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Spreadsheet supplement for case UV5656.

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. During the last decade, virtual work -professionals working remotely from home, from client locations or simply from the road -has become increasingly prevalent. Some Fortune 500 companies, including Procter & Gamble, IBM, Accenture and AT&T, have already partially or fully eliminated traditional offices. As much as 10% of today's work force telecommutes from home -more than triple the level of 2000. This trend will accelerate in the coming decades in response to the ongoing globalization of work, ever-increasing customer demands and the cost and time of commuting. However, remote employees as well as managers are becoming increasingly aware of the challenges associated with virtual work as they relate to internal communication, social interaction and employee satisfaction and commitment. The article focuses on four critical challenges involving remote work that require management attention: (1) finding the right work-life balance, (2) overcoming workplace isolation, (3) compensating for the lack of face-to-face communication and (4) compensating for the lack of visibility. For each issue, the authors offer a set of management coping strategies drawn from interviews with managers and remote workers. Successful companies will find ways to adjust to the differences and provide specialized training, mentoring and broad opportunities for social and business interactions with both traditional and remote employees.

In November 2006, Alec Berg, a successful hedge fund manager, must decide whether to invest in the initial public offering (IPO) of the Hertz Corporation. The IPO followed a leveraged buyout (LBO) of Hertz that was completed in December 2005 by three prominent private equity firms that had combined to purchase Hertz from the Ford Motor Company for $14.9 billion. The LBO sponsors had borrowed an additional $1 billion on top of the buyout financing to pay themselves a special dividend in June 2006. This loan would be repaid with the IPO proceeds and any remaining proceeds from the IPO would go to the sponsors. The IPO generated widespread criticism with respect to the speed with which the IPO was conducted and the payment of special dividends. In the face of this criticism, the demand for the Hertz IPO weakened, and the offer price was reduced from the initial file price range of $16-$18 to just $15. Berg must assess whether at $15 per share, Hertz offers an attractive investment for this fund. The case provides the necessary information for students to analyze the sponsors' returns on their investment in Hertz and the attractiveness of the $15 offer price to public shareholders. The case also offers an opportunity for students to discuss the controversy surrounding the payment of special dividends and the claim that private equity sponsors invest with a long-term perspective that creates value for the company.

In November 2006, Alec Berg, a successful hedge fund manager, must decide whether to invest in the initial public offering (IPO) of the Hertz Corporation. The IPO followed a leveraged buyout (LBO) of Hertz that was completed in December 2005 by three prominent private equity firms that had combined to purchase Hertz from the Ford Motor Company for $14.9 billion. The LBO sponsors had borrowed an additional $1 billion on top of the buyout financing to pay themselves a special dividend in June 2006. This loan would be repaid with the IPO proceeds and any remaining proceeds from the IPO would go to the sponsors. The IPO generated widespread criticism with respect to the speed with which the IPO was conducted and the payment of special dividends. In the face of this criticism, the demand for the Hertz IPO weakened, and the offer price was reduced from the initial file price range of $16-$18 to just $15. Berg must assess whether at $15 per share, Hertz offers an attractive investment for this fund. The case provides the necessary information for students to analyze the sponsors' returns on their investment in Hertz and the attractiveness of the $15 offer price to public shareholders. The case also offers an opportunity for students to discuss the controversy surrounding the payment of special dividends and the claim that private equity sponsors invest with a long-term perspective that creates value for the company.

Spreadsheet supplement for case UV1056.

In August 2005, The Carlyle Group and its partners (Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity) must finalize the terms of a bid to purchase the Hertz Corporation. The Ford Motor Company had put Hertz, a wholly owned subsidiary, up for sale in April 2005, and in June 2005 Hertz entered a dual-track process, that would result in its sale or an initial public offering (IPO). The case provides detailed pro forma projections for the transaction that allow students to examine the synergies of the deal and estimate a value and bid for Hertz. Students must consider whether their bid provides an adequate return to the sponsors, can produce a higher value for Hertz than can an IPO, and can best the bid of a rival bidding group. The case is appropriate for use in courses on corporate finance, private equity, or deal valuation. Because of the rich range of issues that can be considered, the case also works well as a capstone case or in a case competition. For instructors wishing to provide students an overview of the role and practices of private equity, we recommend combining the Hertz LBO case with its companion case, "Investing in Sponsor-Backed IPOs: The Case of Hertz" (UV1409). The Hertz IPO was announced in July 2006, just seven months after the LBO was completed. The two cases cover a wide range of issues that arise over the course of entry and exit of private equity investments.

This note analyses and compares the legal definitions and practical applications of Business Method and Software Patents in the United States and European Union.

With the global focus on service-led growth has come increased need for practical techniques for service innovation. Services are fluid, dynamic, experiential, and frequently co-produced in real time by customers, employees, and technology, often with few static physical properties. However, most product innovation approaches focus on the design of relatively static products with physical properties. Thus, many of the invention and prototype design techniques used for physical goods and technologies do not work well for human and interactive services. This article describes one technique-service blueprinting-that has proven useful for service innovation. Service blueprinting is securely grounded in the customer's experience and it allows the clear visualization of dynamic service processes. The technique is described in detail including real case examples that illustrate the value and breadth of its applications.