Publications

30 Oct 2017
News

How The Most (And Least) Successful CEOs Spend Their Workdays

August 2016
Supplement

CEO Succession at Cisco (C): Chuck Robbins' First 100 Days

By: Boris Groysberg, J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Annelena Lobb

Supplements the (A) case (417-031). This case supplement describes new CEO Chuck Robbins’ earliest days after being announced as Cisco’s new chief executive. During this time, Robbins focused on building a leadership team featuring people with complementary skills... View Details

Keywords: Management Succession; Technology Industry

2007
Book

The CEO Within: Why Inside Outsiders Are the Key to Succession Planning

By: Joseph L. Bower

With rising CEO turnover, companies are increasingly looking outside for qualified candidates. Sure, externally recruited CEOs bring fresh perspectives and connections. But they lack the in-depth knowledge of the company's culture and history that they need to succeed.... View Details

Keywords: Recruitment; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Leadership Development; Management Succession

Research Summary

The Strategic and Performance Consequences of CEO Succession

By: Rakesh Khurana

The argument of this paper (with Nitin Nohria) is that research on executive turnover treats the departures of predecessors and the origin of successors as independent events. This approach has led to mixed empirical findings with respect to measuring the effects of... View Details

14 May 2020
News

Proven Skincare CEO Shares Inspiration Behind Successful Line

04 Apr 2016
News

Honeywell Appoints President, Setting Succession to CEO Cote

Keywords: Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing

10 Jun 2010
News

Can CEOs find same success in politics?

August 2016
Case

CEO Succession at Cisco (A): From John Chambers to Chuck Robbins

By: Boris Groysberg, J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Annelena Lobb

A smooth transition from former CEO John Chambers to new CEO Chuck Robbins had put Cisco in a position of strength. Looking back, the board reflected on what they had done well and what they might have done differently, and pondered whether another company might be... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Management Succession; Technology Industry

Educators

October 2024
Case

Reed Group and Succession in a Family Business: An Impossible Job to Fill?

By: Lauren H. Cohen and Tonia Labruyere

James Reed had taken over Reed Group, the recruitment and career services company his father had founded and built, in 1994. He was now reflecting on succession planning and other challenges that lay ahead: with no obvious choice among his family members, he needed to... View Details

Keywords: Recruiting; United Kingdom; London; Succession; Charity; Succession Planning; AI; Family Business; Values and Beliefs; Management Succession; Mission and Purpose; Family Ownership; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Family and Family Relationships; Employment Industry; United Kingdom

Educators

February 2006
Article

Creating Organizational Success for Your CEO and Your Shareholders

By: Blythe J. McGarvie and Eleanor Bloxham

Read Now

2005
Class Lecture

Irrational Succession: The Role of the Board in CEO Succession

By: Rakesh Khurana

Keywords: Management Succession; Governing and Advisory Boards

Read Now

Article

How to Succeed at CEO Succession: Aligning Strategy and Succession

By: Rakesh Khurana and Jeff Cohn

Keywords: Strategy; Management Succession

2019
Chapter

Succession Management

By: Joseph L. Bower

Although often described as an event, if succession is managed properly it is the culmination of a development process that takes place over a number of years, led by the CEO working with the board of directors. In the ideal situation several candidates will have been... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Management Succession

May 2017 (Revised January 2018)
Teaching Note

CEO Succession at Cisco (A), (B), & (C), and Cisco Systems: In Search of the Next CEO

By: Boris Groysberg, J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Annelena Lobb

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 417-031, 417-032 and 417-033. This note can also be used with "Cisco Systems: In Search of the Next CEO," HBS No. 416-027. View Details

Article

181 Top CEOs Have Realized Companies Need a Purpose Beyond Profit

By: Claudine Gartenberg and George Serafeim

On August 19, 2019, the Business Roundtable (BR) issued a memo entitled “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation.” The Business Roundtable, one of the most preeminent business lobbies in the United States, includes 192 CEOs of leading U.S. companies from Apple to... View Details

Keywords: Purpose; Corporate Purpose; Stakeholder Management; CEO; Mission and Purpose; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Strategy