharti Infratel partnered with its rivals, Vodafone and Idea Cellular,... View Details

Keywords: Collaboration; Strategic Alliances (Business); Mobile Phone Industry; Mergers and Acquisitions; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Telecommunications Industry; Asia; India

August 2000
Case

Mannesmann AG

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Katharina Pick

Explores the functioning of a German supervisory board in the context of a takeover bid made by a British company. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Mergers and Acquisitions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Germany; United Kingdom

03 Jun 2002
What Do You Think?

Are We Entering an Era of European Management Leadership?

Fourth, rely more heavily on operational improvements and the contributions of employees rather than mergers and acquisitions to build value. This philosophy seems to be gaining some credence in the U.S. as well, with recent research on... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Web

Student Clubs | MBA

Christian Fellowship Club Basketball Coffee and Tea Club Conservative Club Consulting for Impact Club Crimson Parents D Democrats, Liberals, Progressives Club E Education Club Energy & Climate Club Entertainment & Media Club Entrepreneurship Club Entrepreneurship... View Details

Web

Podcast - HBS Online

venture capital successfully. Jill Avery on Building a Winning Brand Portfolio 13 NOV 2023 | The Parlor Room What can you learn about brand portfolio strategy from Marriott's $13.3 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts? Harvard... View Details

February 1991 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Ross Perot and General Motors

By: Jay W. Lorsch

In December, 1986 the General Motors Board of Directors must decide whether to accept the buyout agreement between GM and Ross Perot, a director of GM and its largest stockholder. The agreement called for GM to purchase all of Perot's GM shares in exchange for his... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Stock Shares; Resignation and Termination; Business or Company Management; Agreements and Arrangements

2009
Working Paper

Culture Clash: The Costs and Benefits of Homogeneity

By: Eric J. Van den Steen

This paper develops an economic theory of the costs and benefits of corporate culture—in the sense of shared beliefs and values—in order to study the effects of "culture clash" in mergers and acquisitions. I first use a simple analytical framework to show that shared... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Cost vs Benefits; Values and Beliefs; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Motivation and Incentives; Theory