Publications

September 2013 (Revised January 2015)
Case

Wal-Mart Lobbying in India?

By: Karthik Ramanna and Vidhya Muthuram

In 2012, as part of a routine disclosure under U.S. law, Wal-Mart revealed it had spent $25 million since 2008 on lobbying to "enhance market access for investment in India." This disclosure, which came weeks after the Indian government made a controversial decision to... View Details

Keywords: Lobbying; India; Multinational Corporations; Business and Government Relations; Crime and Corruption; Retail Industry; India

March 2016 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Michael Milken: The Junk Bond King

By: Tom Nicholas and Matthew G. Preble

Michael Milken, an investment banker who dominated the junk bond market in the 1980s, was sentenced to jail in 1990 after pleading guilty to a number of securities and tax-related felonies. In the preceding decade, Milken had helped usher in a new wave of leveraged buy... View Details

Keywords: Junk Bonds; High-yield Bonds; Financial Innovation; Shareholder Value; Bonds; Capital; Capital Structure; Cost of Capital; Crime and Corruption; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Finance; Investment Banking; Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Ownership; Private Equity; Restructuring; United States

27 Jan 2023
Op-Ed

Have We Lost Sight of Integrity?

deceitfulness and fraudulence led to his public lambasting. Santos is just the latest in a long line of leaders for whom integrity has little to no meaning, including Frank’s Charlie Javice, FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried, Tesla’s Elon Musk,... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

December 2009 (Revised January 2024)
Case

A Letter from Prison

By: Eugene Soltes

Stephen Richards, the former global head of sales at Computer Associates, Inc. (CA), is serving a seven-year prison sentence for financial fraud. In the case, Richards responds to a number of questions about managerial responsibility and the manipulation of financial... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Corporate Accountability; Managerial Roles

January 2020
Article

The Impact of Mass Shootings on Gun Policy

By: Michael Luca, Deepak Malhotra and Christopher Poliquin

There have been dozens of high-profile mass shootings in recent decades. This paper presents three main findings about the impact of mass shootings on gun policy. First, mass shootings evoke large policy responses. A single mass shooting leads to a 15% increase in the... View Details

Keywords: Gun Violence; Gun Policy; Crime and Corruption; Governance; Policy; United States

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28 Nov 2023
Book

Economic Growth Draws Companies to Asia. Can They Handle Its Authoritarian Regimes?

authoritarian regime organizes its institutions or informal practices to serve the productive interests of business, and mutual endangerment, whereby economic elites and political elites are mutually... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

29 Mar 2022
Book

5 Qualities That Help Companies Thrive for Decades—Even Centuries

try and sell a new culture. A bunch of [Indian businesses leaders] recognize the problem and are trying to do that.” 5. The businesses fight corruption, even if they aren’t always successful India routinely... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

07 Mar 2023
HBS Case

ChatGPT: Did Big Tech Set Up the World for an AI Bias Disaster?

images. In 2017, Gebru took this research a step further. She used AI to not only identify vehicle makes in Google Street View images, but connect them to demographic, crime, and voting data. For example, more Buicks meant more Black... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis; Technology

June 2020
Case

Recovering Trust After Corporate Misconduct at Wells Fargo

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Jonah S. Goldberg

The case describes widespread misconduct at Wells Fargo Community Bank in the period leading up to 2017 and the company’s subsequent attempts to improve internal controls, company culture, and corporate governance. The case examines the potential causes of large scale... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Misconduct; Internal Controls; Banks and Banking; Crime and Corruption; Corporate Governance; Organizational Culture; Governance Compliance; Management Systems; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Improvement; Governing and Advisory Boards

10 Oct 2023
Research & Ideas

In Empowering Black Voters, Did a Landmark Law Stir White Angst?

As another election season approaches, American politics feels more polarized than ever, with racial tensions flaring in an uncertain economy. And a recent study parsing newly available data shows how a landmark Civil Rights-era law may... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

29 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Are You Paying a Tip--or a Bribe?

tipping and corruption is counterintuitive in the United States. But there is a fuzzy line between the two." Countries with higher rates of tipping behavior also tended to have higher rates of View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

20 Dec 2010
Research & Ideas

Panama Canal: Troubled History, Astounding Turnaround

motivation was a defensive American nationalism, not American national defense. Q: What role did the corrupt governments of dictators Torrijos and Noriega play in the handover of the canal back to the... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Transportation

January 2008 (Revised January 2009)
Case

The Armstrong Investigation

By: David Moss and Eugene Kintgen

In the early 20th century, public outrage at certain life insurance practices led to an investigation in New York State that threatened to curtail growth in the industry. Charles Evans Hughes guided the four-month-long Armstrong Investigation, which made startling... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Annuities; Insurance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Insurance Industry; New York (state, US)

09 Aug 2018
Cold Call Podcast

Two Million Fake Accounts: Sales Misconduct at Wells Fargo

Keywords: Re: Suraj Srinivasan; Banking; Financial Services

February 2000 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Microsoft Latin America

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Alberto Ballve and Antonio Davila

Mauricio Santillan, regional vice president for the Latin American division of Microsoft, has introduced a new performance measurement system to help his country managers formulate and control strategy. Microsoft Latin America's priorities are rolling out of an... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Applications and Software; Emerging Markets; Crime and Corruption; Motivation and Incentives; Management Skills; Global Strategy; Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Latin America

04 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Is Government Just Stupid? How Bad Decisions Are Made

In "You Can't Enlarge the Pie," the authors argue that barriers to effective government decision making result in poor decisions about critical issues like the environment, organ transplants, and energy policy. Why? Because... View Details

Keywords: by Max H. Bazerman, Jonathan Baron & Katherine Shonk

August 2020
Supplement

Luckin Coffee (B): Revelations of Fraud

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case describes revelations of fraud at Luckin Coffee, beginning with an anonymous report in January 2020 and continuing with the company’s admission in April 2020 that it had inflated its revenues by 2.2 billion RMB ($310 million), almost half its reported... View Details

Keywords: Fraud; Corporate Misconduct; Business Earnings; Financial Statements; Financial Condition; Stocks; Financial Management; Profit; Revenue; Price; Food; Lawfulness; Crime and Corruption; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Asia; China