First Look

Cases & Course Materials

AEC Systems Business Plan

Harvard Business School Case 808-145

This business plan, which was prepared to accompany the CommonAngels case (No. 807-149), enables students to decide whether to invite an entrepreneur to present to potential angel investors.

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Banco Compartamos: Life after the IPO

Harvard Business School Case 308-094

After an international IPO yielding extraordinary returns to original investors, Banco Compartamos, Mexico's leading microfinance institution, contemplates its future strategic and competing priorities: maintaining growth, defending industry, leadership, preserving social mission, and meeting the expectations of a demanding capital market. Additionally, Compartamos' Co-CEOs must decide how to face the highly polarized reactions in the microfinance industry to its IPO. In the process, the case examines the history of Compartamos, from its NGO origins to its license as a full-service bank; describes the competitive context of low-income sector of financing in Mexico; and reviews the decisions leading to the IPO in the Mexican Stock Exchange.

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Cambrian House

Harvard Business School Case 608-016

Cambrian House builds Internet-based products and services by relying entirely on its user community for all aspects of its innovation and new product development process. Users suggest ideas for new products and services and also participate in a monthly voting process to select the best ideas. The company is now considering the deployment of a prediction market to deepen user involvement and commitment in its innovation; however, it is not sure if it is an appropriate strategy for its community.

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China Resources Corporation (B): China Resources Microelectronics

Harvard Business School Supplement 107-015

Supplements the (A) case. Late in October 2006, China Resources (Holdings) Co., Ltd. (CRC) CEO Charlie Song Lin, CFO Jiang Wel, and Information Center GM Derek Cheng were traveling from Hong Kong to Wuxi, China to attend the first ever meeting of China Resources Microelectronic's (CRM) newly established Office of Strategy Management. The team had high hopes for this meeting as CRM was not only one of CRC's most strategically important profit centers, but also a potential model for the implementation of the CRC 6S management system in all of CRC's 19 profit centers.

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'Doer's Profile' Bill Gates (William H.) (1955 - )

Harvard Business School Compilation 808-083

Profile of Bill Gates designed to facilitate a discussion of the nature of enduring success. Includes both biographical data and excerpts from autobiographical records.

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Lisa Sherman (A)

Harvard Business School Case 408-115

The case of Lisa Sherman (A) describes a highly successful executive at Verizon struggling with whether to reveal her sexual identity. Having attended a diversity training workshop in which participants expressed extremely negative views of gays and lesbians, Sherman must decide whether to leave the company, reveal her identity as a lesbian and work within the system, meet with the CEO to share what has happened, or continue to remain in the closet while working at Verizon.

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Lisa Sherman (B)

Harvard Business School Supplement 408-116

Supplements the (A) case.

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Opportunity Partners

Harvard Business School Case 208-097

Philip Goldstein, the principal in a growing hedge fund and prominent activist investor, has taken a position in a Mexico-based closed-end fund. Following a hard-fought proxy contest in which he advocated for management to eliminate the fund's substantial discount, Goldstein earns a seat on the board of directors. Now he and the board are faced with the decision of how best to "unlock value" in the fund by delivering Net Asset Value to shareholders. The case, which provides rich detail on the workings of closed-end funds, invites students to examine the trade-offs among liquidating the fund, converting it to an open-end fund, or carrying out a self-tender offer. It also raises topics of fund selection and investing in country-specific funds such as Mexico.

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Patel Food and Chemicals Private Limited (A)

Harvard Business School Case 808-142

Alok Patel, the founder and chairman of a Gujarat-based, privately held edible oils processor, must decide whether to hire a CFO candidate. Previously, his company's book-keeping has been done by an uncle, who has mentioned that he may retire soon. Patel could hire his younger son, who is just finishing his MBA at UCLA; but accounting was not Aakash's strength, and Patel has read that a strong finance person can help position a company for success. The company has recently experienced significant growth due to a new program of branded oils, and Patel is worried that the financials are getting away from his uncle. The most qualified candidate, though, comes from a different region. Should Patel hire a non-family member for this sensitive position? If so, should he go so far as to hire someone who does not come from his home region?

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Patel Food and Chemicals Private Limited (B)

Harvard Business School Supplement 808-143

Supplements the (A) case.

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Patel Food and Chemicals Private Limited (C)

Harvard Business School Supplement 808-144

Supplements the (A) case.

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Rubbish Boys

Harvard Business School Case 808-101

It looked like founder-CEO Brian Scudamore might not be able to pursue franchising as a growth option for his junk-removal business after all. Over the years, he had overcome many hurdles, including buying out his "too-fiery" co-founder, firing all of his employees so he could start all over again when he became disillusioned with the company's developing culture, and failing at experimenting with student franchising to increase the rate of growth. Now looking to expand within North America, he had turned to a professional franchising model and had developed a new brand to help grow the business. Paul Guy, his first franchisee who was beginning his operations in Toronto, had just called. "Brian, my wife's relative just told me that I'm crazy to open here because the city picks up things for free. It's crazy to charge $300 to pick something up when they can get the same service for free! We had never heard of that in Vancouver, but that's a big problem here!" Was Guy over-reacting, or had Scudamore made a major mistake in his growth strategy?

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Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A)

Harvard Business School Case 108-024

Two activist investors, one a founder and one a hedge-fund manager, seek to improve board oversight at a chain restaurant company. Prestley Blake founded Friendly Ice Cream in 1935 with his brother, and the two created a chain of full-service restaurants. In 1979 they sold the business and retired. In 2000, Blake became concerned that Friendly's CEO, who owned approximately 10% of Friendly and also owned a larger percentage of another restaurant company, was shifting expenses between the businesses in a way detrimental to Friendly shareholders, but personally advantageous to the CEO. Further, Blake believed that Friendly's board of directors was not meeting their fiduciary obligations to shareholders by properly overseeing the activities of the CEO, and that the directors had conflicts of interest, because they were involved with the CEO's non-Friendly business activities. In 2003, Blake filed a lawsuit against the CEO and the company. In 2006, Sardar Biglari, a hedge-fund manager who had invested in Friendly, entered into negotiations with Friendly for him to join the board of directors to help improve the management of the business. When these negotiations failed, Biglari launched a proxy fight against Friendly in 2007. While these two activist investors shared similar objectives, they worked independently and chose different strategies.

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Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (B)

Harvard Business School Supplement 108-073

Supplements the (A) case.

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ZenG Business Plan

Harvard Business School Case 808-146

This business plan, which was prepared to accompany the CommonAngels case (No. 807-149), enables students to decide whether to invite an entrepreneur to present to potential angel investors.

Purchase this case:
http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=808146