Publications

1999
Case

Nucor Corporation (B)

By: Vijay Govindarajan

In January, 1999, Ken Iverson, the thirty-year leader of Nucor Corporation, was forced into retirement. Five months later, his successor, John Correnti, was asked to leave. The board of directors wanted fundamental shifts in Nucor's strategy and organization that... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Restructuring; Management Teams; Business Strategy

24 Sep 2018
Blog Post

Working to Keep Pirates At-Bay: My Summer in Cyber Security

After spending three years working in consulting before coming to HBS, I knew I wanted to use my summer to expand beyond the world of Board of Directors advisory and multi-national company strategic planning... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship

February 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Mission Related Investments at the Ford Foundation (A)

By: Shawn Cole, Michael Norris and T. Robert Zochowski

In 2017, Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic foundations in the world, was preparing to meet with his board of directors to discuss beginning a mission related investments (MRI) program. Walker hoped to devote $1 billion of... View Details

Keywords: Mission-Related Investing; Philanthropy; Foundation; Endowments; Socially Responsible Investing; Investment; Institutional Investing; Investment Activism; Governance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; United States; New York (city, NY)

April 2021
Case

Glass-Shattering Leaders: Michele Hooper

By: Boris Groysberg and Colleen Ammerman

Michele Hooper joined the board of the Dayton-Hudson Corporation when she was in her late thirties, becoming the company’s youngest director as well as the only woman and the only person of color in the boardroom. Such “firsts” were not unusual for Hooper, who had been... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Diversity; Corporate Governance; Personal Development and Career

Kevin P. Mohan joined the Negotiation unit at Harvard Business School in 2012. He teaches Negotiation and Deals in the MBA program, in the Owners, Presidents, and Managers program, and in a number of other Executive Education programs at Harvard. He also... View Details

September 1995
Case

Benjamin Rosen and Compaq

By: William A. Sahlman and Jason Green

Addresses the challenges faced by Ben Rosen and the company board of directors as continuing problems force it to make a decision about the ongoing governance of the firm. The issues are complicated by the current CEO and founder, Rod Canion, who has had, until... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Teams; Business or Company Management; Corporate Governance; Problems and Challenges; Decision Making; Information Technology Industry

While many efforts are underway to add more demographically diverse directors to boards, very few are focused on inclusion—creating an environment where differences are valued, and all members have equal opportunity to exercise influence and move into leadership... View Details

December 1961 (Revised January 1994)
Case

Plowman Poultry Farm

By: Samuel L. Hayes III

A poultry farmer wanted to expand production greatly and sought a large extension of his line of credit from his bank in addition to his existing loan on which he had not made payment. The Board of Directors must review a detailed account of events leading to this... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Expansion; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financing and Loans; Commercial Banking; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

November–December 2024
Article

How Robust Is Your Climate Governance?

By: Lynn S. Paine and Suraj Srinivasan

During the past few years, as evidence of climate change and its effects has mounted, many corporate boards have added climate governance to their agendas. But the maturity of boards’ climate-oversight processes and activities varies widely.
To better... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Climate Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Governing and Advisory Boards

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During the past few years, as evidence of climate change and its effects has mounted, many corporate boards have added climate governance to their agendas. But the maturity of boards’ climate-oversight processes and activities varies widely. To better... View Details

September 8, 2009
Article

The New Governance Paradigm

By: Nathaniel Foote and Michael Beer

Boards members of failed banks in 2008 or of the many companies like Enron who were caught up in scandals are by and large honorable, well intentioned, and competent people. So what went wrong and what can be done about it. This article argues that the problem lies in... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Competency and Skills; Banks and Banking; Failure; Goals and Objectives; Leadership; Management Practices and Processes; Ethics; Performance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Crime and Corruption

Lynda M. Applegate is a Baker Foundation Professor at HBS and is Chair of the Advisory Committee for Harvard University’s Masters Degree of Liberal Arts in Finance and Management at the Harvard University Extension School. She has also played a... View Details

Jeffrey F. Rayport

Jeffrey F Rayport is a faculty member in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School, where he teaches in the School’s MBA and Executive Education Programs and on HBS Online. His primary focus in teaching and research is growth-stage technology... View Details

June 2001 (Revised July 2001)
Case

Boston Lyric Opera

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Dennis Campbell

The Boston Lyric Opera was the fastest growing opera company in North America during the 1990s. Having successfully completed a move to a larger facility in 1999, the board and general director recognize the need to develop a formal strategic planning and governance... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Strategic Planning; Arts; Growth and Development Strategy; Governing and Advisory Boards; Fine Arts Industry; Massachusetts

07 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Innovation Corrupted: How Managers Can Avoid Another Enron

facilitated by Enron's bankers and advisors and largely missed by its board of directors and other watchdogs. Here are some "high level" details: Jeffrey Skilling had begun working with Enron in... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Energy; Utilities

Cynthia A. Montgomery

Professor Montgomery's research centers on strategy and corporate governance. Of particular interest are the unique roles leaders play in developing and implementing strategy; the means organizations use to create value across multiple lines of business; and issues... View Details

November 1999 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Cortlandt Town Center

By: William J. Poorvu and Arthur I Segel

CBL & Associates is trying to decide whether to go ahead with the development of a 790,000 square-foot power center with retailers such as Home Depot and Barnes & Noble. The costs are such that the developer needs to renegotiate its land acquisition price. Then the... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Decision Making; Entrepreneurship; Cost; Negotiation; Projects; Strategy; Construction Industry; Retail Industry

June 2017 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Uber in 2017: One Bumpy Ride

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Jay W. Lorsch and Quinn Pitcher

Uber Technologies Inc., the popular ride-hailing company, entered 2017 having doubled its bookings in 2016 and achieving a valuation of nearly $70 billion, making it the largest venture capital-backed company in the world. Co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick embodied... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Information Technology; Transportation; Venture Capital; Organizational Culture; Technology Industry; Transportation Industry; United States