Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(1,684)
- Faculty Publications (497)
- June 2024 (Revised December 2024)
- Case
Climate Governance at Linde plc (A)
By: Lynn S. Paine, Suraj Srinivasan, Emilie Billaud and Vincent Dessain
In July 2023, the Linde plc board of directors' sustainability committee convened in London to review the company's environmental performance, with a focus on decarbonization and clean energy. Linde was the world's largest industrial gas supplier, with a workforce of... View Details
Keywords: Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Disclosure; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Compensation and Benefits; Innovation Strategy; Leading Change; Goals and Objectives; Business and Shareholder Relations; Chemical Industry; United States; Germany; Europe; North America; London
- June 2024
- Supplement
Climate Governance at Linde plc (B)
By: Lynn S. Paine, Suraj Srinivasan, Emilie Billaud and Vincent Dessain
In July 2023, the Linde plc board of directors' sustainability committee convened in London to review the company's environmental performance, with a focus on decarbonization and clean energy. Linde was the world's largest industrial gas supplier, with a workforce of... View Details
Keywords: Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Disclosure; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Compensation and Benefits; Innovation Strategy; Leading Change; Goals and Objectives; Business and Shareholder Relations; Chemical Industry; Energy Industry; United States; Germany; Europe; North America; London
- May 2024
- Case
Shell's Balancing Act: Resource Allocation and the Green Transition
By: David Collis and Haisley Wert
In mid-2023, amid pressure from climate change activists, shareholder activists, and confronting enormous uncertainty about the future demand for and price of fossil fuels, new Shell CEO Wael Sawan (Harvard MBA 2003) announced a change in strategy for the U.K. oil... View Details
Keywords: Portfolio Analysis; Climate; Oil; Oil And Gas; Oil Companies; Renewables; Petroleum; Investor Demand; Investors; Corporate Strategy; Resource Allocation; Climate Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations; Energy Industry; United Kingdom
- March 2024 (Revised July 2024)
- Case
AMC: The Zero Revenue Case
By: C. Fritz Foley and Donal O'Cofaigh
The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic put theatre company AMC’s already perilous financial situation under even further strain. The company’s high levels of debt resulted in a monthly cash-burn which left it facing an imminent Chapter-11 filing in the absence of... View Details
- March 2024
- Supplement
ELCA's Series A Cap Table Exercise (Instructor Version)
By: Raymond Kluender and Anke Becker
In ELCA, the company must decide between two term sheets: one put forth by STV and one put forth by ESV.
This exercise is an analysis of the implications of these two term sheets on the ownership structure and the payouts of common and preferred... View Details
This exercise is an analysis of the implications of these two term sheets on the ownership structure and the payouts of common and preferred... View Details
- March 2024
- Supplement
ELCA's Series A Cap Table Exercise (Student Version)
By: Raymond Kluender, Anke Becker and Johnson Elugbadebo
In ELCA, the company must decide between two term sheets: one put forth by STV and one put forth by ESV.
This exercise is an analysis of the implications of these two term sheets on the ownership structure and the payouts of common and preferred... View Details
This exercise is an analysis of the implications of these two term sheets on the ownership structure and the payouts of common and preferred... View Details
- February 2024
- Supplement
JTC: Stronger Together with Shared Ownership: What JTC Did and Its Impact
By: Ethan Bernstein
Nigel Le Quesne, CEO of Jersey-based financial services firm JTC, firmly believed that "shared ownership" was at the heart of his company’s successful track record. The firm had seen its revenues, profits, and number of clients and staff grow steadily throughout its... View Details
- February 2024
- Case
Adventures Inc: 21st Century Brand Building
By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott
Founded in 2020, Adventures worked with celebrities in Brazil to create and launch digitally native brands. The idea was to match the celebrity’s skill in creating content and entertaining fans with Adventures’ skill in consumer packaged goods marketing and operations.... View Details
Keywords: Digital Brand; Influencer Marketing; Growth And Scaling; Capital Constraints; Brand Portfolio Strategy; CPG; Start-up; Celebrity Endorsement; Digital Marketing; Growth and Development Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Advertising; Social Media; Business Startups; Joint Ventures; Brands and Branding; Brazil
- 2024
- Working Paper
Corporate Culture Homogeneity and Top Executive Incentive Design: Evidence from CEO Compensation Contracts
By: Dennis Campbell, Ruidi Shang and Zhifang Zhang
We examine how corporate cultures characterized by high degrees of homogeneity in the underlying values and beliefs of organizational members are related to the design of CEO incentive compensation contracts. We argue that culture homogeneity within firms lowers... View Details
- January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
- Case
