Shareholder Rights - Publications - Faculty & Research

16 Feb 2022
News

Holding Business to Account

important to their bottom line: gender equity. “I suddenly realized the power, the reach we had as shareholders,” Aiyer recalls with some amazement. After that experience, “the idea of being a passive investor, along for the ride, no longer appealed to me,” Aiyer says.... View Details

01 Jun 2006
News

CEO Compensation Troubles

Ask any thoughtful corporate board member what they are most concerned about these days, and it is not Sarbanes-Oxley. It is CEO pay. Directors worry because shareholders continue to express outrage, and the media attention to the issue... View Details

Keywords: Jay W. Lorsch; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management

Student-Profile

Elliot Tobin

companies to invest in charities, work to curb emissions, and act as good stewards to society, because a corporation can achieve these goals more efficiently than shareholders could on their own. This puts the onus on executives to select... View Details

02 Oct 2019
What Do You Think?

What Grade Would You Give Walmart CEO Doug McMillon?

meeting needs of multiple stakeholders will be met with controversy. Those giving McMillon the lowest grades appeared to be gun owners or supporters. As BobG put it, “Anyone who makes a decision to not support a Constitutional right of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail

01 Sep 2009
News

Over the Top

on shifting the balance of power in the boardroom away from management. Senator Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) Shareholder Bill of Rights Act, introduced May 19, casts shareholders as... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Finance; Government

Web

Corporate Governance and Boards of Directors - Course Catalog

executives, and shareholders; the changing rights and powers of shareholders; different theories of corporate governance and their practical implications; the legal, financial, managerial, and behavioral issues that directors must contend... View Details

01 Sep 2003
What Do You Think?

To Whom Should Boards be Accountable?

shareholders to get the best price." In the experience I related, the board decided that the 20 percent discount involved in the sale to the desired bidder was just too much. Influenced in part by large shareholders, the board... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Mar 2012
Report

A Jobs Compact for America's Future

human capital; how exceptional companies such as Southwest and Kaiser Permanente buck the "maximizing shareholder value" trend with what researchers call "high-road" human resources strategies; and how labor unions and... View Details

22 Sep 2015
News

Giving Kids a Better Chance

issues, and so I applied directly because I felt that the skills around entrepreneurship, around leading highly successful organizations, at which HBS is incredible, were the right skills to help drive change in social issues. I decided... View Details

01 Sep 2005
News

Trouble in Mouse Land

In 1984, two board members of the Walt Disney Company (WDC) — Stanley Gold and Roy Disney — mounted a targeted campaign to convince major shareholders that Michael Eisner and Frank Wells were the right team... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

25 Oct 2006
Op-Ed

Fixing Executive Options: The Veil of Ignorance

the right thing to do is for shareholders as a whole. This uncertainty is a burden on managers and one that will force them not to choose investments, mergers, and accounting decisions based on the details... View Details

Keywords: by Mihir Desai & Joshua Margolis

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Sharing the Responsibility of Corporate Governance

of integrity has to do it. In the same way that medical ethics do not compel a physician to do something that violates his or her own personal ethics, corporate law does not require directors to check their sense of right and wrong... View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

01 Apr 2001
News

Ed Tian: Boardroom Revolutionary

company. “There is a clear distinction between the board of directors and the management team,” explains Tian. “I have the right to hire and fire people. I’ve hired about twelve hundred employees so far but none of them on instructions... View Details

Keywords: Alejandro Reyes; Telecommunications; Information

08 Oct 2010
What Do You Think?

Will Transparency in CEO Compensation Have Unintended Consequences?

further thought: "Does increasing transparency and visibility of the ratios help increase the ability for shareholders and boards to make better choices?" He commented, "One of the best agents to advocate for the View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

22 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

When Protestors Knock at Your Door

As globalization trends increase, so does the ability of non-governmental organizations such as Greenpeace, Oxfam International, and the World Wildlife Fund to shape public and corporate policy on everything from human rights to labor... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

16 Jul 2024
Op-Ed

Corporate Boards Are Failing in Their No. 1 Duty

appointments go wrong Let’s begin by taking a look at three examples of poor leadership at public companies and addressing what went wrong. Then, I will recommend five ways boards can ensure they appoint the right leader as CEO: General... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

March 2011
Case

MorphoSys AG: The Evolution of a Biotechnology Business Model

By: Gary P. Pisano, Ryan Johnson and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In the biotech world, the 18-year-old Munich-based company MorphoSys was a rarity: it was profitable. The company achieved this profitability not by developing and selling its own drugs, but by licensing access to its proprietary library of human antibodies. Recently,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Profit; Intellectual Property; Rights; Risk Management; Digital Platforms; Product Development; Business and Shareholder Relations; Vertical Integration; Biotechnology Industry; Munich

Citation

Educators

Purchase

18 Jul 2005
Research & Ideas

Time to Rethink the Corporate Tax System?

news for shareholders? In other words, don't lower corporate taxes just mean more profits for shareholders? A: You're absolutely right to think that this could be viewed as a good thing. Indeed, there are a variety of reasons to think of... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

01 Sep 2006
News

Strange Bedfellows

Since when do the taxman and the shareholder agree? IRS Commissioner Mark Everson and SEC Chairman Christopher Cox (MBA 1976) have advanced a simple, but controversial proposal. Companies would be required to disclose how much they pay in... View Details

Keywords: Mihir A. Desai; Government

17 Jul 2000
What Do You Think?

Where Is the Microsoft Board?

interests of shareholders alone or, those of all stakeholders, including employees and customers? Moris Simson (HBS ISMP 91) Mitel Corporation Those taking issue with these premises generally saw the company's leadership with the support... View Details