Publications

25 Jul 2019
News

Are New Graduates Happier Making More Money or Having More Time?

July 2013 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Say on Pay: Qualcomm, Inc. Shareholders Vote 'Maybe'

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Charles C.Y. Wang and Kelly Baker

This case centers around Qualcomm shareholders' 2012 Say-on-Pay vote and the dispute between the Institutional Shareholder Services and management regarding the appropriateness of the CEO's compensation plan. Was ISS right that Qualcomm's CEO's pay was inflated and... View Details

Keywords: ISS; Proxy Advisor; Investor Communication; Investor Relations; Peers; Say-on-Pay; Benchmarking; Peer Group; Compensation Committees; Board Of Directors; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Corporate Governance; Business and Shareholder Relations; Telecommunications Industry

January–February 2021
Article

Compensation Packages That Actually Drive Performance

By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah Abbott, Michael R. Marino and Metin Aksoy

By aligning executives’ financial incentives with company strategy, a firm can inspire its management to deliver superior results. But it can be hard to get pay packages right. In this article four experts break down the key elements of compensation and explain how to... View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Strategy; Performance

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February 2024
Supplement

Seeds of Innovation: GALY’s Quest to Cultivate the Future of Agriculture in the Lab

By: George Serafeim

In 2023, Luciano Bueno, CEO and founder of plant cell culture agriculture company GALY, was considering the best path forward for his company as he planned to pitch Series B investors. GALY, founded in 2019, aimed to produce cotton and other crops from cells grown in... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Green Technology; Goods and Commodities; Growth and Development Strategy; Science-Based Business; Entrepreneurship; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Business Startups; Decisions; Technological Innovation; Production; Entrepreneurial Finance; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Technology Industry; Boston; Sao Paulo

11 May 2022
Blog Post

MoMBAs: The Inspiring Student Mothers of HBS

This Mother’s Day, we celebrated progress and possibility on the HBS campus! HBS first accepted women into the MBA Program in 1963. Fast forward six decades and now classrooms are 44% female and most sections have 1-2 mothers. Across the... View Details

20 May 2013
Research & Ideas

The Long-Term Fix to US Competitiveness

At an event at Harvard Business School that was three parts analysis and one part rally, participants tried to chart a new path forward for the sluggish US economy—a move that may require a new definition of "competitiveness."... View Details

Keywords: by Stephanie Schorow & Harvard Gazette

April 1996 (Revised December 2011)
Background Note

Responding to Market Failures

Broadly defines the concept of market failure and explores options for responding to it. It pays particular attention to the role of business leaders in addressing market deficiencies. View Details

Keywords: Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

May 2013 (Revised August 2013)
Case

McKinsey & Company

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kathleen Durante

In early 2013 the leaders of McKinsey & Co., were reflecting, as they did periodically, on the path forward for their firm. Founded in Chicago in 1926 by James O. McKinsey (Mac), with only a small staff in one office, the firm had grown to be a global company with more... View Details

Keywords: CONSULTING Firms; McKinsey; Professional Service Firm; Marvin Bower; Strategy; Governance; Consulting Industry

November 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Away: Scaling a DTC Travel Brand

By: Jill Avery and Joseph B. Fuller

Away, a direct-to-consumer, digital native e-commerce seller of travel luggage, is debating how to invest its latest round of venture funding. How quickly could and should Away scale and what were the most promising growth trajectories to maximize its potential? Three... View Details

November 2019 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Shiseido Acquires Drunk Elephant

By: Jill Avery

On October 7, 2019, the Shiseido Group announced that it would acquire clean skincare brand Drunk Elephant for $845 million, a valuation of 8.5 times sales. Did Shiseido pay too much or too little for this brand asset? How much was the Drunk Elephant brand worth and... View Details

Keywords: Personal Care; Startup; Brand Equity; Brand Valuation; Brand Value; Brand Storytelling; Brand Management; Brands and Branding; Valuation; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Japan

04 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

How Schmoozing with the Boss Helps Men Get Promoted

new research. In fact, social bonding among men may account for more than a third of the gender gap in promotions, according to the working paper The Old Boys’ Club: Schmoozing and the Gender Gap. “I’m not surprised the old boys’ club still exists, but I’m disappointed... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

22 Feb 2011
Research & Ideas

The Most Important Management Trends of the (Still Young) Twenty-First Century

HBS Working Knowledge recently celebrated its tenth birthday, and we mark the occasion by looking back and looking forward. We've asked HBS Dean Nitin Nohria and a number of faculty to both remark on what they view as the most significant... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

February 1998
Case

Lyondell Petrochemical Company

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Daniel P. Erikson

In August 1994, Lyondell Petrochemical Co.'s corporate parent and largest single shareholder effectively shed its stock, resulting in the resignation of 5 of its 11 directors. The remaining outside directors immediately acted to overhaul the executive compensation plan... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Design; Business or Company Management; Management Teams; Mining Industry

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April 2019 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Kraft Heinz: The $8 Billion Brand Write-Down

By: Jill Avery

On Friday, February 22, 2019, following an unexpected and disappointing earnings report, The Kraft Heinz Company’s stock price fell 27%, wiping out $16 billion in market value. CEO Bernardo Hees had announced that the company had taken a $15.4 billion asset write-down,... View Details

20 Mar 2012
News

Flush With Cash, Apple Plans Buyback and Dividend

2018
Book

The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth

By: Amy C. Edmondson

The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth offers practical guidance for teams and organizations who are serious about success in the modern economy. With so much riding on innovation,... View Details

Keywords: Psychological Safety; Knowledge Economy; Teaming; Management; Organizational Culture; Innovation and Management; Learning

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09 Aug 2016
Blog Post

Startup Balancing Act

It was my first day of work and I was nervous, so much so that my legs were wobbly. I tilted forward, then backward. I finally steadied myself by grabbing onto a cubicle wall and was able to move forward... View Details

Keywords: Health Care

20 Feb 2019
Research & Ideas

Rocket-tunity: Can Private Firms Turn a Profit in Space?

space race have been blessed somewhat by the glamour of it all. Investors enthusiastically, maybe too much so, backed a host of startups including those headed by superstar names like Sir Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk. Rich... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Wallask; Aerospace; Tourism; Transportation

January 2017 (Revised February 2022)
Background Note

Assessing and Enhancing Market Attractiveness

By: Eric Van den Steen

This note gives students a systematic and comprehensive framework for analyzing and influencing market attractiveness. It pays explicit attention to value creation, complements, and the dynamics of market attractiveness. It also includes careful sub-frameworks for... View Details

Keywords: Market Attractiveness; Markets; Industry Structures; Strategy