Publications

March 2007 (Revised October 2008)
Case

The New York Times Co.

The Sulzberger family owns 20% of the New York Times Co. (NYT) but controls 70% of the board through a dual-class share structure. At the company's April 2006 annual shareholder meeting, Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) and other investors, holding 28% of... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Investment Activism; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business and Shareholder Relations; Publishing Industry; New York (city, NY)

December 2019
Case

WeWork Files for an IPO

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

For the board of The We Company—better known as WeWork—August 14, 2019, promised to be a pivotal day. It was then that WeWork’s IPO prospectus, known as an S-1 filing, would be made public, giving potential investors, the media, and the general public a window into the... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Going Public; Leadership; Management; Private Equity; Valuation; Venture Capital; Real Estate Industry; Technology Industry; United States

November 2003
Case

Procter & Gamble 2000 (A): The SpinBrush and Innovation at P&G

By: William A. Sahlman and Ryland Matthew Willis

Describes a set of decisions confronting some managers in the oral care division of Procter & Gamble. They must decide whether to buy a company that has developed an inexpensive, battery-operated toothbrush. The company's product has done well in one market, but... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Innovation and Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Mergers and Acquisitions; Product Launch; Corporate Finance; Retail Industry

19 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 19

common resources, such as advertising or production capacity, across activities. Within the literature on corporate strategy, this tension between focus and breadth is reconciled by the concept of related diversification (i.e., a firm... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Oct 2000
Research & Ideas

Cross-Sector Collaboration: Lessons from the International Trachoma Initiative

collaboration with Clark, both in the initial studies and the Moroccan Pilot. These interactions built understanding and trust, which are important building blocks for strategic alliances. Ongoing management of an effective alliance or collaborative View Details

Keywords: by Diana Barrett, James Austin & Sheila McCarthy

12 May 2003
Research & Ideas

How Hot is the “Hot Spot” Business?

hosted the event. Are Wireless "hot Spots" Potentially Hot Markets? Hot spots are pockets of wireless access points that increasingly populate airports, coffee shops, corporate campuses, public transportation, and even homes.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne & Martha Lagace; Technology; Communications; Telecommunications

December 1998 (Revised September 1999)
Case

Novartis: Betting on Life Sciences

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Srinivas Sunder

The merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz produced genomic-based synergies for health care, agribusiness, and nutritional supplements. How to build on the strength of the individual divisions and provide synergies that would continue Novartis' leadership role is the question... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Divisions; Health Care and Treatment; Leadership; Product Positioning; Science-Based Business; Corporate Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry

06 Dec 2011
First Look

First Look: Dec. 6

corporate governance literature of the past decade has focused on identifying drivers of superior or deficient corporate governance. One of the most rigorous methodologies uses firms' reactions to industry... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

26 Sep 2006
First Look

First Look: September 26, 2006

received extraordinary support from its oversized Scientific Advisory Board; it had developed and secured a strong intellectual property portfolio that creates high barriers to entry for any new market entrants; and, it had $13 million of View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

21 Aug 2000
Research & Ideas

Faculty Research Looks to Latin America

FDI are raising concerns that there might be bidding wars: This means governments throwing a lot of money to foreign investors. This weakens corporate finances and can also start the reallocation of resources. "Is Brazil as a country... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

01 Jan 2003
News

Greylock

One of the country's most renowned venture capital firms, for nearly four decades Greylock has emphasized building businesses rather than stocks, providing hands-on assistance to entrepreneurs, and helping companies contribute new... View Details

April 2002
Article

Limited Arbitrage in Mergers and Acquisitions

By: Malcolm Baker and Serkan Savasoglu

A diversified portfolio of risk arbitrage positions produces an abnormal return of 0.6-0.9% per month over the period from 1981 to 1996. We trace these profits to practical limits on risk arbitrage. In our model of risk arbitrage, arbitrageurs' risk-bearing capacity... View Details

Keywords: Arbitrage; Market Efficiency; Mergers and Acquisitions; Profit; Risk and Uncertainty; Corporate Strategy; Capital; Banking Industry

Read Now

April–May 2021
Article

Labor Mobility and Antitakeover Provisions

By: Aiyesha Dey and Joshua White

How do firms protect their human capital? We test whether firms facing an increased threat of being acquired strengthen their antitakeover provisions (ATPs) in order to bond with their employees. We use the adoption of the Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine (IDD) by U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Labor Mobility; Antitakeover Provisions; Trade Secrets; Implicit Contracting; Employee Bonding; Corporate Governance; Acquisition; Human Capital; Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Intellectual Property; Safety

June 2003 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Xilinx, Inc. (A)

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Christina Darwall

Is it possible to create a great business and a company? Wim Roelandts sets out, in the context of Xilinx, to create a high-performance organization without sacrificing the human dimension. Roelandts experiences additional pressure when the company is affected by a... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Design

January 1997
Case

Dr. Sergio Ceccuzzi and SMI: Negotiating Cross-Border Acquisitions in Europe (B)

By: James K. Sebenius

Since the 1960s, SMI has quietly executed a series of brilliantly negotiated takeovers throughout Europe, often acquiring companies much larger than itself. Despite formidable obstacles, SMI has managed to acquire state-owned competitors in Italy and France, as well as... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Corporate Governance; International Relations; Negotiation Tactics; Consolidation; Mining Industry; Europe

March 1996 (Revised February 1997)
Case

Change Agent Program at Siemens Nixdorf, The

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, John F. McGuire and Afroze A Mohammed

To change its culture, the German computer giant Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems launched a program to train 21 "change agents" who would lead entrepreneurial projects designed to get results and to serve as models of a new style. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Organizational Culture; Training; Leadership Development; Programs; Human Resources; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Computer Industry; Germany