Publications

April 2018
Case

The Bayer - Monsanto Merger: GMOs and 'Science for a Better Life'

By: Martha J. Crawford and James Barnett

This case allows students to explore the economic, ethical and legal challenges faced by agri-business companies, after several decades of promoting and selling Genetically Modified (GM) crops. Starting in the 1980s, the widespread introduction of GM crops was... View Details

Keywords: Merger; Acquisition; GMO; Genetically Modified Crops; Neonics; Pesticides; Crop Seeds; EU; Mergers and Acquisitions; Agribusiness; Genetics; Natural Environment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Consolidation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Europe; United States

04 Jun 2012
Research & Ideas

The Business of Life

A few years ago, a colleague at Harvard Business School visited Clayton Christensen's office to talk about leading a values-driven life. "He told me that he had decided against having religion in his life," Christensen recalls, explaining that his colleague didn't see... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

19 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: “The Architecture of Innovation”

period, the corporate venture capitalists received 15 percent of the profits they generated, as well as a bonus based on less-tangible benefits to the corporation, which could run as high as another 5... View Details

Keywords: by Josh Lerner; Financial Services

17 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Companies Detangle from Legacy Pensions

nearly all corporations ceased offering defined benefit plans in favor of "defined contribution" packages such as 401(k) plans—in which employees contribute a set amount from their paychecks that... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Aerospace; Financial Services

February 2011
Case

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.

By: William E. Fruhan

This case allows instructors to explore shareholder value creation and transfer opportunities in merger and acquisition transactions. It also invites an examination of corporate governance issues surrounding CEO compensation. This case is quite brief (a total of 4... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Executive Compensation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Value Creation

05 Sep 2006
First Look

First Look: September 5, 2006

across firm boundaries. Now, however, all firms need to learn how to manage innovation in a small world environment. This article offers them advice about how to do so. Global Integration Global Concentration Authors:Pankaj Ghemawat and Fariborz Ghadar... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2011
Other Unpublished Work

Pioneers in Finance: An Interview with Michael C. Jensen - Part 1

By: Michael C. Jensen and Ralph A. Walkling

This interview is first of a two-part series in which Professor Ralph Walkling, the Stratakis Chair in Corporate Governance and Executive Director of the Center for Corporate Governance at Drexel University, interviews Professor Michael C. Jensen, Jesse Isidor Straus... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Research; Financial Crisis; Compensation and Benefits; Agency Theory

May 2008
Supplement

Finansbank 2006 (CW)

By: C. Fritz Foley and Linnea Meyer

How do financial policy requirements and benefits of ownership concentration affect the need for and process of corporate restructuring? This case provides students with an opportunity to analyze the restructuring of a Turkish multinational business group by way of a... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Financing and Loans; Policy; Compensation and Benefits; Growth and Development Strategy; Ownership; Business and Shareholder Relations; Banking Industry; Russia; Turkey; Romania; Switzerland; Ukraine

March 2009 (Revised April 2009)
Case

AFSCME vs. Mozilo...and "Say on Pay" for All! (A) (Abridged)

By: Fabrizio Ferri and James Weber

Richard Ferlauto, director of pensions and benefits policy at the AFSCME, the largest public sector workers union in the U.S., was responsible for protecting the pensions of its members. Because pensions were invested for decades, Ferlauto wanted the companies in which... View Details

Keywords: Voting; Investment; Investment Activism; Corporate Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Ownership Stake; Business and Shareholder Relations; United States

20 Dec 2006
Op-Ed

Investors Hurt by Dual-Track Tax Reporting

accounting earnings. Corporate tax shelters that reduce book income are rarely, if ever, undertaken, and the main benefit of many shelters is the book income they produce. The proposal to publicly report... View Details

Keywords: by Mihir Desai

2025
Working Paper

Blockchain Adoption and Audit Quality

By: Mei Luo, Daniel Rabetti and Shuangchen Yu

This study examines the impact of blockchain adoption in the corporate setting. Specifically, we provide comprehensive empirical support to recent theory (Cao, Cong, and Young, 2024) proposing that blockchain adoption positively affects endogenous audit quality and... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Accounting Audits; Technology Adoption; Financial Reporting; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; China

SSRN

October 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Integrated Reporting at Aegon

By: Robert G. Eccles, George Serafeim, Sydney Ribot and Michael Krzus

In 2011, Aegon adopted integrated reporting—a corporate reporting approach that sought to present company performance in a holistic light by considering medium- to long-term issues, stakeholder opinions, and the relationship between material financial and nonfinancial... View Details

10 Dec 2001
Research & Ideas

Governance in India and Around the Globe

Tarun Khanna and Krishna Palepu are engaged in an ongoing project focused on understanding the convergence (or lack thereof) of corporate governance practices worldwide. That is, rules-on-books regarding View Details

Keywords: by Tarun Khanna & Krishna Palepu; Technology

December 2011
Article

Economics Education and Greed

By: Long Wang, Deepak Malhotra and J. Keith Murnighan

The recent financial crisis, and repeated corporate scandals, raise serious questions about whether a business school education contributes to what some have described as a culture of greed. The dominance of economic-related courses in MBA curricula led us to assess... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Ethics; Attitudes; Business Education; Economics; Education

Find at Harvard

2008
Working Paper

Attracting Flows by Attracting Big Clients: Conflicts of Interest and Mutual Fund Portfolio Choice

By: Lauren Cohen and Breno Schmidt

We explore a new channel for attracting inflows using a unique dataset of corporate 401(k) retirement plans and their mutual fund family trustees. Families secure substantial inflows by being named trustee of a 401(k) plan. This affords the plan sponsor potential... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Conflict of Interests; Financial Services Industry

Read Now

October 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Veeva Systems: The Next Frontier

By: Satish Tadikonda and William Marks

Born out of a desire to bring technological advances in enterprise software into the healthcare vertical, Peter Gassner and Matt Wallach founded Veeva to bring life sciences companies into the digital age for data management in both the commercial and R&D sectors. Over... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Governance Compliance; Applications and Software; Growth Management; Expansion; Technology Industry

24 Jul 2014
Op-Ed

Reform Tax Law to Keep US Firms at Home

Editor's Note. Given a veritable flood over the last year of corporate "inversions"—US companies that reincoporate in other countries to take advantage of favorable tax rates and business regulations—lawmakers in Washington D.C.... View Details

Keywords: by Mihir Desai; Pharmaceutical

August 19, 2024
Article

The Business Roundtable’s Stakeholder Pledge, Five Years Later

By: Lynn S. Paine

Five years ago, the Business Roundtable issued a statement pledging to “lead their companies for the benefit of all stakeholders.” In the past five years, stakeholderism has gained wider acceptance and helped many corporate leaders see the value of taking the interests... View Details

Keywords: Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business or Company Management; Mission and Purpose; Corporate Governance