Publications

09 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Excerpt: ’Fortune Tellers’

effort they enjoyed wide institutional backing. Courts of law routinely supported those who made predictions based on dispassionate scientific rules rather than those who, say, enlisted the help of the stars. Many U.S. jurisdictions... View Details

Keywords: by Walter A. Friedman

03 Nov 2003
What Do You Think?

Can Investors Have Too Much Accounting Transparency?

who wrote, "... legislative and regulatory response treats the symptoms (means) rather than the disease (motivation). Transparency is only as successful as the least creative obscurantist." He recommends, among other things,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

04 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Is Your Org Chart Stuck in a Rut? Try a Scientific Experiment

continued to grow globally. Another, a seasoned lawyer, set out to evolve the organizational structure of his firm. “The emergence of new technologies and the trend toward unbundling legal services into their component parts means the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

January 2008
Supplement

Joe Bachelder: Reflections

By: Brian Hall and James K. Sebenius

After Charles Suarez's failed compensation negotiations with Victor, Suarez's attorney, Joe Batchelder, joined class discussions of the case in a course taught by Professor Brian Hall. Professor James Sebenius also interviewed Joe Bachelder at length on this case and... View Details

Keywords: Courts and Trials; Attorney and Client Relationships; Negotiation Deal; Executive Compensation; Knowledge Sharing; Talent and Talent Management; Perspective; Organizations

September 1994 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Forging the New Salomon

By: Lynn S. Paine and Michael Santoro

Describes Salomon Brothers' recovery from the August 1991 Treasury auction scandal. Details the impact of the firm's disclosure of bidding improprieties and describes how the new management team, led by Warren Buffett and Deryck Maughan, guided the company through the... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Ethics; Organizational Culture; Law; Business or Company Management

July 1993 (Revised September 1995)
Case

Block 16: Conoco's "Green" Oil Strategy (A)

By: Malcolm S. Salter and Susan E.A. Hall

Conoco's attempted to win an oil development contract in Ecuador's tropical rain forest. The case discusses government perspectives, environmental perspectives, and indigenous people's perspectives. Allows role playing in a "negotiating forum" set up by Conoco to get... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Contracts; Growth and Development Strategy; Negotiation; Practice; Business and Community Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Perspective; Culture; Corporate Strategy; Latin America

11 Oct 2016
First Look

October 11, 2016

physicians’ behavior and medical costs. This paper examines whether these reforms also affect incentives to develop new technologies. We find that, on average, laws that limit the liability exposure of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

25 Mar 2013
Research & Ideas

How Chapter 11 Saved the US Economy

employees, rather than doing what's necessary to rehabilitate the business." According to Gilson, this provides compelling evidence that "US bankruptcy laws and restructuring practices have played... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Financial Services

23 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Corporate Sustainability Reporting: It’s Effective

greater, he predicts, if countries followed the example of South Africa and France, which recently expanded their mandatory reporting laws to require that companies report their financial View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

February 1988 (Revised November 1988)
Teaching Note

James vs. United States, Teaching Note

By: Henry B. Reiling

Teaching Note for (9-284-073). View Details

Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation; United States

29 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 29, 2007

Cultural Change (forthcoming) Abstract We examine the impact of the 1993 Land Law of Vietnam which gave households the power to exchange, transfer, lease, inherit and mortgage their land-use rights. We use... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Article

Market Reactions to Sovereign Litigation

By: Faisal Z. Ahmed and Laura Alfaro

Recent rulings in the ongoing litigation over the pari passu clause in Argentinian sovereign debt instruments have generated considerable controversy. Some official-sector participants and academic articles have suggested that the rulings will disrupt or impede... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Debt; Litigation; Vulture Funds; Argentina; Sovereign Finance; Lawsuits and Litigation; Markets; Argentina

December 2011
Article

How Do Acquirers Retain Successful Target CEOs? The Role of Governance

By: Julie Wulf and Harbir Singh

The resource-based view argues that acquisitions can build competitive advantage partially through retention of valuable human capital of the target firm. However, making commitments to retain and motivate successful top managers is a challenge when contracts are not... View Details

Keywords: Capital; Mergers and Acquisitions; Acquisition; Equity; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Contracts; Performance; Governance; Legal Services Industry

Find at Harvard

Read Now

15 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 15, 2008

Sexual Harassment Harvard Business School Note 308-096 This note provides an introduction to the law of sexual harassment. It has three parts. Part One describes the laws on harassment in the United States.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 2005 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Meisterchef.com

By: Henry B. Reiling

Two underperforming companies are seeking to combine on terms that will preserve the net operating loss of one for use against their combined future profits or at least against the future profits of the company that generated the losses. The questions are whether the... View Details

Keywords: Code Law; Corporate Governance; Mergers and Acquisitions; Cost Accounting; Taxation; Corporate Strategy; Profit; Crisis Management; Financial Management; Legal Services Industry; Service Industry; United States

October 1988
Case

Agrico, Inc.: A Software Dilemma

By: F. Warren McFarlan

An information systems vice president has one hour to make an ethical decision: should a software program, left inadvertently on the company's computer, be copied and stored? Copying the program would protect clients' assets, but it seems to violate the vendor... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Ethics; Contracts; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations; Information Technology Industry

October 1991 (Revised June 1996)
Case

Lotus MarketPlace: Households

By: Lynn S. Paine

Managers at Lotus and Equifax must decide what to do about their new jointly developed database and software product Lotus MarketPlace which has been criticized as a threat to individual privacy. The Product, which would allow small businesses to buy targeting mail... View Details

Keywords: Information; Business or Company Management; Rights; Ethics; Marketing Communications; Applications and Software; Product Marketing; Information Technology Industry