Publications

March 2004 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Governance Reform at MCI

By: Lynn S. Paine and Bridget Gurtler

Richard Breeden proposed corporate governance reforms for MCI. Breeden is a former chairman of the SEC who was a court-appointed "corporate monitor" for the troubled company (formerly WorldCom). The company must adhere to the proposals unless excused by a court order. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Restructuring; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Business or Company Management; Management Teams

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)

1983
Report

Profiling the Mexican-American Consumer: An Empirical Study of Attitudes Towards Business and Government and Hispanic Consumption Patterns

By: Rohit Deshpandé and Wayne D. Hoyer

January 2020 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Huawei: A Global Tech Giant in the Crossfire of a Digital Cold War

By: William C. Kirby, Billy Chan and John P. McHugh

By 2020, Ren Zhengfei, CEO of Huawei, had transformed the small telephone switch manufacturer he founded in 1987 into a $120 billion telecommunications company poised to lead the lucrative rollout of fifth-generation (5G) cellular networks. However, an emerging... View Details

Keywords: International Strategy; Government And Business; Digital Infrastructure; Political Risk; Information Technology; Infrastructure; Business and Government Relations; Government and Politics; Information Infrastructure; Technology Industry; China; United States

March 2015 (Revised May 2015)
Case

Turkey and the Southern Corridor

By: Rawi Abdelal, Esel Çekin and Cigdem Çelik

In December 2014, Russia cancelled the South Stream pipeline that was envisaged to deliver natural gas through the Black Sea basin on to Europe and replaced it with a new pipeline through Turkey. The Turkish Stream was a great opportunity for Turkey to turn itself into... View Details

Keywords: Business ＆ Government Relations; Energy; Energy Security; Energy Corridor; Hub; Turkey; European Union; Eurasia; Politics; International Relations; Trade; Energy Sources; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry; European Union; Turkey; Russia

September 2022 (Revised November 2022)
Case

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act: Trade and Genocide in U.S.-China Relations

By: Jeremy Friedman and David Lane

On June 21, 2022, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) went into effect, requiring companies to prove that goods imported from the People’s Republic of China were not made with forced labor. The bill was a reaction to reports of products being made with... View Details

03 Jan 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Meet the Oligarchs: Business Legitimacy, State Capacity and Taxation

Keywords: by Rafael Di Tella, Juan Dubra, and Alejandro Lagomarsino

2021
Working Paper

The Changing Role of Business in Society

By: Michael E. Porter

Business interaction with the U.S. government, historically based on securing industry or company special interests at the expense of the public good, has enabled and furthered government dysfunction. Gridlock within the American political system has precluded the... View Details

Read Now

29 Jun 2024
News

Harvard Professor William Kirby on U.S.-China Relations and Clean Tech

2025
Working Paper

Centralized Governance in Decentralized Organizations

By: Lin William Cong, Daniel Rabetti, Charles C.Y. Wang and Yu Yan

We systematically document governance centralization in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and study its drivers and economic implications. Using multiple data sources and granular on-chain transactional data, we compare our findings to those in corporate... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Governance; Voting; Organizations; Financial Services Industry

SSRN

2018
Working Paper

Business, Governments and Political Risk in South Asia and Latin America since 1970

By: Geoffrey Jones and Rachael Comunale

This working paper provides a new perspective on how businesses have responded to political risk in South Asia and Latin America over the last half century. The existing business history literature on political risk is focused on the experiences of Western... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Risk Management; Government and Politics; Business History; South Asia; Latin America

Read Now

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

Find at Harvard

13 Nov 2020
Working Paper Summaries

The European Commission’s Sustainable Corporate Governance Report: A Critique

Keywords: by Mark Roe, Holger Spamann, Jesse Fried, and Charles Wang

16 Jan 2014
News

The straight truth about government accountability

February 2018 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Hikma Pharmaceuticals Governance Journey

By: Lynn Paine, Suraj Srinivasan and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens with Said Darwazah, chairman and CEO of Hikma Pharmaceuticals, the multinational generics company, anticipating the company’s 2017 AGM and reflecting on changes made over the previous year to address concerns expressed by proxy advisors and some... View Details

Keywords: Boards Of Directors; Pharmaceuticals; Remuneration; Shareholder Engagement; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business and Shareholder Relations; Executive Compensation; Business Growth and Maturation; Emerging Markets; Private Sector; For-Profit Firms; Pharmaceutical Industry; Jordan

We systematically document governance centralization in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and study its drivers and economic implications. Using multiple data sources and granular on-chain transactional data, we compare our findings to those in... View Details

July 2002 (Revised April 2003)
Case

Computer Associates International, Inc.: Governance and Investor Communication Challenge

By: Paul M. Healy and Krishna G. Palepu

Sanjay Kumar, the CEO of Computer Associates, faces investor communication challenges following the company's implementation of a new business model and the accompanying change method used to recognize revenue. Despite management's confidence that the new business... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Earnings Management; Stock Shares; Problems and Challenges; Communication Strategy; Accrual Accounting; Business Model; Budgets and Budgeting; Corporate Governance; Revenue; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry

March 2014 (Revised May 2014)
Case

China Vanke (A-1)

By: Lynn S. Paine, John Macomber and Keith Chi-ho Wong

As China's largest homebuilder, China Vanke Co. Ltd. (Vanke) was facing an industry downturn sparked by strong government intervention. Faced with falling prices, Vanke's president must decide whether to keep the company's pricing and product positioning intact, and... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; China; Green Building; Sustainable Development; Business Government Relations; Leadership; Business and Government Relations; Urban Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Safety; Real Estate Industry; China