Publications

August 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Launching the War on Terrorism

Describes the decision-making process employed by President George W. Bush's War Cabinet in the days following the September 11th terrorist attacks. Examines how the president and his advisers framed the problem, exchanged ideas, generated alternatives, and developed a... View Details

Keywords: War; National Security; Decision Making; Crisis Management; Management Teams; Public Administration Industry; United States

2011
Article

Top Executives Need Feedback: Here's How They Can Get It

By: Robert Steven Kaplan

As executives become more senior, they are less likely to receive constructive feedback on their performance or their strategy. To get it, they should call on their junior colleagues. The problem: subordinates don't want to offend the boss. Therefore, as executives... View Details

Keywords: Performance; Strategy; Networks; Decisions; Management Teams

Find at Harvard

18 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

New Hires Lose Psychological Safety After Year One. How to Fix It.

the journal Academy of Management Discoveries. She coauthored the research with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Assistant Professor Michaela Kerrissey and HBS doctoral student Derrick Bransby. Do employees feel safe to call out... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

Third Quarter 2015
Article

Should Boards Mentor Their CEOs?: It Is a Complex Question. Here Are the Significant Considerations.

By: Jay W. Lorsch

It's a complex question with significant considerations, including how open the CEO is likely to be to such advice, the company's situation, and the characteristics of the board. View Details

Keywords: Directors; CEO Mentoring; Governing and Advisory Boards; Rank and Position; Management Teams

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2015
Working Paper

Executives' Financial Preferences and Shareholder Tax Outcomes

By: Gerardo Pérez Cavazos and Andreya M. Perez-Silva

We demonstrate that executives’ personal financial preferences impact both layers of shareholder taxes, corporate taxes and corporate payouts. We reconstruct executives’ insider equity portfolios to quantify their personal incentives and analyze stock sales that reveal... View Details

Keywords: Executives; Capital Gain; Dividends; Effective Tax Rate; Tax Avoidance; Taxation; Management Teams; Business and Shareholder Relations

SSRN

November 2010
Case

Children's Hospital Boston (A)

By: Scott A. Snook and Jeffrey C. Connor

Five year old Matty died at Children's Hospital Boston as a result of elective neurosurgery to "cure" his epilepsy. The organizational system, not the surgery, had failed. During post-operative recovery, he experienced a prolonged seizure that resulted in his death.... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Organizational Structure; Management Systems; Management Teams; Health Industry

01 Dec 2007
News

Looking back; looking forward

with power in practice, a remarkable campus, and an alumni community more than 70,000 strong. Equally important, it’s a chance to help set the agenda for management education and research for the next century, and for tomorrow’s business... View Details

Keywords: Jay O. Light; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training

01 Mar 2017
News

HBX: Reimagining HBS for the Digital Age

message for my team and how we communicate with our customers has begun to shift.” Paige Peterson, participant in Disruptive Strategy certificate program, sales manager “I have already applied so much of... View Details

January 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Into the Raging Sea: Final Voyage of the SS El Faro

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Mel Martin

Captain Michael Davidson of the container ship SS El Faro was determined to make his planned shipping trip on time—but a hurricane was approaching his intended path. To succeed, Davidson and his fellow officers must plot a course to avoid the storm in the face of... View Details

Keywords: Power Dynamics; Management; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Failure; Groups and Teams; Rank and Position; Decision Choices and Conditions; Shipping Industry; United States

01 Jun 2008
News

Where Are They Now?

Christian University, he was not only TCU’s first African American basketball player but also the first in the entire Southwest Conference. In 1975, about the same time a kid named Bill Gates opened a shoestring operation called Microsoft, Cash was closing in on his... View Details

Keywords: Mary Ellen Gardner; Management; Management; Management; Management; Management

15 Aug 2024
Op-Ed

Post-CrowdStrike, Six Questions to Test Your Company's Operational Resilience

team. Incorporate unanticipated, random complications and consider scheduling exercises during peak and non-peak business hours. Ensure the dissemination of clear crisis management procedures to provide structured and effective responses... View Details

Keywords: by Hise Gibson and Anita Lynch

January 1996
Case

Palm Computing, Inc. (A)

By: Myra M. Hart

Discusses patents, licenses, and deal making in a start-up venture. The entrepreneur, Jeff Hawkins, holds a patent on Palm Print, a pattern recognition algorithm. After licensing Palm Print to his employer, he led three years of development of commercial products for... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property; Patents; Agreements and Arrangements; Negotiation Deal; Business Startups; Management Teams

07 Jul 2021
News

Don’t Ban “Politics” at Work

01 Mar 2025
News

Venture: Time Heals All

Assembling a nursing schedule for a hospital ward can be surprisingly difficult—a little like playing three-dimensional Tetris, says Ilana Springer Borkenstein (MBA 2022). “It is a really challenging, tedious task.” Nurse managers must... View Details

Keywords: Amy Crawford; Illustration by Klaus Kremmerz; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

02 Sep 2014
News

Many of the best ideas for improving health care are quite simple

Managers know that individuals who have experience working together can influence team performance. Yet most managers underestimate the benefit of such familiarity, according... View Details

08 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

The Critical Computer Science Principles Every Strategic Leader Needs to Know

In an AI-world, leaders who speak technology’s language gain an edge. But that doesn’t mean every manager needs a computer science degree. A handle on a handful of basics goes a long way toward preparing strategic leaders for today’s... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Technology; Information Technology

December 2003 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Jamie Dimon and Bank One (A)

By: Paul W. Marshall and Todd H Thedinga

On March 27, 2000, Jamie Dimon was hired as CEO to turn around Bank One. Describes the issues he faces, as he prepares to present an action plan to the board. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Management Teams; Governing and Advisory Boards; Planning; Banking Industry; United States