Publications

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June 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Case

The Perfect CEO

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

A venture capitalist must decide among three highly qualified candidates to be CEO of a start-up software company. Each has unique strengths and weaknesses and will take the company in very different directions. Whom should he recommend to the board? View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Competency and Skills; Leadership Style

spring 2006
Article

All's Fair in Love, War, & Bankruptcy: Corporate Governance Implications of CEO Turnover in Financial Distress

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

Prior discussions of management turnover during financial distress have examined bankrupt and non-bankrupt firms as distinct groupings with little overlap. Separately investigating rates of turnover in-bankruptcy and out-of-bankruptcy, without a direct comparison... View Details

Keywords: CEO Turnover; Bankruptcy; Restructuring; Shadow Of Bankruptcy; Borrowing and Debt; Credit; Financing and Loans; Corporate Governance; Finance; Theory; Markets; United States

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2011
Working Paper

What Do CEOs Do?

By: Oriana Bandiera, Luigi Guiso, Andrea Prat and Raffaella Sadun

We develop a methodology to collect and analyze data on CEOs' time use. The idea-sketched out in a simple theoretical set-up-is that CEO time is a scarce resource and its allocation can help us identify the firm's priorities as well as the presence of governance... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Employee Relationship Management; Managerial Roles; Time Management; Performance Productivity; Italy

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June 2000
Background Note

Note on CEO Evaluation

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Katharina Pick

Discusses the trend toward formal evaluations, by boards of directors, of CEO performance. The benefits and challenges of CEO evaluation are discussed and a particular process of CEO evaluation at Dayton Hudson Corp. is described. Teaching Purpose: To introduce issues... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Business Processes; Performance; Problems and Challenges; Valuation

20 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

When CEOs Become Activists

and CEO Dan Schulman was especially vocal: “This decision reflects PayPal’s deepest values and our strong belief that every person has the right to be treated equally, and with dignity and respect,” he wrote in a statement. As the outcry... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology; Publishing

6 Nov 2018
Talk

CEO Activism

By: Michael W. Toffel

18 Jun 2018
Talk

CEO Activism

By: Michael W. Toffel

31 Mar 2011
Working Paper Summaries

What Do CEOs Do?

Keywords: by Oriana Bandiera, Luigi Guiso, Andrea Prat & Raffaella Sadun

June 2020
Teaching Note

Tesla's CEO Compensation Plan

By: Krishna G. Palepu

Teaching Note for "Tesla's CEO Compensation Plan," HBS Case #118-085. View Details

January–February 2018
Article

The New CEO Activists

By: Aaron K Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel

Though corporations have been lobbying the government and making campaign donations for a long time now, in recent years a dramatic new trend has emerged in U.S. politics: CEOs are taking very public stands on thorny political issues that have nothing to do with their... View Details

Keywords: Government Policy; Rights; Leadership & Corporate Accountability; Sustainability; Leadership; Corporate Accountability; Policy; Social Issues; Communication Intention and Meaning; United States

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September 2009
Case

CapitaLand Ltd: CEO Selection

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Michael Shih-ta Chen and G.A. Donovan

In September 2007, the Group President of CapitaLand has to select a new CEO for a key subsidiary. The case presents the profiles of three candidates—two internal and one external—and ends with the senior management team debating the candidates' merits. View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Management Teams; Managerial Roles; Personal Characteristics

1998
Working Paper

CEO Incentives and Firm Size

By: Brian Hall and George P. Baker

What determines CEO incentives? A confusion exists among both academics and practitioners about how to measure the strength of CEO incentives, and how to reconcile the enormous differences in pay sensitivities between executives in large and small firms. We show that... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Motivation and Incentives; Executive Compensation; Size; Management Systems

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28 Mar 2017
Working Paper Summaries

CEO Behavior and Firm Performance

Keywords: by Oriana Bandiera, Stephen Hansen, Andrea Pratt, and Raffaella Sadun

17 Dec 2020
Working Paper Summaries

How Do CEOs Make Strategy?

Keywords: by Mu-Jeung Yang, Michael Christensen, Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun, and Jan Rivkin

14 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

Growing CEOs from the Inside

the business but can't lead. That's why the best CEO should be both an insider and an outsider, says Harvard Business School professor Joseph L. Bower in his new book, The CEO Within: Why Inside Outsiders... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Employment

June 14, 2023
Article

How New CEOs Establish Legitimacy

By: Nitin Nohria

CEOs are given the authority to lead by the rules of corporate governance. They gain additional influence and credibility by demonstrating competence. CEOs who achieve legitimacy have a higher level of trust and influence. This legitimacy will be gained by consistently... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Leadership Style; Power and Influence; Trust; Competency and Skills

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March 1991 (Revised October 1991)
Case

CEO Evaluation at Dayton Hudson

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Describes the Dayton Hudson CEO evaluation process, one of the most intensive in corporate America today. The board of directors' role in the evaluation is examined, as is the question of whether the Dayton Hudson CEO evaluation process should serve as a model for... View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Succession; Management Teams

March 2005
Case

Vignette: Waiting for a CEO

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

A venture capitalist must decide how to respond to an e-mail from his long-time troubleshooter now installed as interim CEO at a struggling contract manufacturing exchange for the custom car business. The investors have been seeking a full-time CEO but have made little... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Business or Company Management; Investment; Business Ventures; Corporate Governance; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Financial Strategy