Publications

November 2007
Article

Innovation and Incentives: Evidence from Corporate R&D

By: Josh Lerner and Julie Wulf

Beginning in the late 1980s, American corporations began increasingly linking the compensation of central research personnel to the economic objectives of the corporation. This paper examines the impact of the shifting compensation of the heads of corporate research... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Motivation and Incentives; Goals and Objectives; Research and Development; Patents; Employee Stock Ownership Plan

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Business and Climate Change Course | HBS Online

business practices Learn the business risks and opportunities of developing or investing in new climate change-oriented solutions. "The course has completely changed me today. I feel like a new person, with a new thought process, driven... View Details

14 Sep 2010
First Look

First Look: September 14, 2010

management practices and decentralization. Productivity dispersion between firms and countries has motivated the improved measurement of firm organization across industries and countries. There appears to be substantial variation in... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2007 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Bankinter: Deploying the Mortgage Simulator to the Branches

Describes how Bankinter, a mid-sized Spanish bank, altered the information set available to its customer-facing employees. In the spring of 2003, Bankinter introduced an Excel-based program called the Mortgage Simulator that helped branch managers calculate the price... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Banks and Banking; Mortgages; Employees; Motivation and Incentives; Spain

February 2006
Article

Wealth and Executive Compensation

Using new data on the wealth of Swedish CEOs, I show that higher wealth CEOs receive stronger incentives. Since high wealth (excluding own-firm holdings) implies low absolute risk aversion, this is consistent with a risk aversion explanation. To examine whether wealth... View Details

Keywords: Wealth; Executive Compensation; Motivation and Incentives; Power and Influence; Risk Management; Competency and Skills; Wages; Sweden

October 2000 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Richard Spellman (A)

Describes Richard Spellman's decision to leave his existing employer and join an Internet start-up as CEO. Focuses on the terms of a restricted stock agreement and employment agreement that must be negotiated. Includes first drafts of these two agreements. View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Internet and the Web; Executive Compensation; Personal Development and Career; Business Startups; Management Teams

September 1998 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Sealed Air Taiwan (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Robert J. Crawford

The general manager for U.S.-based Sealed Air Corp.'s Taiwan subsidiary must decide whether he's hired the right person to bridge the gap between Sealed Air's corporate culture and Taiwan's business culture. This case details Bob Kayser's experiences in trying to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Relationships; Service Operations; Motivation and Incentives; Management Skills; Compensation and Benefits; Taiwan; United States

January 1985 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Conex do Brasil

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and John Young

Describes interactions between Brazilian local, Latin American regional, and USA headquarters staff during the three years after establishing a manufacturing subsidiary in Sao Paulo. In a highly protected national environment, a market entry plan is developed to meet... View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Resignation and Termination; Goals and Objectives; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Performance Expectations; Opportunities; Corporate Strategy; Latin America; United States; Brazil

31 Jul 2007
First Look

First Look: July 31, 2007

small cell therapy start-up in Cambridge, Mass. If proven successful, Pervasis' product, Vascugel, could change the way vascular disease is treated and have a major impact in a large and underserved population. However, Vascugel had not yet gone into View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

18 Jan 2012
News

Survey Reveals Depths of US Competitiveness Problem

of data from this survey highlights the need for business leaders, policymakers, and academics to collaborate on practical ways to make progress,” something well within the nation’s reach, he added. In fact, the Project seeks to inspire... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Market Research, Photo, Translation, Veterinary and Other Services; Professional Services

12 Jun 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, June 12, 2018

Milan in the late 1700s to recover the Academy’s ideas and the policies they informed. At the core of their preoccupations lay the often lethal tension among states, markets, and human welfare in an era when the three were becoming... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

01 Mar 2016
News

Alumni and Faculty Books for March 2016

struggles, which cause the demise of so many family businesses? The authors describe the practices that characterize entrepreneurial individuals, families, and organizations and offer detailed advice on how to develop and implement those... View Details

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Buy Now, Pay Later: Research Links - Manuscript Collections

Manuscript Collections Printed Collections Visual Collections Secondary Resources Credits Jacob Adams Account Book, 1673-1693 Full text available as a networked resource Jacob Adams, a New England cobbler... View Details

01 Jun 2020
News

All Hands on Deck

aspects of each class so that professors could focus on their students and the case discussions. To help faculty with the unique challenges and opportunities of teaching online, the Christensen Center for Teaching and Learning compiled best View Details

Keywords: Jen Mele

01 Oct 1996
News

Leading In a New Era

management practice has evolved since the "benevolent, high-growth environment" following World War II. That era provided fertile ground for the growth of Alfred Sloan's "strategy, structure, systems" model of the divisional corporation... View Details

Keywords: Nancy O. Perry

March 2023
Teaching Note

Hikma Pharmaceuticals Governance Journey

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Jonah Goldberg

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 318108. The case opens with Said Darwazah, chairman and CEO of Hikma Pharmaceuticals, the multinational generics company, anticipating the company’s 2017 AGM and reflecting on changes made over the previous year to address concerns... View Details

Keywords: Jordan; Emerging Market; Private Sector; For-profit Firms; Boards Of Directors; Pharmaceuticals; Remuneration; Shareholder Engagement; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business and Shareholder Relations; Executive Compensation; Business Growth and Maturation; Pharmaceutical Industry; Jordan

April 2010
Article

Executive Pay and 'Independent' Compensation Consultants

By: K. J. Murphy and Tatiana Sandino

Executive compensation consultants face potential conflicts of interest that can lead to higher recommended levels of CEO pay, including the desires to "cross-sell" services and to secure "repeat business." We find evidence in both the US and Canada that CEO pay is... View Details

Keywords: Compensation Consultants; Conflicts Of Interest; CEO Pay; Board Of Directors; Director Pay; Disclosure; Conflict of Interests; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Disclosure; Executive Compensation; Corporate Governance; Consulting Industry; Canada; United States

SSRN

April 2008 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc.

By: Robert G. Eccles and David Lane

As CEO of leading executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles for the past 18 months, Kevin Kelly was pleased with his accomplishments so far but concerned about threats he perceived to Heidrick's position at the highest levels of the executive search business. In... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Recruitment; Disruptive Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Employment Industry; Service Industry

April 2006 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Dansko, Inc.

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Victoria Winston

For the past 18 months, Mandy Cabot had worried that the shoe business she had built into a thriving operation with $90 million in annual revenue and over 110 employees might instead be a "house of cards." The management philosophy that had guided Dansko's growth,... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Revenue; Experience and Expertise; Employee Relationship Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Management Teams; Apparel and Accessories Industry