Publications

April 1993 (Revised May 1994)
Case

Prodigy Services Company (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine

Top executives of Prodigy Services Co. must decide how to respond when publicly accused of allowing anti-Semitic messages to be posted on the electronic bulletin boards of the company's interactive computer service. Can they defend free expression while at the same... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Communication Intention and Meaning; Information Technology; Decision Making; Law; Management Teams; Information Technology Industry

10 Nov 2010
News

A New Era for Raiders

13 Apr 2017
News

When Shareholders Speak Their Minds

March 2011 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd.

By: Robert G. Eccles, Catherine Zhang, Cheng-hua Tzeng, Liang Cheng and Penelope Rossano

This case is about the establishment, growth, and direction of the Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park ("Zhangjiang Park"), which is located in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai. Considered to be one of the most competitive hi-tech industry clusters in China, the combined... View Details

Keywords: Industry Clusters; Information Technology; Capital Markets; Urban Development; Buildings and Facilities; Competition; Business Strategy; Governing and Advisory Boards; Technology Industry; Real Estate Industry; Shanghai

October 2011
Case

Strategy and Governance at Yahoo! Inc.

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Suraj Srinivasan, David Lane and Ian McKown Cornell

Yahoo! faces a number of governance and strategic challenges in late 2011 as it tries to compete with rivals such as Google and find ways to monetize its shareholding and business links with Alibaba Group in China and Yahoo! Japan. The company is now valued at almost... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Corporate Governance; Web Services Industry

November 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Rebuilding Puerto Rico

By: Laura Alfaro, Laura Phillips Sawyer and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason

On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria swept over Puerto Rico, devastating the island’s infrastructure and agriculture. The natural disaster was layered atop years of mounting financial distress. Before the hurricane, Puerto Rico had accumulated $74 billion in debt and... View Details

Keywords: Natural Disasters; Financial Crisis; Infrastructure; Borrowing and Debt; Economy; Strategic Planning; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Puerto Rico

11 Dec 2013
News

No movement for women at the top in corporate America

04 Oct 2018
News

CEO Tenure Is Getting Shorter. Maybe That’s a Good Thing.

2024
Chapter

Managing for Organisational Integrity: My Take After Three Decades

By: Lynn S. Paine

This chapter revisits core ideas from my 1994 article “Managing for Organizational Integrity” and explores a critical issue not discussed in the article: the role of corporate boards. In the chapter, I first re-examine the article’s ideas about the origins of... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Ethics; Corporate Governance

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April 2008 (Revised September 2008)
Case

Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A)

By: Fabrizio Ferri, V.G. Narayanan and James Weber

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... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Governing and Advisory Boards; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Conflict of Interests; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

November 1992 (Revised November 1993)
Case

Anheuser-Busch and Campbell Taggart (Abridged)

In 1984, the SEC accused Paul Thayer and eight others of insider trading. Some of Thayer's inside information came from his position on the board of Anheuser-Busch, where he had learned about Busch's 1982 merger with Campbell Taggart before the merger was publicly... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Capital Markets; United States

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August 2006 (Revised July 2007)
Background Note

Governance of the Family Business

By: John A. Davis

Reviews the ways to achieve governance of the family business. Points out the importance of plans (e.g., strategic plans), statements (e.g., mission statements), policies, rules, and agreements to the governance process. Discusses the roles of three structures in... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Teams; Mission and Purpose

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

June 2000
Background Note

Note on CEO Evaluation

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Katharina Pick

Discusses the trend toward formal evaluations, by boards of directors, of CEO performance. The benefits and challenges of CEO evaluation are discussed and a particular process of CEO evaluation at Dayton Hudson Corp. is described. Teaching Purpose: To introduce issues... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Business Processes; Performance; Problems and Challenges; Valuation

Leonard A. Schlesinger is Baker Foundation Professor at the Harvard Business School where he serves as Chair of the School’s Practice based faculty and faculty Chair of the MBA Field Global Immersion program. He has served as a member of the HBS faculty from 1978 to... 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

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September 1997
Case

Tri Valley Growers: A New Age Co-op

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Mollie H. Carter

Tri Valley Growers is a dominant co-operative in its industry and, yet, still suffers from poor returns. The board of directors worked with the new CEO to change the product, market, and financing focus of the co-op to assure a long and profitable future for its... View Details

Keywords: Capital; Profit; Goods and Commodities; Product Marketing; Cooperative Ownership