Publications

2009
Book

Experiments in Financial Democracy: Corporate Governance and Financial Development in Brazil, 1882-1950

By: Aldo Musacchio

In Experiments in Financial Democracy, I challenge the idea that it was colonial institutions that sent Brazil, a civil law country, down a particular path of corporate governance and finance. Detailed archival research reveals significantly different patterns of... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment; Corporate Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business History; Business and Shareholder Relations; Brazil

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June 2007 (Revised April 2008)
Case

Say on Pay

By: Jay W. Lorsch, V.G. Narayanan and Alexis Chernak

Briefly describes the trend in 2006 and 2007 in the United States to give shareholders an advisory vote on executive compensation. Highlights a few examples where shareholders have successfully garnered a majority in support of an advisory vote measure on company proxy... View Details

Keywords: Voting; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Business and Government Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations; United States

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14 Jun 2016
First Look

June 14, 2016

our data. Finally, building on our model, we find that differences in management practices account for about 30% of cross-country total factor productivity differences. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51154 What Else Do View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Say on Pay

By: Jay W. Lorsch

This project is examining, on a continuing basis, the evolving practice of allowing shareholders to have a vote on top executive compensation. The expected product will be an article explaining the limitations of this effort to give shareholders voice. View Details

November 2000 (Revised September 2014)
Case

J. Perez Foods (A)

By: John A. Davis and Kacie LaChapelle

Examines the tensions that occur in family shareholder groups and how to prepare for them and manage them. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Management Practices and Processes; Family Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Business and Shareholder Relations; Family and Family Relationships; Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry

October 1998 (Revised January 1999)
Case

Echlin vs. SPX

By: Paul M. Healy, Bjorn N. Jorgensen and Penny Joseph

Echlin has received a hostile takeover offer from SPX. Both companies have been undertaking major restructurings, and Echlin's shareholders face a difficult decision of whether to support current management or sell out to SPX. Students are asked to analyze the two... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Financial Statements; Business and Shareholder Relations

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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

07 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

Corporate Tax Strategies Mirror Personal Returns of Top Execs

paid in January, shareholders would pay 8.8 percent more in taxes than if dividends were paid on Dec. 31. Executives who saved on their personal taxes reduced tax bills for shareholders. The group saved View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

2021
Working Paper

The Changing Role of Business in Society

By: Michael E. Porter

Business interaction with the U.S. government, historically based on securing industry or company special interests at the expense of the public good, has enabled and furthered government dysfunction. Gridlock within the American political system has precluded the... View Details

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13 Sep 2006
Op-Ed

Rising CEO Pay: What Directors Should Do

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: by Jay W. Lorsch

07 Oct 2020
News

Bringing Ethics Back to Friedman’s Call to Purpose for the Next 50 Years

September 2018 (Revised November 2018)
Case

From Beirut With Love (A)

By: Christina R. Wing, Esel Y. Cekin and Samer Al-Rachedy

This case describes how Robert Fadel, CEO and chairman of ABC, one of Lebanon’s leading retail and real estate groups, professionalized the family business. Robert was the second son of the company’s founder, Maurice Fadel, who had run it single-handedly. Concerned... View Details

July 2020 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Board Diversity at Amazon (A)

By: Aiyesha Dey and Anu Atluru

The case revolves around the decisions that the board of directors of ecommerce giant Amazon would need to make in response to the controversial letter that activist shareholder CtW investment group sent to Amazon’s shareholders, urging them to vote in favor of a... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Boards; Governing and Advisory Boards; Diversity; Gender; Race; United States

June 2009 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Target Corporation: Ackman versus the Board

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Suraj Srinivasan and James Weber

After 15 years of great performance, Target's faltering performance during an economic downturn led an activist shareholder to initiate a proxy fight. Target Corporation, the second largest discount store retailer in the U.S., had competed successfully against industry... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Investment Activism; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business Strategy; Value; Retail 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

October 2014 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Procter & Gamble, 2015

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

On July 30, 2015, Procter & Gamble (P&G) announced headline double-digit earnings per share growth for the year ended June 30. A closer look at the numbers suggested a less healthy picture. Sales, volumes, and operating profits were down. Investors were not impressed;... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Strategy; Consumer Products; Global; Procter ＆ Gamble; Corporate Strategy; Competition; Consumer Products Industry