Pioneer Natural Resources: Enhancing the Capital Return Strategy with Variable Dividends
In February 2021, Scott Sheffield, the CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources (an independent oil and gas company based in Texas), was considering the possibility of enhancing the firm’s capital return strategy by introducing a variable dividend tied to cash flows in... View Details
- January 2024
- Case
BWX Technologies
By: Suraj Srinivasan, Yuan Zou and Aldo Sesia
Rex Geveden and Robb LeMasters, CEO and CFO of BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT), were concerned that investors and analysts did not fully appreciate the company's transformation from a nuclear reactor provider to the US Navy and Canadian utilities to a multi-product line... View Details
- November 2023 (Revised January 2024)
- Case
Votorantim: Uniting Family and Business Across Generations
By: Christina R. Wing, Carla Larangeira and Pedro Levindo
Over a 105-year span, the Ermírio de Moraes family built Votorantim, one of Latin America’s largest industrial conglomerates, and among Brazil’s topmost businesses, also credited for helping “build” the country over decades. By early 2023, Votorantim included... View Details
- October 2023 (Revised April 2024)
- Case
Accounting Red Flags or Red Herrings at Catalent? (A)
By: Joseph Pacelli, ZeSean Ali and Tom Quinn
Fund manager Janet Curie asked for a recommendation about the pharmaceutical company Catalent. The company seemed like a solid investment. However, a pair of research reports issued over the previous two months complicated this narrative. GlassHouse Research, a short... View Details
Keywords: Accounting Audits; Budgets and Budgeting; Earnings Management; Cost Accounting; Fair Value Accounting; Revenue Recognition; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Government Legislation; Conflict of Interests; Announcements; Blogs; Debates; Investment; Trust; Business and Shareholder Relations; Pharmaceutical Industry; Accounting Industry; United States
- October 20, 2023
- Article
How ENGOs Can Support Corporate Climate Change Efforts
Nearly half of CEOs view climate change as affecting their companies now or within the coming decade, but there is also a wide gap between what CEOs say is progress on tackling climate change and what many of their investors believe are effective actions. Companies... View Details
- October 2023 (Revised January 2024)
- Case
McDonald's Board of Directors (A)
By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz
In October 2019, the McDonald’s Corporation board of directors, chaired by Enrique Hernandez, Jr., gathered to learn the results of their outside counsel’s investigation into the conduct of the CEO. On the surface, the iconic fast-food chain was thriving as growing... View Details
Keywords: Board Of Directors; Board Chair; Board Decisions; Business Ethics; Corporate Boards; Fast Food; Franchising; Legal Aspects Of Business; Legal Battle; Legal Settlement; Misconduct; Regulation; Reorganization; Restaurant Industry; Sexual Harassment; Shareholders; Stakeholder Management; Strategy And Execution; Turnaround; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Culture; Executive Compensation; Leadership; Management; Ethics; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Food and Beverage Industry; Illinois; United States
- September 2023
- Case
David Beckham (A)
By: Anita Elberse and David Moreno Vicente
In January 2022, superstar-athlete-turned-entrepreneur David Beckham is deciding on a proposal that has the potential to significantly change the trajectory of his business career: Authentic Brands Group (‘Authentic’) has offered to engage in a strategic partnership... View Details
- September–October 2023
- Article
What Does 'Stakeholder Capitalism' Mean to You?: A Guide to the Four Main Types
By: Lynn S. Paine
Business leaders are being urged to adopt a multistakeholder approach to governance in place of the shareholder-centered approach that has guided their work for several decades. But through hundreds of interviews with directors, executives, investors, governance... View Details
- 2023
- Working Paper
Corporate Leaders Say They Are for Stakeholder Capitalism—But Which Version Exactly?: A Critical Look at Four Varieties
By: Lynn S. Paine
The past few years have seen an outpouring of articles and statements heralding the
arrival of a new and more inclusive form of capitalism often called stakeholder capitalism. The
new capitalism promises to strengthen companies, improve outcomes for their... View Details
- July 2023 (Revised February 2024)
- Case
Equity Restructuring at Dell Technologies: Buy Out, Buy Up, Buy In (A)
By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott
In November 2018, Dell Technologies was poised to re-enter the public markets by means of a complex recapitalization that would replace an entire class of publicly-traded “tracking stock,” with new shares that would trade publicly without the need of a formal IPO. The... View Details
- July–August 2023
- Article
Case Study: How Should a Start-Up Cut Its Burn Rate?
By: Nitin Nohria, Katie Josephson, Sophia Wronsky and Elizabeth Rha
Tyler Smith, the founder and CEO of the enterprise software firm Puck.io, is facing a hard decision. Just three months earlier the company laid off 20% of its employees to reduce its burn rate amid growing economic uncertainty and a suddenly unattractive funding... View Details