Publications

November 2009
Case

The HLB Turnaround

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Bhaskar Chakravorti and Laura Winig

Ford Pearson has recently taken over as CEO of HLB, a Chicago-based product design and development firm (and once one of the largest in the business), to help turn it around after a series of crises that had seriously threatened its survival. Pearson has personally... View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Business or Company Management; Private Equity; Restructuring; Product Design; Corporate Finance

05 Oct 2016
What Do You Think?

Can the US Economy Regain the Growth and Prosperity of the Past?

he said "our best policy is to promote economic liberty so that individuals and corporations can adjust to changes in society, technology, the economy, the environment and... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Jun 2012
News

The American Dream

LAWSON: Campaigning for Congress, a probusiness entrepreneur who advocates for the middle class. An IBM engineer, Stacey Lawson (MBA 1996) noticed that a number of her colleagues, though surrounded by technology, still used pencil and... View Details

Keywords: Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support; Government; Computer Systems Design and Related Services; Professional Services

February 2014
Article

Governance and CEO Turnover: Do Something or Do the Right Thing?

By: Ray Fisman, Rakesh Khurana, Matthew Rhodes-Kropf and Soojin Yim

We study how corporate governance affects firm value through the decision of whether to fire or retain the CEO. We present a model in which weak governance—which prevents shareholders from controlling the board—protects inferior CEOs from dismissal, while at the same... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Value; Retention; Resignation and Termination; Corporate Governance; Management Teams; Business and Shareholder Relations

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March 2017 (Revised June 2019)
Case

CEO Activism (A)

By: Michael W. Toffel, Aaron K. Chatterji and Julia Kelley

This case introduces CEO activism, a phenomenon in which business leaders engage in political or social issues that do not relate directly to their companies. The case uses several examples to describe why business leaders are engaging in CEO activism and the potential... View Details

August 2011 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Sealed Air Corporation: Deciding the Fate of VTID

By: Elie Ofek

In mid 2010 the Sealed Air Corporation has to decide on next steps for its novel video tracking technology (called VTID) after unsuccessful attempts to market it in three different industry settings. The company must determine whether its most recent target market, the... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technological Innovation; Marketing Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Commercialization; Service Industry

10 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

Celebrating 'The Men and Women of the Corporation' 40 Years Later

people who directly impact the world, and not just by teaching MBA students and executives here at HBS. It's through consulting. It's through activism. I've always been interested in that. Ely: You published Men and Women of View Details

Keywords: by Robin J. Ely

01 Jun 2004
News

The Ambidextrous Organization

In the April 2004 issue of Harvard Business Review, HBS professor Michael L. Tushman and coauthor Charles A. O’Reilly III discuss what they coin the “ambidextrous organization.” A synopsis of their article... View Details

Keywords: ambidextrous manager; ambidextrous organization; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

November 2001 (Revised August 2002)
Case

Audio Spotlight, The

By: Youngme E. Moon

Joe Pompei, a graduate student at the MIT Media Lab, has invented a breakthrough audio invention. The invention is an "Audio Spotlight" that projects a narrow beam of sound in the same way a laser beam projects a narrow beam of light. He must now decide how to... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Independent Innovation and Invention; Marketing; Demand and Consumers; Value Creation

2020
Working Paper

Short-Termism, Shareholder Payouts, and Investment in the EU

By: Jesse M. Fried and Charles C.Y. Wang

Investor-driven “short-termism” is said to harm EU public firms' ability to invest for the long term, prompting calls for the EU to better insulate managers from shareholder pressure. But the evidence offered—in the form of rising levels of repurchases and dividends—is... View Details

Keywords: Short-termism; Quarterly Capitalism; EU; Dividends; Equity Issuances; Equity Compensastion; Capital Flows; Capital Distribution; R＆D; Innovation; Investment; Corporate Governance; Investment Return; Acquisition; European Union

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17 Dec 2007
Research & Ideas

The Rise of Medical Tourism

describes, the globalization of health care also provides a fascinating angle on globalization generally and is of great interest to corporate strategists. "Apollo Hospitals—First-World Health Care at... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Health; Medical Devices & Supplies

01 Jun 2008
News

America the Difficult

are. They appear to systematically earn low returns on their investments in American corporate assets. The returns on American inbound foreign direct investment (FDI) are highly distinctive for two reasons.... View Details

Keywords: Mihir A. Desai; foreign investors; Finance

October 1992 (Revised February 1995)
Background Note

Note on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations

By: Lynn S. Paine

Describes the federal guidelines used by judges for sentencing organizations convicted of criminal wrong-doing under U.S. law as of November 1, 1991. Describes the guidelines' approach to calculating criminal fines for organizations, determining an organization's... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Governance Compliance; Law Enforcement; Laws and Statutes; Organizations; Legal Services Industry; United States

2018
Flash Talks

The Middle Research

Web

HBS - The year in Review

from 16 different colleges across the US. Managed by the Doctoral Programs office, the program pairs undergraduate students with HBS faculty to work closely on research... View Details

Article

Thin Political Markets: The Soft Underbelly of Capitalism

By: Karthik Ramanna

"Thin political markets" are the processes through which some of the most complex and critical institutions of our capitalist system are determined—e.g., our accounting-standards infrastructure. In thin political markets, corporate managers are largely... View Details

Keywords: Business And Society; Lobbying; Sustainability; Leadership; Economic Systems; Accounting; Business and Community Relations; Financial Institutions; Business and Government Relations

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22 May 2025
Video

Strategic Leadership Drives Board Gender Diversity in the UK

October 19, 2021
Article

The Facebook Trap

By: Andy Wu

Facebook has a clear mission: Connect everyone in the world. Clarity is good, but in Facebook’s case, it has also put the company in a bind because the mission—and the company’s vision for creating value through network effects—has also become the source of its biggest... View Details

Keywords: Business And Society; Mission and Purpose; Network Effects; Value Creation; Corporate Accountability; Strategy

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July–August 2012
Article

The Growth Opportunity That Lies Next Door

By: G. Jones

This article uses the case of Natura, the largest Brazilian beauty company and one of the world's top twenty beauty companies, to explore how the logic of globalization is changing for corporations from emerging countries as growth opportunities in those countries... View Details

Keywords: Brazil; Marketing; Green Marketing; Environment; Globalization; Developing Countries and Economies; Geographic Location; Growth and Development Strategy; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Latin America; Europe