Publications

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

November 1995
Case

"Marketing" at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Samanta Graff

Describes the history and unique operating principles of the most successful corporate law firm in the country. Closes with a lengthy quotation by Martin Lipton, who is one of the firm's founding partners and who is described in an American Lawyer article as the "Elvis... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Reputation; Business Strategy; Legal Services Industry

October 2012
Supplement

Olympus (B)

By: Jay W. Lorsch, Suraj Srinivasan and Kathleen Durante

This case outlines Michael Woodford's awards and honors, after having been fired from Olympus in October 2011. It discusses the repercussions following an investigation into the fraud and the report that was released thereafter. It also discusses the lawsuit that... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Corporate Governance; Health Industry; Electronics Industry; Japan

February 1991 (Revised June 1991)
Case

Raymond Jackson (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Professor Jackson is offered a spot on the slate of directors that Harold Simmons, Lockheed's largest shareholder, has nominated for Lockheed's board to oppose the slate nominated by Lockheed in the Spring, 1990 elections. Jackson must decide whether to join Simmons'... View Details

Keywords: Business and Shareholder Relations; Corporate Governance; Decisions; Voting; Governing and Advisory Boards; Alliances

01 Dec 2023
News

Case Study: Staking a Claim

Illustration by Nhung Lê Kate Terry (MBA 2005) knows that no one attends their fifth-grade career fair and comes home hoping to pursue a career in insurance—but that’s exactly where she wound up. “I really fell in love with it,” she says.... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Insurance Carriers and Related Activities; Finance

June 2002 (Revised January 2010)
Case

Delphi Corporation (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch, Rakesh Khurana and Sonya Sanchez

The Delphi Corp.'s board of directors faces a transition as lead director Thomas Wyman approaches mandatory retirement. Chairman and CEO J.T. Battenberg reflects on Delphi's history and its successful reinvention by Wyman and Battenberg when it separated from its... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Leadership; Management Succession; Management Teams; Relationships; Corporate Strategy

Web

the Art of American Advertising - Advertising Products

third of the nineteenth century was even more dramatic than that of the economy in general,” historian Robert Jay explains. “Between the 1870s and 1900, the volume of American advertising increased by more... View Details

Web

John H. McArthur | About

HBS,” said Nitin Nohria, Dean of Harvard Business School. “He cared deeply about every member of the HBS community and believed in the School’s ability to transform lives. By encouraging us all to dream big dreams—in effect, spurring our... View Details

September 2006 (Revised February 2008)
Case

Philips Electronics N.V.

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Alexis Chernak

Looks at the multinational company, Philips Electronics, which is headquartered in the Netherlands, as an example of a company with a two-tiered board. The company is governed by both a supervisory board and a board of management. Examines the role, dynamic, and best... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business or Company Management; Management Teams; Netherlands

February 2015 (Revised April 2015)
Case

The Board of Directors at Market Basket

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Emily McTague

The firing of Market Basket CEO Arthur T. Demoulas by his cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas, and directors affiliated with him set off employee protests throughout the grocery store chain. Industry specialists estimated that Market Basket was losing close to ten million... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Shareholder Votes; Board Of Directors; Board Dynamics; Board Decisions; Boards; Grocery; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Business and Shareholder Relations; Corporate Governance; Food and Beverage Industry; New England

July 1999 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Quickturn Design Systems, Inc. (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Katharina Pick

Quickturn Design Systems, Inc. faces a hostile takeover bid from its competitor, Mentor Graphics. Mentor makes the bid at a moment when Quickturn's stock price is depressed and the company is defending against a patent suit filed by Mentor. The two companies have a... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Governing and Advisory Boards; Behavior; Lawsuits and Litigation; Organizations; Acquisition; Corporate Governance; Service Industry

Find at Harvard

12 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 12, 2017

others—have become “hub firms” because they control access to billions of mobile customers coveted by all kinds of product and service providers. These hubs drive increasing returns to scale and claim a disproportionate share of the value... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

29 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 29

its own right. But it was also crucial for the resumption of European integration in the 1970s. Leadership: The Key to Effective Boards Author:Jay W. Lorsch Publication:Chap. 1 in Boardroom Realities: Building Leaders Across Your Board, edited View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2014
Article

Group Membership Alters the Threshold for Mind Perception: The Role of Social Identity, Collective Identification, and Intergroup Threat

By: Leor M. Hackel, Christine E. Looser and Jay J. Van Bavel

Human faces are used as cues to the presence of social agents, and the ability to detect minds and mental states in others occupies a central role in social interaction. In the current research, we present evidence that the human propensity for mind perception is bound... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Identity; Personal Characteristics; Cognition and Thinking