Publications

October 2001 (Revised November 2005)
Case

eBay, Inc.: Stock Option Plans (A)

The footnote disclosure for eBay, Inc. in 2000 indicates that if the company had accounted for employee stock options under the fair value method, its reported profit of $48 million would have been a loss of $91 million. The protagonist is a prospective member of the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Stock Options; Financial Reporting

June 1988 (Revised July 1989)
Case

John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co.: The Inflation Strategy Task Force (A)

1980 was a critical time for John Hancock with high inflation, high interest rates, increased competition, and the desertion of policy holders seeking new investment opportunities. A new lower level (of vice presidents) task force was set up by the executive committee... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Insurance; Inflation and Deflation; Insurance Industry; United States

12 Feb 2015
Video

Carrying the (Olympic) Torch for Women's Sports

Meg Rithmire

Meg Rithmire is the James E. Robison Professor in the Business, Government, and International Economy Unit. Professor Rithmire holds a PhD in Government from Harvard University, and her primary expertise is in the comparative political economy of development with a... View Details

Keywords: real estate

July 2011 (Revised September 2011)
Case

CEO Compensation at GE: A Decade with Jeff Immelt

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

When ISS, a large shareholder advisory group, recommended a "no" vote on Jeff Immelt's award of 2 million stock options in April 2011, GE's compensation committee had to decide whether to rescind or amend the award or ignore the ISS recommendation. Was Immelt's 2010... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Stock Options; Stock Shares; Annual Reports; Executive Compensation; Compensation and Benefits; Business and Shareholder Relations; Performance Evaluation; Corporate Governance; Corporate Accountability; Energy Industry; Financial Services Industry

June 2009
Supplement

Executive Remuneration at Royal Dutch Shell (B)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kaitlyn Simpson

At the 2009 Shell annual meeting, the majority of shareholders vote against the exclusive pay package. The B case compares the remuneration committee perspective (and their rationale for using discretion to award the bonuses) as well as the shareholder perspective (and... View Details

Keywords: Voting; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Executive Compensation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Perspective; Energy Industry

16 Sep 2024
Video

Recommendation Letters

October 1996 (Revised April 1998)
Case

Mobil USM&R (D): Gasoline Marketing

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Mobil US Marketing & Refining has shifted from a centralized staff-driven organization to decentralized business-units. Staff functions now must negotiate service agreements with a buyer's committee consisting of representatives from the profit-center business units.... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Management Teams; Human Resources; Agreements and Arrangements; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Customers; Situation or Environment; Business Units; Energy Industry; Mining Industry; United States

September 2024
Module Note

Governance for Non-Profit Social Enterprises

By: Brian Trelstad, Gerald Chertavian and Alexis Lefort

An overview of the various roles a non-profit board of directors plays, including the board’s principal responsibilities and how those evolve as organizations grow and scale. Looks closely at the overall role in setting the mission of the organization; supervising and... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Nonprofit Organizations; Growth Management; Mission and Purpose; United States

07 Dec 2015
News

Need to look at the structure of regulations again

John W. Pratt

John W. Pratt is a professor of business administration, emeritus, at Harvard Business School. He was educated at Princeton and Stanford, specializing in mathematics and statistics. Except for two years at the University of Chicago, and a sabbatical in Kyoto on a... View Details

2013
Government Testimony

American Competitiveness Worldwide: Impacts on Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs

By: Michael E. Porter

The Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access held a hearing titled, "American Competitiveness Worldwide: Impacts on Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs." Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter spoke at the hearing,... View Details

Keywords: Economic Development; Competitiveness; United States

Joseph L. Badaracco is the John Shad Professor of Business Ethics at Harvard Business School. He has taught courses on business ethics, strategy, and management in the School's MBA and executive programs.

Badaracco is a graduate of St. Louis... View Details

W. Carl Kester

Carl Kester is a Baker Foundation Professor and the George Fisher Baker Jr. Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus at Harvard Business School. He is a member of the Finance Unit. He served as Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs (2006-2010), Chairman of the... View Details

Keywords: asset management; banking; education industry; financial services; investment banking industry; pharmaceuticals; private equity (LBO funds)

January 2010
Case

The Future of Financial Reporting

By: Karthik Ramanna

Multimedia/video case on the SEC's work on improvements to financial reporting. Students review topical audio and video from various sources including SEC footage, and interviews with others involved, such as Bob Pozen, (past head of Fidelity and chairman of the SEC's... View Details

Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; Financial Reporting; Financial Management; Performance Improvement

February 2003
Case

UNICEF

By: John A. Quelch

In September 2002, Marjorie Newman-Williams, director of communication for UNICEF, is poised to present the results of a two-year rebranding process at the annual meeting of the national committee heads. This case describes the organization and highlights the... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Nonprofit Organizations; Brands and Branding