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• Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2020

  Sunset Limited or Full Speed Ahead? Amtrak Talks to Congress

  John D. Macomber

  Richard Anderson took the helm of Amtrak in 2017 after leading a successful turnaround at Delta Airlines. Amtrak is a US state owned enterprise with about $3.5 bn in annual revenue (and a large operating loss) that is responsible for substantial segments of passenger rail travel across the United States. In 2019, Anderson has been called before Congress to explain and justify his capital spending plans for the rail carrier. He has to consider, among other topics: Rural services that are important but lose money; historically important long distance routes liked by Congress and which also lose money; new routes between growing city to city pairs; climate change and the impact of floods, washouts, and extreme heat; and the possibility of Amtrak participating in attractive new Transit-Oriented Development opportunities. Congress will presented with options ranging from halving the annual subsidy to doubling it; and whether to focus on maintaining the money losing constituent serving routes or focus on the geographies that have the most opportunity to ease road congestion and stimulate economic growth. Amtrak leadership must also evaluate whether to rebuild lines washed out by hurricanes, how to anticipate future natural events that threaten physical infrastructure, and where to build for tnext decades of service. Where should Anderson invest and where should he divest?

  Keywords: infrastructure; transition; transportation; railroad; passenger transportation; urbanization; climate change; cities; U.S. Congress; Transportation; Rail Transportation; Rail Industry;

  Citation:

  Macomber, John D. "Sunset Limited or Full Speed Ahead? Amtrak Talks to Congress." Harvard Business School Case 220-052, January 2020.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2019 (Revised December 2019)

  CrossBoundary Energy

  John Macomber

  Almost 500 million people are without electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. Governments and public utilities are challenged to bring generation and distribution to most of them. Considerable promise exists in “off-grid” or “mini-grid” technologies, notably using renewable energy from wind and photovoltaics in areas that have plentiful supplies of both yet limited access to traditional fuels due to other infrastructure constraints. CrossBoundary is an experienced consulting firm and transaction facilitator run by several Harvard and Stanford MBAs, some with recent military experience. In the case, the company needs to analyze and select which of two nations in Africa to enter next (Tanzania or Ghana) based on many aspects of each nation, has to decide which kinds of customers to serve who will compensate it directly for electricity, and whether to partner with developers and contractors or build that capability in-house. Critically, the company has to evaluate as it matures whether it should be a) an aggregator of capital from multiple investing and lending sources, investing in a vendor agnostic manner into multiple energy developers and projects that it identifies from afar; or b) primarily a large scale multi-national competitive energy developer and project delivery company needing to attract capital from many sources, all of whom are selecting between several other developers and investment opportunities. What is their key value added and where can they build a defensible strategy? Which one best accomplishes the goal of matching up money and projects to help illuminate Africa?

  Keywords: energy investing; economic development; Renewable Energy; Business Growth and Maturation; Developing Countries and Economies; Project Finance; Emerging Markets; Industry Structures; Infrastructure; Segmentation; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Africa; Tanzania; Ghana;

  Citation:

  Macomber, John. "CrossBoundary Energy." Harvard Business School Case 219-089, January 2019. (Revised December 2019.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2019 (Revised October 2019)

  Amandla Capital: Real Estate in Côte d‘Ivoire

  John D. Macomber, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Dilyana Botha

  This case describes Amandla Capital, a fledgling company in Cote d’Ivoire, facing three opportunities in the real estate and hospitality industries in Africa. It introduces students to several concepts: decision-making and cost-benefit analysis in real estate, corporate strategy selection, management of stakeholders with varied needs and levels of sophistication, conflicts of interest, and the basics of hospitality and hotel management industries.

  Keywords: Small Business; Decision Making; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost vs Benefits; Finance; Assets; Asset Management; Investment Portfolio; Investment Return; Project Finance; Relationships;

  Citation:

  Macomber, John D., Pippa Tubman Armerding, and Dilyana Botha. "Amandla Capital: Real Estate in Côte d‘Ivoire." Harvard Business School Case 220-029, August 2019. (Revised October 2019.)  View Details

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