Publications

2022
Article

Pills in a World of Activism and ESG

By: Guhan Subramanian and Caley Petrucci

Easterbrook and Fischel’s The Economic Structure of Corporate Law advances their now famous passivity thesis, which posits that managers should remain passive in the face of an unsolicited tender offer for the company’s shares. Consistent with the broader... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Governance Controls; Business and Shareholder Relations

2012
Book

Restoring Trust in Organizations and Leaders: Enduring Challenges and Emerging Answers

By: Roderick Kramer and Todd Lowell Pittinsky

Recent events around the world, especially in the financial sector and with respect to government performance, have severely undermined people’s trust in both private organizations and public institutions. In no small measure, these substantial and enduring declines in... View Details

Keywords: Trust; Leadership; Public Opinion; Social Psychology; Financial Services Industry; Public Administration Industry

Purchase

September 2024
Case

Topaz: Navigating Governance, Legacy, and Change

By: Christina R. Wing and Carla Larangeira

Since its founding in 2011, the Garza Sada brothers and their father positioned Topaz among leading family offices in Monterrey, Mexico, with several assets under management. Topaz aspired to have a transformative impact across multiple Mexican industries. An industry... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Family Business; Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Managerial Roles; Management Succession; Family Ownership; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; Education Industry; Energy Industry; Latin America; Mexico

Educators

28 Feb 2014
News

Private Investors Can Save Public Infrastructure

August 2012
Article

A Darker Side to Decentralized Banks: Market Power and Credit Rationing in SME Lending

By: Rodrigo Canales and Ramana Nanda

We use loan-level data to study how the organizational structure of banks impacts small business lending. We find that decentralized banks-where branch managers have greater autonomy over lending decisions-give larger loans to small firms and those with "soft... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Customers; Financing and Loans; Credit; Organizational Structure; Banks and Banking; Governance Compliance; Competitive Strategy

August 2024 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Novo Nordisk Foundation

By: Debora L. Spar and Julia Comeau

In 2024, Novo Nordisk A/S was one of the most profitable firms in the world, thanks largely to just two GLP-1-based drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy. Unusually, this incredibly profitable firm was controlled not by individual private shareholders, but by a non-profit... View Details

Keywords: Pharmaceutical Companies; Diabetes; Obesity; Foundation; Non-profit Management; Profit; Corporate Governance; Business or Company Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Expansion; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Nonprofit Organizations; Pharmaceutical Industry; Denmark; Europe

Educators

04 Mar 2016
Research & Ideas

Is E-commerce at Risk in Apple's Security Dispute with the FBI?

vital for the structure of e-commerce and that’s the broader issue" Q: Is there a distinction to be made here between Apple protecting its own commercial interests and protecting customer security more broadly? A: Apple is making two... View Details

Keywords: Re: Sunil Gupta; Technology

Article

Exploring the Duality Between Product and Organizational Architectures: A Test of the 'Mirroring' Hypothesis

By: Alan MacCormack, Carliss Y. Baldwin and John Rusnak

A variety of academic studies argue that a relationship exists between the structure of an organization and the design of the products that the organization produces. Specifically, products tend to "mirror" the architectures of the organizations in which they are... View Details

Keywords: Organization Design; Architecture; Modularity; Open Source Software; Communication; Design; Governance; Management Practices and Processes; Open Source Distribution; Product Design; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Structure; Performance; Problems and Challenges; Behavior; Software

March 1993
Supplement

Praxair: Creating a Board (B)

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Discusses the final formation of Praxair's board. Lists the members chosen with their backgrounds. Also describes the selection process of board members, and the structure and process of board meetings. View Details

Keywords: Conferences; Governing and Advisory Boards; Selection and Staffing; Management Practices and Processes

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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Web

The Five Forces - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

awareness, to accessing distribution channels, to government restrictions. The threat of entry also depends on the capabilities of the likely potential entrants. If there are well established companies in the industry operating in other... View Details

Research Summary

The Evolution of Corporate Structure, Internal Governance, and Leadership

My research documents the evolution of the internal governance of senior management in large US firms over a 20-year period and explores, via multiple methods, the causes and consequences of these changes. My findings suggest that... View Details

Research Summary

Accountability in the World Bank

This research, now complete, examines the roles of civil society actors in advocating for greater accountability at the World Bank at three levels of decision-making: (1) the project level, (2) the policy level, and (3) the board governance level. The research finds... View Details

September–October 2022
Article

The Essential Link Between ESG Targets and Financial Performance

By: Mark R. Kramer and Marc W. Pfitzer

Despite heightened attention to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, surprisingly few companies are making meaningful progress in delivering on their commitments. Most firms are not integrating ESG factors into internal strategy and operational decisions... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Governance; Financial Strategy; Decision Making; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Organizational Structure

Purchase

February 1975 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Elizabeth Best (A)

By: Wickham Skinner and Ardis Burst

New political appointee with years of volunteer experience takes over highly responsible job in state government and is met with bureaucratic resistance. View Details

Keywords: Government Administration; Organizational Structure; Attitudes; Groups and Teams; Human Resources; Jobs and Positions; Prejudice and Bias; Public Administration Industry

Educators

Purchase

05 Jun 2006
Research & Ideas

Using Competition to Reform Healthcare

In health care this is not the case, in part because of the way medicine has traditionally been structured and organized. Many hospitals, for example, see themselves in the "hospital" business or the "health care... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter; Health

Article

Using Internet Data for Economic Research

By: Benjamin Edelman

The data used by economists can be broadly divided into two categories. First, structured datasets arise when a government agency, trade association, or company can justify the expense of assembling records. The Internet has transformed how economists interact with... View Details

Keywords: Data and Data Sets; Research; Internet; Cost Management; Information Management; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Reports; Archives; Surveys; Economics