Shareholder Value - Publications - Faculty & Research

09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Unilever—A Case Study

Organization Unilever was an organizational curiosity in that, since 1929, it has been headed by two separate British and Dutch companies—Unilever Ltd. (PLC after 1981), and Unilever N.V.—with different sets of shareholders but identical... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation; Food & Beverage; Manufacturing; Retail

22 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution

with difficult trade-offs. Prioritizing core values should be the second pillar of your business strategy. For some companies, shareholders come first. For others, it may be employees. In other companies, it... View Details

Keywords: by Robert Simons

31 Aug 2021
Book

Feeling Powerless at Work? Time to Agitate, Innovate, and Orchestrate

authors say. The book explains how power can be shared more evenly among citizens, employees, top executives, and shareholders for the betterment of individuals, organizations, and institutions around the world. "The motive for the book... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

January 2021 (Revised May 2021)
Case

'GEnron'? Markopolos versus General Electric (A)

By: Jonas Heese and David Lane

In August 2019, Harry Markopolos—the forensic accountant known for uncovering Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme—alleged that General Electric had committed accounting fraud totaling $38 billion, coining the term “GEnron” for perceived similarities with the 2001 accounting... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Communication; Energy; Financial Condition; Insurance; Performance; Planning; Business and Shareholder Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Value; Insurance Industry; Financial Services Industry; Energy Industry

Citation

Educators

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29 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 29, 2008

and marginal-cost options. The emphasis on short-term earnings per share as the primary driver of share price, and hence shareholder value creation, acts to restrict investments in innovative long-term... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

31 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 31

case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/811077-PDF-ENG Braddock Industries, Inc. William E. FruhanHarvard Business School Case 211-061 This case examines the drivers of economic value creation for View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Apr 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Courage: The Defining Characteristic of Great Leaders

Polman immediately wheeled into action, convincing KHC to drop its bid two days later. Then he announced seven bold moves to enhance shareholder value without compromising the company’s ambitious long-term... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Auto; Food & Beverage

11 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

The High Risks of Short-Term Management

profits (or worse, the short-term benefits come at the expense of long-term value creation). This phenomenon does not come out of the blue, but is attributable to fundamental frictions in capital markets related to the uncertainty of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services

14 Jan 2019
Op-Ed

These 4 CEOs Created a New Standard of Leadership

contribute to society in meaningful ways, not just profit from it. They believed that organization had to benefit all stakeholders: their customers, employees, shareholders, and communities and that this approach would result in sustained increases in revenues,... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Health; Banking; Food & Beverage; Consumer Products

04 May 2021
Book

Best Buy: How Human Connection Saved a Failing Retailer

shareholders and is a money-making machine,” he says. “But no, a company is a human organization made up of individuals working together in pursuit of a goal.” Leading with purpose and humanity Based on his own track record in... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail

December 2022
Technical Note

Risks and Opportunities from the Transition to a Low Carbon Economy: A Business Analysis Framework

By: George Serafeim

The transition to a low carbon economy introduces many risks and opportunities for businesses. Risks emerge from regulatory actions, such as carbon taxes and cap and trade systems, technological innovation that develop alternatives for customers making existing... View Details

Keywords: Risk Assessment; Opportunities; Environmental Sustainability; Carbon Footprint; Risk Management; Competitive Dynamics; Business Analysis; Climate Change; Accounting; Finance; Valuation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Technological Innovation; Transition; Product Positioning; Renewable Energy; Analysis

Citation

Educators

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01 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

How To Make Restructuring Work for Your Company

The following excerpt is taken from the "Lessons of Restructuring" section of Gilson's introduction to Creating Value through Corporate Restructuring. Although the case studies in this book span a wide range of companies,... View Details

Keywords: by Stuart C. Gilson

18 Aug 2022
Op-Ed

Your Best Employees Are Burning Out: A Framework for Retaining Talent

the 1970s and enjoyed the roaring ‘90s, only to experience the dot.com bust, followed by the financial crisis in 2008. The need for employees to job-hop, along with the corporation’s requirement to increase value for View Details

Keywords: by Hise Gibson and MaShon Wilson

10 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

High Commitment, High Performance Management

high commitment, high performance company. Martha Lagace: What differentiates HCHP firms and their leaders? Michael Beer: The leaders manage with a multiple stakeholder perspective. Contrary to many CEOs, HCHP leaders—with support from their boards—define firm purpose... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

22 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

Can Amazon Remake Health Care?

aspiration, which again, is wonderful if they succeed. But from the perspective of an Amazon shareholder, or the hard-nosed evidence to date, it is probably going to cause that shareholder to lose the money that One Medical View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Health

12 Dec 2005
Research & Ideas

Using the Law to Strategic Advantage

"bridge the communications gap" between lawyers and managers. Sean Silverthorne: You argue that managers shouldn't just view the law as a compliance issue, but rather something that can be used actively to increase the firm's View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Legal Services

23 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

As Climate Fears Mount, More Investors Turn to 'ESG' Funds Despite Few Rules

Investor interest in social responsibility has skyrocketed in the past three years, even as US regulations to hold companies accountable remain in flux and the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) label itself draws backlash. Investors are willing to pay a... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

26 May 2022
HBS Case

Apple vs. Feds: Is iPhone Privacy a Basic Human Right?

would embroil the company in an ugly fight—one that risked alienating some shareholders—but he felt strongly that Apple should champion its customers’ basic human right to privacy. “We believe that a company that has values and acts on... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

08 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: Nov. 8

the value of shareholder proxy access. We find that firms that would have been most vulnerable to proxy access, as measured by institutional ownership and activist institutional ownership in particular, lost... View Details