Publications

August 2023
Article

Financing the Litigation Arms Race

By: Samuel Antill and Steven R. Grenadier

Using a dynamic real-option model of litigation, we show that the increasingly popular practice of third-party litigation financing has ambiguous implications for total ex-post litigant surplus. A defendant and a plaintiff bargain over a settlement payment. The... View Details

Keywords: Litigation Financing; Dynamic Bargaining; Real Options; Lawsuits and Litigation; Financing and Loans

SSRN

February 2017 (Revised February 2022)
Background Note

Creating and Sustaining Competitive Advantage

By: Eric Van den Steen

This note gives students a systematic and comprehensive framework for analyzing and developing competitive advantage. It pays explicit attention to both creating and sustaining advantage and considers both alignment and assets as sources of advantage. View Details

Keywords: Scope; Scale; Competitive Dynamics; Value Proposition; Bargaining Power; Competitive Advantage; Assets; Alignment; Business Strategy; Design

September 2017 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Tempur Sealy International (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle

This case explores the long-term relationship between Tempur Sealy (TPX, a mattress manufacturer) and Mattress Firm (MFRM, a bedding retailer and TPX's largest customer). For almost 20 years, the firms enjoyed a mutually beneficial and commercially prosperous... View Details

September 2017 (Revised April 2022)
Supplement

Tempur Sealy International (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty

This case explores the long-term relationship between Tempur Sealy (TPX, a mattress manufacturer) and Mattress Firm (MFRM, a bedding retailer and TPX's largest customer). For almost 20 years, the firms enjoyed a mutually beneficial and commercially prosperous... View Details

April 2022
Teaching Note

Tempur Sealy International (A, B & C)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 718-422, 718-423, and 718-424. The cases explore the long-term relationship between Tempur Sealy (TPX, a mattress manufacturer) and Mattress Firm (MFRM, a bedding retailer and TPX's largest customer). For almost 20 years, the firms... View Details

2017
Working Paper

Investment Timing with Costly Search for Financing

By: Samuel Antill

I develop a dynamic model of investment timing in which firms must first choose when to search for external financing. Search is costly and the arrival of investors is uncertain, leading to delay in financing and investment. Depending on parameters, my model can... View Details

Keywords: Real Options; Search And Bargaining; Time-varying Financial Conditions; Investment; Venture Capital; Mathematical Methods

SSRN

September 2017 (Revised June 2021)
Supplement

Tempur Sealy International (C)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle

Analyzes the commercial relationship between Tempur Sealy and Mattress Firm following the events discussed in the (B) case. View Details

September 2017 (Revised June 2021)
Supplement

Tempur Sealy International (B)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle

Analyzes the commercial relationship between Tempur Sealy and Mattress Firm following the events discussed in the (A) case. View Details

January 2017 (Revised February 2022)
Background Note

Assessing and Enhancing Market Attractiveness

By: Eric Van den Steen

This note gives students a systematic and comprehensive framework for analyzing and influencing market attractiveness. It pays explicit attention to value creation, complements, and the dynamics of market attractiveness. It also includes careful sub-frameworks for... View Details

Keywords: Market Attractiveness; Markets; Industry Structures; Strategy

September 2004 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Roller Coaster Ride, The: The Resignation of a Star

By: Boris Groysberg, Steve Balog and Jennifer Haimson

Presents a detailed account of power dynamics that unfold in the firm when one of its best and brightest threatens to leave. Focuses on the dynamics of attracting, retaining, compensating, negotiating, and leveraging a star performer in a professional services firm. A... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Compensation and Benefits; Resignation and Termination; Retention; Business or Company Management; Negotiation; Power and Influence

14 Dec 2017
HBS Seminar

Andrew Davis, Johnson, Cornell University

01 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Better by the Bundle?

research that culminated in their paper The Dynamic Effects of Bundling as a Product Strategy. Kumar and Derdenger studied the handheld video game market between 2001 and 2005, specifically Nintendo's Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Advance... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

11 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

Negotiating When the Rules Suddenly Change

when they radically restructured their collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The new CBA instituted a uniform cap (as well as a floor) on team payrolls. It also set maximums and minimums for individual contracts and declared many more... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Wheeler; Sports

March 2022
Article

Contractual Restrictions and Debt Traps

By: Ernest Liu and Benjamin N. Roth

Microcredit and other forms of small-scale ﬁnance have failed to catalyze entrepreneurship in developing countries. In these credit markets, borrowers and lenders often bargain over not only the interest rate but also implicit restrictions on types of investment. We... View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Entrepreneurship; Developing Countries and Economies; Financing and Loans

Find at Harvard

January 2013
Article

The Fog of Negotiation: What Negotiators Can Learn from Military Doctrine

By: Michael A. Wheeler

On the surface, warfare and negotiation may seem to be polar opposites. The objective in war is to defeat the enemy. In negotiation, the goal is to find a solution that satisfies all the parties. Not surprisingly, little cross-learning and exchange has occurred across... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Leadership; War; Negotiation; Learning

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Building Bridges: New Dimensions in Negotiation

mainly of "interpersonal process and tactical actions at the bargaining table" (whether literally, on the phone, or via some other connection). This can involve setting a positive atmosphere, displaying cultural sensitivity,... View Details

Keywords: by Anita M. Harris

Research Summary

Manager Specific Human Capital Investment: A Model of Block Trading and Firm Stability

I develop a model in which workers can undertake specific human capital investments in the firm and in the manager employed by the firm. If the manager leaves the firm, a worker has to decide whether to join her in the new firm or stay in the old firm. In case of... View Details

2017
Chapter

High Stakes Negotiation: Indian Gaming and Tribal/State Compacts

By: Gavin Clarkson and James K. Sebenius

Although Indian tribes and the surrounding states were often bitter enemies throughout much of the history of the United States, recently tribes and states have been able to work cooperatively in a number of areas. In some instances, Congress has mandated such... View Details

Keywords: Indian Gaming; Negotiation; Regulation; Tribal Sovereignty; Sovereign Finance; Negotiation Participants; Relationships; Cooperation; Connecticut

Find at Harvard