E183
Mark Leslie, Alicia Seiger
2004
The case begins by setting forth Philip Reade’s well-researched business case for starting a shrimp farming company in the northeast of Brazil. Philip, a Brazilian native and Stanford Business School graduate, makes preliminary attempts at raising money…
F270
J. Duffie, Erin Yurday
2004
Freddie Mac, a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) chartered by Congress in 1970, was one of the U.S. housing market’s largest supporters. At year-end 2003, Freddie Mac’s total mortgage portfolio reached a total principal of $1.4 trillion. The U.S…
GS38
Peter Koudal, Hau Lee, Barchi Peleg, Paresh Rajwat, Seungjin Whang
2004
OnStar, a provider of in-vehicle safety, security, and information services called “telematics,” was founded in 1995 as a collaborative venture among General Motors (GM), EDS, and Hughes Electronics Corp. Safety and security services, including roadside…
HR26A
Victoria Chang, Charles O'Reilly III, Jeffrey Pfeffer
2004
On June 8, 1998, California-based Wells Fargo and Minneapolis banking company, Norwest announced a “merger of equals” in a stock deal valued at $34 billion and one that created the Western Hemisphere’s most extensive and diversified financial services…
HR3
Jeffrey Pfeffer
2004
AES develops and operates electric power plants all over the world, and by late 1996, has approximately 20,000 employees. But, the corporation has no human resources staff, either at corporate headquarters in Arlington, VA, or in any of its operating…
IB56
John McMillan
2004
Reggae music has swept the world. From its origins in Jamaica, it can now be heard in clubs and bars from Senegal to Samoa. It has also influenced music from other countries, such as American rap. In the late 1990s, annual sales of reggae recordings…
F268
J. Duffie, Erin Yurday
2004
With the increased liquidity in markets for credit derivatives around the turn of the century, coupled with dramatically increased corporate default rates, fixed-income investors and buyers of credit protection were receptive to a new generation of…
E165
Robert Chess, Alicia Seiger
2004
The goal of this note is to provide entrepreneurs with an understanding of how to use market research and market information to test the validity of a business concept and to refine a business plan. It introduces the key questions entrepreneurs should…
E170
H. Grousbeck, Alex Tauber
2004
The case is based on a fictitious company. It focuses on how an entrepreneur who has built a thriving company should manage his Board of Directors. The entrepreneur started the company from scratch. As the company expanded, the Board also expanded to a…
EC36
Philip Meza, Garth Saloner
2004
This case examines Overture Services, Inc., the Internet search engine and online advertising company that was acquired by Yahoo!. Overture was a leader in the market for sponsored search, in which a search engine sells to advertisers keywords that users…
E140B
William Barnett, Brad Wolfe
2004
This case documents the many challenges faced by protagonists John Fowler and Josh Greenberg, two young post-MBAs who embarked on a brave journey otherwise known as the search fund process. Although possessing limited real-world experience, these best…
A190
Nicole Bastian, Stefan Reichelstein
2004
In December of 2003, the management teams at the automotive and steel businesses of The Timken Corporation, headquartered in Canton, Ohio, were principally in agreement that market price was the appropriate instrument for valuing internal steel transfers…
E178
George Foster, Eric Liu, Emily Melton, Maria Taft
2004
The case details the beginnings of Denver-based Exclusive Resorts, LLC and follows the company to the decision point of how and when to expand their operations internationally, The case gives a detailed overview of the emerging Private Residence Club…
HR26B
Victoria Chang, Charles O'Reilly III, Jeffrey Pfeffer
2004
On June 8, 1998, California-based Wells Fargo and Minneapolis banking company, Norwest announced a “merger of equals” in a stock deal valued at $34 billion and one that created the Western Hemisphere’s most extensive and diversified financial services…
E185
Jerker Denrell, Chris Tilghman
2004
Professional success in the venture capital industry depends in part on a venture capitalist’s ability to learn about new areas of potential investment. By definition, a “venture” is a new pursuit; its specifics are unknown in the beginning. For…
E188
Glenn Carroll, Greg Powell
2004
In 2000, chocolate was consumed by 81 percent of U.S. adults. Despite the popularity of chocolate in the U.S., many analysts believed that the market was far from saturated, noting that European per capita consumption of chocolate remained considerably…
IB53
David Hoyt, John McMillan
2004
In 2003, the 25 million international coffee growers faced a crisis. Prices for coffee beans were the lowest they had been (in real terms) in 100 years. The coffee growing business had historically been one of boom-and-bust. Several countries had to…
A189A
Colm Callan, Maureen McNichols
2004
It was June 9, 1998, and Charles Elson, a law professor and Director on Sunbeam’s Board, had just left a distressing board meeting. The board had met suddenly because, the previous day, Barron’s had published an article suggesting that Al Dunlap, CEO of…
BME7
Margaret Eaton
2004
In November 1998, Steven Briggs was appointed CEO of the Novartis Agricultural Discovery Institute, Inc. (NADII), a new research institute created under the corporate umbrella of Novartis AG. NADII had a mandate to jump start Novartis’s basic research…
E166
Mary Burnham, John Glynn
2004
Successful Silicon Valley executive, Peter Levine, finds himself at a career crossroads, trying to decide between pursuing numerous options including being a CEO of a growth company or a venture capitalist. This case explores the different qualifications…
BME9
Marko Curavic, Margaret Eaton, Madhuri Roy
2004
Pharmaceutical company Merck had created the U.S. Managed Distribution Team to handle a unique problem. In March, 1996, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved Merck’s new drug application for Crixivan, a novel antiviral drug to fight…
E176
John Glynn Jr., Alicia Seiger
2004
The case details the history of Juniper Networks with a specific emphasis on idea formulation and the founder, Pradeep Sindhu’s decision relating to funding the company and his relationship with its venture capital investors. The case then explores the…
BME10
Margaret Eaton, Gerald Farquharson, Clare Ozawa
2004
In the spring of 1999, scientists, biotechnology companies, ethicists, religious leaders, patient advocates, abortion opponents, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and members of Congress were all engaged in a protracted debate about human embryo…
BME8
Margaret Eaton, Anjali Reddi, Aradhana Sarin
2004
In December 1999, Paul Goeld, president medical device startup Adiana, Inc., faced several decisions about the company’s sole product: a new female sterilization catheter. The catheter had proved to be extremely successful in both animal and preliminary…
