Publications

07 Feb 2022
Research & Ideas

Digital Transformation: A New Roadmap for Success

process than those who reported otherwise. Some roundtable participants have added an "office of ethics" or ombudsman to provide oversight over ethics policies and practices and to adjudicate complex View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards

01 May 2013
What Do You Think?

Why Isn’t ‘Servant Leadership’ More Prevalent?

Summing Up Is the Term "Servant Leadership" an Oxymoron? Servant leadership (SL) is a concept that triggers a great deal of interest, judging by my e-mail inbox and the number of responses to this month's column. Many comments suggested that: (1) servant... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

May 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Strategy and the Strategist

By: Eric Van den Steen

This short case presents a series of brief accounts, observations, and quotations that challenge students to think about the role of the CEO — and of the CEO's (possibly strong) beliefs and convictions — in strategy. It focuses in particular on three issues and their... View Details

Keywords: Belief Systems; Strategic Analysis; Competitive Advantage; Values; Vision; Strategy And Leadership; Strategy; Leadership; Values and Beliefs

November 2012 (Revised August 2013)
Case

A Politician in a Leather Suit and the Paradox of Japanese Capitalism

By: Karthik Ramanna and Matthew Shaffer

Two lost decades later, capitalism in Japan embodies peculiar contradictions—preserving wealth and social stability in the face of declining economic power. Scant transparency in Japanese corporate practices plays an important role in this phenomenon. Sometimes... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Economic Systems; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Fairness; Values and Beliefs; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Civil Society or Community; Japan; Tokyo

January 1992 (Revised August 1992)
Case

Lexon Corp. (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine

A general manager at Lexon Computer Corp. must decide whether interception and surveillance of employees' e-mail is acceptable company practice, and whether to follow the advice of his computer operations manager who wants to fire the person who complained that the... View Details

Keywords: Information; Rights; Managerial Roles; Interpersonal Communication; Employee Relationship Management; Ethics; Computer Industry

December 2010 (Revised June 2018)
Case

The Pecora Hearings

By: David Moss, Cole Bolton and Eugene Kintgen

In 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, the Senate Banking Committee began a much-publicized investigation of the nation's financial sector. The hearings, which came to be known as the Pecora hearings after the Banking Committee's lead counsel Ferdinand Pecora,... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Fairness; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Institutions; Debt Securities; Stocks; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; History; Financial Services Industry; United States

24 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 24

consistent with these ideas, some policy practice and much of the academic criticism of policies inspired by Porter's cluster work have taken a different direction, looking instead into ways of creating clusters. The fifth section... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

26 Apr 2023
In Practice

Is AI Coming for Your Job?

cuts in white-collar staff. Joseph Fuller is a Professor of Management Practice in General Management and co-leads the Managing the Future of Work initiative at HBS. Ayelet Israeli: For now, AI still needs human intervention In the near... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Technology

September 2000
Case

MBA In Jeopardy (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Gagan Gupta and Phani K. Nagarjuna

The Community Standards Panel of Harvard Business School must determine whether two students have violated the school's community standards, and if so, what sanction would be appropriate. Concerns allegations of plagiarism. In a second-year elective course, two... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Business Education; Learning; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Education Industry

July 2005 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Narayana Murthy and Compassionate Capitalism

By: William W. George, Shailendra Jit Singh and Andrew N. McLean

Narayana Murthy's roles at Infosys Technologies--as a co-founder, longtime CEO, and nonexecutive chairman and chief mentor--has been marked by explosive growth, demanding management challenges, and widely lauded company leadership. His personal leadership philosophy... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Economic Systems; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Biography; Leadership; Business or Company Management; Information Technology Industry; India

05 Dec 2016
Research & Ideas

How To Deceive Others With Truthful Statements (It's Called 'Paltering,' And It's Risky)

paltered in some or most of their negotiations, whereas a smaller number, 21 percent, said that they lied by commission. Perhaps they palter more often because it doesn’t make them feel as badly as outright lying. The researchers found that negotiators consider... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Web

Podcasts - Managing the Future of Work

democratize access to world-class education or increase inequality? Khan's journey from highly informed skeptic to champion of ethical AI. The HBS graduate and Khan Academy founder explains his nonprofit's pioneering strategy. Also,... View Details

October 23, 2013
Article

Banyan Family Business Advisors On The Keys to Long-Term Resilience

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

Family businesses have been found to excel in resilience during economic downturns compared to publicly-traded ones. This is attributed to their focus on resilience over performance. Key qualities of resilient family firms include managing low debt, practicing... View Details

Keywords: Performance Consistency; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Family Ownership; Family Business; Values and Beliefs; Business Strategy

Read Now

2016
Chapter

Trade Associations, State Building, and the Sherman Act: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 1912–25

By: Laura Phillips Sawyer

From its founding in 1912 through the interwar years, the Chamber’s history shows a persistent preoccupation with progressive economics and policy making. Rather than flouting the new ideas of institutional economics, which favored federal regulators overseeing data... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Fairness; Supply and Industry; Policy; Business and Government Relations; United States

06 Jun 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Leaders Lose Their Way

narcissistic wounds from childhood. Many times, this desire is so strong that leaders breach the ethical standards that previously governed their conduct, which can be bizarre and even illegal. Very few people go into leadership to cheat... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

February 2004 (Revised April 2005)
Exercise

Necessary Evils: A Diagnostic Exercise

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Andrew Molinsky

Central to the work of leaders and professionals are tasks that entail harming one party to deliver benefits or advance valued and worthy goals. Sometimes a person must, as part of his or her job, perform an act that causes emotional, material, or physical harm to... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Leadership; Problems and Challenges; Ethics; Management Skills