Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(2,275)
- Faculty Publications (378)
- August 2005 (Revised April 2015)
- Background Note
Employment At Will: A Legal Perspective
By: Lynn S. Paine and Christopher M. Bruner
Provides a brief overview of the employment-at-will doctrine, an important concept unique to the U.S. legal system and business landscape. Briefly surveys the history and development of this doctrine and certain limitations and exceptions to it, as well as some of the... View Details
- July 2005 (Revised August 2008)
- Background Note
Attorney-Client Privilege
By: Lynn S. Paine and Christopher Bruner
Provides a brief summary of the requirements of the attorney-client privilege--an important mechanism for protecting client confidences under U.S. law. Discusses the application of the privilege in a corporate context. View Details
- July 2005
- Background Note
Guth v. Loft: Synopsis
By: Lynn S. Paine and Christopher Bruner
Provides a brief overview of the Supreme Court of Delaware's opinion in the 1939 case of Guth v. Loft, a widely cited application of the "corporate opportunity doctrine." Explores the corporate law principles regulating when a corporate manager can or cannot take... View Details
- March 2005 (Revised August 2007)
- Case
Aguas Argentinas: Settling a Dispute
By: Louis T. Wells Jr. and Alexandra de Royere
The French-owned Aguas Argentinas faces a demand from the Argentine government that it renegotiate its concession to operate the Buenos Aires water and sewage services. The company must decide whether to continue with efforts to settle on a new contract or to exercise... View Details
- February 2005 (Revised April 2006)
- Case
Rx Depot: Importing Drugs from Canada
By: Debora L. Spar
In 2002, a handful of entrepreneurs began to ship drugs from Canada into the United States, taking advantage of regulatory and price differentials across the neighboring countries. Using the Internet and a low-cost network of Canadian pharmacies, firms like Rx Depot... View Details
- Article
Consequences of Financial Reporting Failure for Outside Directors: Evidence from Accounting Restatements and Audit Committee Members
By: Suraj Srinivasan
I use a sample of 409 companies that restated their earnings from 1997 to 2001 to examine penalties for outside directors, particularly audit committee members, when their companies experience accounting restatements. Penalties from lawsuits and Securities and Exchange... View Details
- November 2004 (Revised June 2005)
- Case
Mall of America (A)
By: Lynn S. Paine and Christopher Bruner
Explores fiduciary duty issues that arose in litigation among partners in the partnership that owned and controlled the Mall of America. Describes the complex real estate transaction in which one partner attempted to purchase an additional interest in the mall from a... View Details
- November 2004 (Revised May 2005)
- Case
Marvel Enterprises, Inc.
By: Anita Elberse
The management team of Marvel Enterprises, known for its universe of superhero characters that includes Spider-Man, the Hulk, and X-Men, must reevaluate its marketing strategy. In June 2004, only six years after the company emerged from bankruptcy, Marvel has amassed a... View Details
- October 2004 (Revised October 2013)
- Case
In Search of Global Regulation
By: Geoffrey Jones, Mona Rahmani and Alexis Gendron
The history of the international regulation of global capitalism is surveyed, addressing the challenges facing firms confronting international, national, and regional regulation. Follows the history of global regulation after 1914, from the League of Nations'... View Details
- September 2004
- Article
Trust in Agency
Existing models of the principal-agent relationship assume the agent works only under extrinsic incentives. However, many observed agency contracts take the form of a fixed payment. For such contracts to succeed, the principal must trust the agent to work in the... View Details
- August 2004 (Revised June 2008)
- Case
Debating the Expropriation of Mexican Oil
By: Geoffrey G. Jones and R. Daniel Wadhwani
In 1938, the Mexican government expropriated the assets of foreign oil companies. Explores the legal and moral arguments in favor of and against expropriation. View Details
- June 2004 (Revised January 2005)
- Case
Rambus Inc., 2004
By: David B. Yoffie and Deborah Freier
Examines the role of technology licensing in strategies for high-technology companies. In the 1990s, Rambus developed a revolutionary memory technology that would improve the ability of DRAMs to keep pace with ever-faster microprocessors. To commercialize the... View Details
- March 2004 (Revised June 2006)
- Case
Journey to Sakhalin: Royal Dutch/Shell in Russia (A)
By: Rawi E. Abdelal
Operations of Royal Dutch/Shell in Russia included a strategic alliance with Gazprom, the country's natural gas monopoly, the development of the Salym oil fields in Siberia, and a small retail refilling network in St. Petersburg. Focuses on the Sakhalin II project.... View Details
- January 2004
- Case
Bob Holgrom and the Buyout of the Carlson Division
By: Thomas R. Piper
The head of the Carlson Division stands to benefit substantially in financial terms if a private equity firm wins the bid for the division. The division is in the early stages of a performance turnaround, with only three quarters of profit improvement and no audited... View Details
- 2004
- Other Teaching and Training Material
Great Negotiator 2002: Lakhdar Brahimi
By: James K. Sebenius and Kristin Schneeman
The Program on Negotiation honored Ambassador Brahimi in events on October 2, 2002. These began with an in-depth faculty-moderated discussion with a group of students, faculty, and guests at Harvard Business School. On the evening of the 2nd, Ambassador Brahimi... View Details
- November 2003 (Revised September 2016)
- Case
Creating Global Oil, 1900-1935
By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Daniel Wadhwani
Taught in the elective MBA course entitled The Evolution of Global Business. Examines the development of an international cartel in the oil industry in the 1920s and 1930s. Focuses on the decisions and actions of the leading multinational oil companies—particularly... View Details
- August 2003 (Revised August 2006)
- Case
HealthSouth Corporation
By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Ivan Cheung
Delineates how a for-profit health services business was created. Focuses on sources of financing, the impact of Medicare reimbursement, and Stark laws against fraud and abuse. View Details
- August 2003 (Revised January 2013)
- Case
Multinational Corporations in Apartheid-era South Africa: The Issue of Reparations
By: Geoffrey Jones and Cate Reavis
Considers the lawsuits filed on behalf of victims of apartheid against multinationals who operated in South Africa prior to 1994. Reviews the debates about divestment from and sanctions against South Africa from the 1950s. Includes case studies of companies that... View Details
- July 2003
- Background Note
Expropriation in International Business
By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Meghan Gallagher-Kernstine
Covers several important expropriation cases in international business from the 20th century and highlights the legal and political difficulties these companies faced. Serves to explain expropriation, to stress the vulnerability of foreign direct investments to... View Details
- July 2003 (Revised February 2004)
- Background Note
M&A Legal Context: Standards Related to the Sale or Purchase of a Company
By: Carliss Y. Baldwin, Constance E. Bagley and James Quinn
Introduces students to the legal standards affecting officers and directors when selling or purchasing a company. Provides a practical understanding of the Revlon Standard, the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, Rule 10b-5, and the legal criteria for a cause of... View Details