Publications

SSRN

2010
Chapter

When Does Leadership Matter? A Contingent Opportunities View of CEO Leadership

By: Noam Wasserman, Nitin Nohria and Bharat Anand

There is by now a long-standing debate on the impact that CEOs have on company performance. Studies of leadership describe how CEOs can significantly impact company performance, while the "constraints" perspective argues that leaders are sufficiently constrained by... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Leadership; Performance Improvement; Research; Opportunities

December 2019 (Revised May 2020)
Case

Income Inequality and the CEO Pay Ratio at TJX Cos

By: Ethan Rouen and Akari Furukawa

TJX Companies reported a CEO pay ratio of 1,596-to-1 in 2019, leaving board chair Carol Meyrowitz with a host of questions about whether, and how, she could take action to address concerns raised by having one of the highest pay ratios in the S&P 500. As a retail... View Details

Keywords: CEO Pay Ratio; Income; Equality and Inequality; Executive Compensation; Corporate Disclosure; Business and Stakeholder Relations

2021
Working Paper

CEO Activism, Consumer Polarization, and Firm Performance

By: Young Hou and Christopher W. Poliquin

CEOs are increasingly engaging in activism on controversial social and political issues that do not directly affect their businesses. Simultaneously, the general public is increasingly polarized. We examine how CEO support for gun control after two mass shootings... View Details

Keywords: CEO Activism; Guns; Polarization; Non-market Strategy; Social Issues; Leadership; Consumer Behavior; Performance

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14 Jan 2019
Op-Ed

These 4 CEOs Created a New Standard of Leadership

created sustained success. The Visionary: PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi India-born Indra Nooyi immigrated to the United States in 1978 to study at Yale University. She joined PepsiCo in 1994 and rose rapidly through its ranks. When she was named... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Health; Banking; Food & Beverage; Consumer Products

February 2006
Article

Creating Organizational Success for Your CEO and Your Shareholders

By: Blythe J. McGarvie and Eleanor Bloxham

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July–August 2004
Article

What Every CEO Should Know About Creating New Businesses

By: David A. Garvin

Keywords: Management; Business Ventures

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2001
Working Paper

When Does Leadership Matter? The Contingent Opportunities View of CEO Leadership

By: Noam Wasserman, Bharat Anand and Nitin Nohria

December 2, 2021
Article

Former Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly: Empowering Workers to Create ‘Magic’

By: Hubert Joly and Adi Ignatius

Hubert Joly was behind an amazing turnaround at Best Buy. While everybody was saying he should lay people off to solve the company’s problems, Joly instead listened to the people working for him and found solutions that didn’t involve people losing their jobs.... View Details

Keywords: Purpose; Meaningful Work; Employee Empowerment; Mission and Purpose; Employees; Organizational Culture; Leadership

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Article

Creating High-Impact Coalitions: CEOs Can Lead the Charge on Society’s Biggest Problems

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Tuna Cem Hayirli

Traditionally, responses to crises and societal problems—the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, racial inequities—are considered the responsibility of the public sector and NGOs. But addressing the world’s most critical problems requires leadership, resources, and... View Details

Keywords: Coalition; Change; Problem Solving; Organization; Boundaries; Evolution; Mission; Moral Leadership; Balance; ＂Solutions Approach; Society; Problems and Challenges; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Leading Change; Trust

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April 2006 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Endeca Technologies: New Growth Opportunities

By: Paul A. Gompers and Kristin Perry

Steve Papa, CEO of Endeca Technologies, must decide whether to expand into a new market with a new application of his company's technology. Endeca has experienced significant success with its information access software in the online retail industry, and in September... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Market Entry and Exit; Production; Organizational Structure; Partners and Partnerships; Opportunities; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Technology Industry

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19 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Ground-Floor Opportunities for Retail in India

have made goods more attainable and enticing to a larger portion of the population. At the same time, trade liberalization and more sophisticated manufacturing techniques create goods that are less expensive and higher quality. A panel... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Consumer Products; Retail

December 2006 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Opportunity International: Measurement and Mission

By: Herman B. Leonard, Marc J. Epstein and Melissa Tritter

After a "first career" in business, HBS graduate Christopher Crane becomes CEO of a worldwide microfinance network. The organization's twin challenges are: 1) developing metrics to give it an accurate picture of its situation and impacts, and 2) generating rapid... View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Measurement and Metrics; Problems and Challenges; Growth and Development Strategy; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business Model; Nonprofit Organizations; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Financial Services Industry

20 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

When CEOs Become Activists

Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee responded to the protests by creating Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day. Chick-Fil-A sales increased 12 percent in 2012 over the previous year.) Investigating the effects of CEO... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology; Publishing

December 2014
Case

Groupon: A New CEO Takes Charge

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Arnold B. Peinado

On August 7, 2013, Eric Lefkofsky, the chairman and largest shareholder of Groupon was named CEO, replacing founder Andrew Mason, who had run the company since its inception in 2009. When Groupon had its initial public offering (IPO) in November 2011, the company's... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Disruptive Technologies; Growth Strategy; Customer Relations; Service Management; International Business; Business Models; Strategy Execution; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; United States

April 2022
Case

Mastercard: Creating a World Beyond Cash

By: Sunil Gupta, Linda A. Hill, Julia Kelley and Emily Tedards

In late 2021, Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach and Chairman and former CEO Ajaypal “Ajay” Banga considered how Mastercard could best position itself for continued success in the years to come. Since Mastercard’s initial public offering in 2006, the company had grown and... View Details

02 May 2005
Research & Ideas

Four VCs on Evaluating Opportunities

What makes for the ideal entrepreneurial opportunity? To learn about the frameworks firms use when evaluating potential venture opportunities, Mike Roberts, executive director of the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, and HBS senior... View Details

Keywords: by Lauren Barley

16 Mar 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Higher-Ambition CEOs Need Higher-Ambition Boards

Keywords: by Edward J. Ludwig, Anna Elise Walton & Michael Beer

18 Jul 2005
Research & Ideas

Identify Emerging Market Opportunities

openness and the sociopolitical atmosphere) or some of the market factors, but few pay attention to both. We have developed sets of questions that companies can ask to create a map of each country's context and to gauge the extent to... View Details

Keywords: by Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu & Jayant Sinha

November 2015 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Nestle's Creating Shared Value Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter, Mark R. Kramer, Kerry Herman and Sarah McAra

This case considers Nestlé’s creating shared value (CSV) strategy, which focused on the three categories of nutrition, water, and rural development. In the packaged food and beverage industry, pressure had mounted since the 1990s to improve supply chain sustainability... View Details

Keywords: Shared Value; Health And Wellness; Nutrition; Health; Labor; Environmental Sustainability; Strategy; Operations; Food and Beverage Industry; Switzerland; Europe; Africa; Latin America; North America; Asia