Publications

December 1987 (Revised May 1991)
Case

One Leather Street

By: William J. Poorvu and Jeffrey A. Libert

Presents a problem involving rehabilitating a small office building in Boston. Describes an investment decision which is knowingly underfunded. As construction proceeds, the developer realizes that it is not up to building code and faces difficult business and ethical... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Ethics; Investment; Decisions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Property; Real Estate Industry; Construction Industry; Boston

November 2010
Article

A New Era for Raiders

By: Guhan Subramanian

The article presents information on corporate methods of preventing hostile takeovers by corporate raiders, such as the poison pill strategy. It is noted that some of these techniques have become less popular and effective. An argument is presented that Section 203 of... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; United States

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April 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Black Duck Software

By: Constance E. Bagley and David Lane

Black Duck Software involves a venture-backed start-up that converted software developers' concerns about violating copyright licensing agreements or open source protocols into an opportunity to help firms use technology to better manage their compliance efforts.... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Law; Open Source Distribution; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Copyright

November 2005 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Governing Sumida Corporation

By: Lynn S. Paine, Masako Egawa, Chisato Toyama and Kim Bettcher

Describes the corporate governance changes adopted by Japan's Sumida Corp. between 1999 and 2005, setting them in the context of changes in Japan's commercial code during this period. Sumida was the first Japanese company to adopt a new U.S.-inspired "committee system"... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Change Management; Business or Company Management; Management Teams; Law; Japan

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2022
Chapter

Capitalism and the Environment

By: Geoffrey Jones

Capitalism drove the environmental decimation of the planet. The environment was seen as a free good, while the consequences of dirty industrial and agricultural processes were seen as external to the firm. Public policies largely allowed this to happen, as politicians... View Details

Keywords: History; Environment; Sustainability; Capitalism; Ethics; Business History; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Pollution; Climate Change

April 2011
Article

Ethical Breakdowns: Good People often Let Bad Things Happen. Why?

By: Max H. Bazerman and Ann E. Tenbrunsel

Companies are spending a great deal of time and money to install codes of ethics, ethics training, compliance programs, and in-house watchdogs. If these efforts worked, the money would be well spent. But unethical behavior appears to be on the rise. The authors observe... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Leadership; Behavior; Conflict of Interests

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September 2012 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Integrated Reporting in South Africa

This case presents a 20-year history of the evolution of corporate governance and corporate reporting in South Africa starting in 1992 with a focus on the three King codes of corporate governance (King I in 1994, King II in 2000, and King III in 2009). From a reporting... View Details

Keywords: Integrated Reporting; Sustainability Reporting; Stock Exchanges; South Africa; Corporate Reporting; Regulation; Nonfinancial Performance; History; Corporate Disclosure; Markets; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Performance; Corporate Governance; South Africa

September 1992 (Revised August 2004)
Supplement

Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (C2)

By: Lynn S. Paine

A jury must decide whether an employee, discharged for misusing company time and filling out false time cards for work on U.S. government contracts, has been wrongfully terminated. Designed to show how the human resource manager's perspective on employee discipline... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Governance Compliance; Policy; Resignation and Termination; Perspective

04 Jun 2020
News

ESG investors get their heads around social risks

September 2021 (Revised December 2023)
Case

On the Bubble: Startup Bootstrapping

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Tom Quinn and Annelena Lobb

Bubble was a software company in the low-code/no-code market, making tools that allowed users without traditional programming backgrounds or technical skills to build software. The case covers cofounder Joshua Haas’s engineering background, as he experienced a high... View Details

August 2020
Article

Improving Working Conditions in Global Supply Chains: The Role of Institutional Environments and Monitoring Program Design

By: Jodi L. Short, Michael W. Toffel and Andrea R. Hugill

Activism seeking to improve labor conditions in global supply chains has led many transnational corporations to adopt codes of conduct and monitor suppliers for compliance. Drawing on thousands of audits conducted by a major social auditor, we identify structural... View Details

Keywords: Monitoring; Supplier Relationship; Sustainability; Sustainability Management; Sustainable Operations; Sustainable Supply Chains; NGO; Operations; Supply Chain Management; Governance Compliance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Global Range; Working Conditions

March 2022 (Revised January 2025)
Technical Note

Statistical Inference

By: Iavor I. Bojinov, Michael Parzen and Paul Hamilton

This note provides an overview of statistical inference for an introductory data science course. First, the note discusses samples and populations. Next the note describes how to calculate confidence intervals for means and proportions. Then it walks through the logic... View Details

Keywords: Data Science; Statistics; Mathematical Modeling; Mathematical Methods; Analytics and Data Science

March 2010 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Chrysler's Sale to Fiat

By: C. Fritz Foley, Lena G. Goldberg and Linnea Meyer

This case provides students with an opportunity to analyze the restructuring of Chrysler in the midst of the financial crisis of 2008–2009. It describes how debtors can use section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to sell assets quickly. It allows for discussion of who... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Financial Crisis; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Laws and Statutes; Business and Government Relations; Sales; Auto Industry; United States