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Publications
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- All HBS Web
(1,581)
- Faculty Publications (270)
- 2009
- Working Paper
Management and the Financial Crisis (We have met the enemy and he is us...)
The financial crisis of 2008-9 has revealed that our broad model of corporate governance is broken, independent of the shortcomings in the regulatory system. Managers and boards of directors in scores of systemically important firms failed to protect employees,... View Details
- October 2009 (Revised November 2011)
- Case
Citigroup-Wachovia-Wells Fargo
By: Guhan Subramanian and Nithyasri Sharma
In late September 2008, amidst the spiraling financial crisis, many firms on Wall Street were in a precarious position. One such institution was Wachovia, which entered acquisition talks with Citigroup and Wells Fargo. This case describes the development of these... View Details
- 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
- June 2009 (Revised January 2011)
- Case
Target Corporation: Ackman versus the Board
By: Krishna G. Palepu, Suraj Srinivasan and James Weber
After 15 years of great performance, Target's faltering performance during an economic downturn led an activist shareholder to initiate a proxy fight. Target Corporation, the second largest discount store retailer in the U.S., had competed successfully against industry... View Details
- May 2009
- Case
Montgomery County Business Roundtable for Education
By: Allen S. Grossman and Geoff Eckman Marietta
Montgomery County Business Roundtable for Education (MCBRE) was a business-public education partnership with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) that promoted cross-sector knowledge sharing and academic excellence. Its suite of core student programs, such as “720,”... View Details
- May 2009
- Article
Synchronicity and Firm Interlocks in an Emerging Market
By: Tarun Khanna and Catherine Thomas
Stock price synchronicity has been attributed to poor corporate governance and a lack of firm-level transparency. This paper investigates the association between different kinds of firm interlocks, control groups, and synchronicity in Chile. A unique data set... View Details
- March 2009
- Case
Baosteel Group: Governance with Chinese Characteristics
By: Lynn S. Paine and G.A. Donovan
The new outsider-dominated board of directors of China's state-owned Baosteel Group must decide whether to modify the Group's structure. With the completion of a pending acquisition, the Group will control four publicly listed steel-producing subsidiaries, and board... View Details
- 2008
- Chapter
Corporate Honesty and Business Education: A Behavioral Model
By: Rakesh Khurana and Herbert Gintis
Since the mid-1970s neoclassical economic theory has dominated business school thinking and teaching in dealing with the nature of human motivation. However valuable in understanding competitive product and financial markets, neoclassical economic theory employs an... View Details
- September 2008 (Revised October 2008)
- Case
Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A1)
By: Fabrizio Ferri, V.G. Narayanan and James Weber
Two activist investors, one a founder and one a hedge fund manager, seek to improve board oversight at a chain restaurant company. Prestley Blake founded Friendly Ice Cream in 1935 with his brother, and the two created a chain of full-service restaurants. In 1979, they... View Details
- September 2008 (Revised October 2008)
- Supplement
Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A2)
By: V.G. Narayanan, Fabrizio Ferri and James Weber
The A1 and A2 versions of the “Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A)” split the original A case into two parts. The A1 case ends as activists Sardar Biglari and Phil Cooley prepare to meet with CEO Don Smith at Friendly's headquarters in September 2006. The... View Details
- 2008
- Working Paper
Hiring Cheerleaders: Board Appointments of 'Independent' Directors
By: Lauren Cohen, Andrea Frazzini and Christopher J. Malloy
We test the hypothesis that firms appoint independent directors who are overly sympathetic to management, while still technically independent according to regulatory definitions. We explore a subset of independent directors for whom we have detailed, micro-level data... View Details
- July 2008 (Revised September 2010)
- Case
Sony Ericsson WTA Tour (A)
By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kaitlyn Simpson
Larry Scott, the new CEO of the Women's Tennis Association, arrives amidst turmoil. Players and tournaments clash over opposing interests. As a result, the board members who represent them are equally divided and feel conflicted about their role. They aren't sure how... View Details
- July–August 2008
- Article
Interview with a Quality Leader: Regina E. Herzlinger on Consumer-Driven Healthcare
Regina E. Herzlinger is the Nancy R. McPherson Professor of Business Administration Chair at the Harvard Business School, Cambridge, MA. She received her bachelor's degree from MIT and her doctorate from the Harvard Business School The first woman to be tenured and... View Details
- June 2008 (Revised July 2008)
- Case
How Serial Entrepreneurs Build and Manage a Board of Directors in a Venture-Backed Start Up
By: Michael J. Roberts, William A. Sahlman and Sasha Novakovich
This case includes structured interviews with four serial entrepreneurs about the way in which they built and used their boards in each of their companies and what they have learned through that process. These entrepreneurs were asked similar questions, such as "How do... View Details
- April 2008 (Revised September 2008)
- Case
Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A)
By: Fabrizio Ferri, V.G. Narayanan and James Weber
Two activist investors, one a founder and one a hedge-fund manager, seek to improve board oversight at a chain restaurant company. Prestley Blake founded Friendly Ice Cream in 1935 with his brother, and the two created a chain of full-service restaurants. In 1979 they... View Details
- November 2007 (Revised March 2009)
- Case
OppenheimerFunds and Take-Two Interactive (A)
By: Jay W. Lorsch, Andrew Hill and Kaitlyn Simpson
Describes the dilemma faced by Emmanuel Ferreira, a fund manager at OppenheimerFunds. As the largest shareholder and a long-time investor in software publisher Take-Two Interactive, Ferreira contemplates whether or not to get involved with other investors in trying to... View Details
- November 2007 (Revised March 2009)
- Case
Clear Channel 2006
By: Richard S. Ruback and Leslie Pierson
The Board of Directors of Clear Channel Communications, a radio broadcasting and outdoor advertising company, has to respond to a revised proposal from two private equity firms to take the company private. In November of 2006, the Board had unanimously approved an... View Details
- March 2007 (Revised October 2008)
- Case
The Vancouver 2010 Olympics
By: Anita Elberse, Catherine Anthony and Joshua Callahan
It is February 2007, exactly three years before Vancouver hosts the 2010 Winter Olympics. Judy Rogers, City Manager for the City of Vancouver and a member of the Board of Directors for Vancouver's Organizing Committee (VANOC), is keen to ensure the Games will have a... View Details
- February 2007
- Tutorial
Measuring Marketing Performance
By: John A. Quelch
In many organizations, marketing exists far from the executive suite and the boardroom. This tutorial instructs students how to improve the link between high level corporate strategy and the marketing function. First, students are exposed to three companies in which... View Details
- November 2006
- Case
The Pine Street Initiative at Goldman Sachs
By: Boris Groysberg, Scott A. Snook and David Lane
Almost five years had passed since Goldman Sachs launched its innovative leadership development initiative called Pine Street. Focused primarily on developing Goldman's most senior managers, Pine Street had evolved significantly since its inception in November of 1999.... View Details