Publications

20 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Activist CEOs Are Rising Up—and Their Customers Are Listening

When former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced earlier this year he was thinking about running for president of the United States, it wasn’t a new idea. Past CEOs seeking the White House have included Carly Fiorina, Ross Perot, Herman Cain, Steve Forbes, Mitt... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Profile

Kamen Bliznashki

contributes to a well-rounded, cross-functional set of abilities, and the case method imbues a sense of humility, an open mind, and an ability to succinctly construct a View Details

Keywords: Energy / Extractive Minerals; Manufacturing

10 Sep 2024
Blog Post

Leading with Creative Problem Solving: Ron Kurtz (MBA 1967)

post-graduate work experience under my belt. I believed in the effectiveness of the case method for building my business skills, and in the influence of an HBS education and... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

March 2005 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc.: Web Services Strategy

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Fernando Suarez

Microsoft and IBM have excluded Sun Microsystems from the board of the Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I), an industry consortium that will shape the evolution of Web services standards. Sun managers must decide whether to join WS-I as a contributing... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Standards; Corporate Governance; Power and Influence; Web Services Industry; Information Technology Industry

03 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 3, 2009

Persuasion Author: Eric J. Van den Steen Abstract This paper studies a principal's trade-off between using persuasion versus using interpersonal authority to get the agent to "do the right thing"... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

09 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 9

potential approaches to establishing evidence of social influence in partially endogenous networks, and they may be especially persuasive in combination. Download the paper:... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

15 Sep 2003
Lessons from the Classroom

HBS Cases: Developing the Courage to Act

teach men [and women] to think in the presence of new situations." This requires a bifocal perspective: the ability to characterize quickly both the common and the distinctive elements of business problems. View Details

Keywords: by David A. Garvin

19 Apr 2016
First Look

April 19, 2016

mutual funds also impact the propensity toward other contractual features that influence when and how creditors have control. However, these factors are less relevant in explaining the strength of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2021
Teaching Note

Glass-Shattering Leaders

By: Boris Groysberg and Colleen Ammerman

Teaching Notes for HBS Case Nos. 421-070, 421-071, 421-072, 421-073, 421-074, and 421-075. View Details

Keywords: Gender Equality; Allyship; Leadership; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Power and Influence

29 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 29, 2007

certify structured products with a low default likelihood as safe and from a large supply of investors who view them as such. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-102.pdf The Persuasive... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2025
Supplement

Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Young Minister Confronts the Challenges of Montgomery (B)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Derek C. M. van Bever

Recounts a pivotal moment in Martin Luther King Jr.'s life during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, where a profound prayer amidst threats to his life renewed his faith and resolve to lead the movement. This transformative experience marked the beginning of his lifelong... View Details

Keywords: Spirituality; Civil Rights; Manging Uncertainty; Leadership; Decision Making; Values and Beliefs; Civil Society or Community; Social Issues; Power and Influence; Alabama

April 2021
Case

Glass-Shattering Leaders: Barbara Hackman Franklin

By: Boris Groysberg and Colleen Ammerman

Barbara Hackman Franklin was one of the first women to earn an MBA from Harvard Business School. She went on to break barriers in the private and public sectors, rising to leadership positions in business and government. In the 1970s, she led a successful White House... View Details

Keywords: Glass Ceiling; Leadership; Gender; Power and Influence

March 2025 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena: Ticket to a Greener Future

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jacob A. Small

Tim Leiweke reviewed how his development group and partners had completely rebuilt an aging Seattle landmark into the world’s greenest arena, carrying the visible name Climate Pledge Arena. It had attracted a new National Hockey League franchise, the Kraken, and... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Leadership; Bids and Bidding; Standards; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Green Buildings; Innovation Leadership; Partners and Partnerships; Power and Influence; Operations; Green Technology Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Seattle

01 Dec 2003
News

Thought Leader

September 18, 2003) also emerged from HBS? Donald Davidson (MBA ’42), a professor at the University of California, Berkeley and a former president of the American Philosophical Association, died last August at the age of 86. Davidson... View Details

23 Jun 2016
Blog Post

How I Structured My Second Year at HBS

cross-registered for a class on Persuasion at the Kennedy School during the January term. I needed to be in Boston during January, and I thought the class would be a great way to experience a different part... View Details

January 2010 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Ben Bernanke: Person of the Year?

By: Lakshmi Iyer and Matthew C. Weinzierl

In response to the economic and financial crisis of 2008–2009, the Federal Reserve greatly expanded the scale and scope of its activities. Though lauded by many experts for its actions, the Fed and its chairman, Ben Bernanke, faced harsh criticism from some public... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Central Banking; Governance Controls; Policy; Crisis Management; Power and Influence; Public Administration Industry; United States

07 Feb 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Earnings Management from the Bottom Up: An Analysis of Managerial Incentives Below the CEO

Keywords: by Felix Oberholzer-Gee & Julie Wulf

October 2013
Article

When Power Makes Others Speechless: The Negative Impact of Leader Power on Team Performance

By: Leigh Plunkett Tost, Francesca Gino and Richard P. Larrick

We examine the impact of subjective power on leadership behavior and demonstrate that the psychological effect of power on leaders spills over to impact team effectiveness. Specifically, drawing from the approach/inhibition theory of power, power-devaluation theory,... View Details

Keywords: Power; Leadership; Team Performance; Groups and Teams; Performance; Leadership Style; Power and Influence

Find at Harvard

Article

Don't Let Power Corrupt You

By: Julie Battilana and Tiziana Casciaro

Although power is essential to taking charge and driving change, it makes leaders vulnerable to two traps that can not only erode their own effectiveness but also undermine their teams. Hubris—the excessive pride and self-confidence that can come with power—causes... View Details

Keywords: Humility; Empathy; Hubris; Leadership; Power and Influence; Moral Sensibility; Performance Effectiveness