Publications

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July 2013
Article

Voice Pitch and the Labor Market Success of Male Chief Executive Officers

By: Christopher Parsons, W. Mayew and M. Venkatachalam

A deep voice is evolutionarily advantageous for males, but does it confer benefit in competition for leadership positions? We study ecologically valid speech from 792 male public-company Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and find that CEOs with deeper voices manage... View Details

Keywords: Success; Leadership Style; Personal Characteristics; Management Teams

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November 2009 (Revised March 2013)
Case

PureCircle

By: David E. Bell and Aldo Sesia

In December 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that high-purity Rebaudioside A (Reb A), a natural and calorie-free product that a young company named PureCircle manufactured from the Stevia plant, could be used in beverages, foods, and as a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Investment; Globalization; Leadership; Risk Management; Product Launch; Production; Performance Productivity; Business and Shareholder Relations; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

Suraj Srinivasan is the Philip J. Stomberg Professor of Business Administration, a member of the Accounting and Management faculty unit, and chair of the View Details

Keywords: accounting industry; financial services

Sara McKinley Torti

Sara Torti is a senior product and operating executive who has focused extensively on creating and scaling technology-based businesses that require a combination of detailed execution, business insight and technical acumen. She has grown products... View Details

February 2008 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Harvard Business School

By: Srikant M. Datar, David A. Garvin and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In 2008 the Boston-based Harvard Business School would turn 100. As the centennial year began, the HBS community and leadership were reflecting on how the School might fulfill its mission to "develop business leaders who make a difference in the world" in the next... View Details

Keywords: Business Education; Cases; Leadership Development; Management; Management Skills; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Planning; Problems and Challenges; Segmentation; Education Industry

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September 2008
Case

Pfizer Inc: Building an Innovation Center

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Ashok Nimgade

The case describes Pfizer's efforts to build and run an innovation center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As the center goes through different periods of leadership and strategic models, its relationship with the corporation and other research sites is explored. The case... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Research and Development; Pharmaceutical Industry; Cambridge

Program

Succeeding as a Strategic CFO

program, you will learn what it takes to meet the demands of the CFO role. You will begin to build a robust set of skills in strategy, communication, and leadership that will enable you to drive innovation and lead organizational change.... View Details

September 2018
Case

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice at 40

By: Josh Lerner, Abhijit Tagade and Terrence Shu

In 2018, private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice celebrated its 40th anniversary and its 20th year under the leadership of CEO Don Gogel. In those decades, CD&R showed solid portfolio performance and generated strong returns for its investors - accomplishments... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Succession; Buyout; Leveraged Buyout; Turnaround; Operations; Private Equity; Management Succession; Business Model; Leveraged Buyouts; Trends; Organizational Change and Adaptation

09 May 2017
News

Why You Can’t Concentrate at Work

May 2017 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Battle for the Soul of Capitalism: Unilever and the Kraft Heinz Takeover Bid (A)

By: William W. George and Amram Migdal

This case describes Kraft Heinz Company’s (KHC) February 2017 unsolicited $143 billion takeover offer to acquire Unilever. The offer was made to Unilever CEO Paul Polman by KHC chairman Alexandre Behring, who was also co-founder and CEO of Brazilian-based 3G Capital... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Value Creation; Decision Choices and Conditions

September 2022 (Revised April 2023)
Case

Cesaro e Associati

By: Christina R. Wing and Amram Migdal

This case describes the leadership succession planning process at Cesaro e Associati (Studio Cesaro), founded in 1986 by Franco Cesaro in the northeastern Italian state of Veneto. In 2022, Franco was contemplating retirement and passing leadership of his firm, which... View Details

14 Jun 2016
News

What business schools teach about shareholder value

Benjamin C. Esty

Benjamin Esty is the Roy and Elizabeth Simmons Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Over the years, he has taught a variety of courses ranging from advanced corporate finance and project finance to competitive strategy and leadership. He... View Details

Keywords: banking; asset management; investment banking industry; consumer products; shipping; wine; financial services

February 2015
Case

Sarah Sullivan at Greater Marketing Solutions (GMS)

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Paul McKinnon and Rebecca McCue

Sarah Sullivan, the new Managing Director of Greater Marketing Solutions, faces the difficult challenge of letting seven professionals go within a short span of time. In doing so she faces two greater challenges: figuring out which individuals to let go and getting her... View Details

Keywords: Stack Ranking; Management; Performance Evaluation