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September 2015 (Revised February 2016)
Case

Novell (A): When an Activist Hedge Fund Came Calling on the Board

By: Richard L. Nolan

No corporation and its board of directors is immune to a disruptive shareholder activist attack. The Novell (A) and (B) cases take students through a shareholder activist attack and its aftermath—a saga that spanned 5 years. The cases outline the activist playbook in... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism

February 2011
Background Note

Corporate Reform Elements of the Dodd-Frank Act

By: Robert C. Pozen, Phillip Andrews and David Lane

This note summarizes the four major changes affecting corporate governance that were made by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. These changes relate to: advisory notes by shareholders, refinements to board structure, non-disclosure on compensation and tightening up of certain... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Corporate Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governing and Advisory Boards; Government Legislation; Executive Compensation; Business and Shareholder Relations; United States

16 Oct 2012
News

‘This Comes As a Big Surprise’: GS Board Member

05 Jul 2006
Op-Ed

Corporate Governance Activists are Headed in the Wrong Direction

that voting for directors should be more meaningful; corporate owners should be able to vote their board representatives in or out. Accountability is another common theme in their repertoire. But here's the... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Hinsey

2012
Book

The Future of Boards: Meeting the Governance Challenges of the Twenty-First Century

By: Jay W. Lorsch

This book is a collection of chapters written by Harvard Business School faculty and alums who have experience with corporate boards. It will provide a uniquely HBS perspective on the future of boards. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Boards Of Directors; Compensation; Succession; Governing and Advisory Boards; Books; Perspective; Governance

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Sep 08 2015
Testimonial

Gaining Perspective on Corporate Governance

2019
Working Paper

Recipe for Succession: An Analysis of Board-Level Drivers of CEO Succession Planning

By: J. Yo-Jud Cheng, Boris Groysberg and Paul M. Healy

Keywords: Corporate Boards; CEO Succession; Corporate Governance

10 Jan 2014
News

Root Out Boardroom Dysfunction

Keywords: corporate governance; boards; dysfunction

20 Apr 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Corporate Misgovernance at the World Bank

Keywords: by Ashwin Kaja & Eric Werker

30 May 2005
Research & Ideas

Germany’s Pioneering Corporate Managers

by such great managers as August Thyssen, Alfred Krupp, and Werner Siemens. Professor Jeffrey Fear's book Organizing Control: August Thyssen and the Construction of German Corporate Management overturns some of our preconceptions of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

October 6, 2020
Article

COVID-19 Is Rewriting the Rules of Corporate Governance

By: Lynn S. Paine

Boards are facing a complex new reality as a result of COVID-19. The new environment is characterized by pressures and demands from various stakeholder groups, heightened expectations for societal engagement and corporate citizenship, and radical uncertainty about the... View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards

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June 2008
Background Note

A Note on Limited Partner Advisory Boards

By: Josh Lerner, G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

This note explores the limited partner advisory boards. Based on interviews with seven experienced limited partners who serve on a number of different advisory boards, it presents the roles of the advisory board, the ways it can influence the general partner, and the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Partners and Partnerships; Power and Influence

28 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

Shareholders Key to Corporate Reform

sidebar "Are Board Self-Evaluations Enough?") Separate The Positions Of Chairman And Ceo. This suggestion is hardly novel—in fact, splitting the positions is a common practice in many boardrooms outside the United States—but in... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia A. Montgomery & Rhonda Kaufman

06 Oct 2020
News

COVID-19 Is Rewriting the Rules of Corporate Governance

Keywords: COVID-19

28 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

The Profit Power of Corporate Culture

Corporate culture is often thought of as a hard-to-define, or soft concept in management circles. Soft not in the sense that it isn't important—most CEOs will tell you that their ability to inculcate values and mission into the DNA of a... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

01 Apr 1996
News

HBS Alumni Association Board of Directors: President's Report

The HBS Alumni Association Board of Directors has had a busy year, meeting both on campus and in informal settings around the world. In January, we returned to HBS for our Winter Meeting. The sessions included important reports from the... View Details

Keywords: Cathy Connett

Research Summary

The "New" Corporate Communications

By: Stephen A. Greyser

Stephen A. Greyser continues to explore the issues and problems organizations face as they attempt to communicate effectively with a variety of constituencies. Greyser's work and the course to which it contributes are structured around the business-media-publics... View Details

26 Apr 2016
News

The Quiet War on Corporate Accountability

July 2020
Background Note

Gender Diversity on Boards: Views from Norway

By: Aiyesha Dey

The issue of gender diversity on boards has received increased attention in U.S markets over the past few years. In 2018, California introduced a law which required boards of U.S-listed firms with headquarters in California to include at least one female director by... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Board Decisions; Gender; Diversity; Governing and Advisory Boards; Norway; United States