Publications

30 Aug 2021
News

One and the Same

Taking notes is often seen as a gendered, secretarial role—something to be avoided at all costs if you were a young woman hoping to make an impact early in your career. But Mary Wooldridge (MBA 1994) saw it differently. “If you are holding the pen, there is a huge... View Details

Keywords: wage gap; COVID; women; equality; leadership

24 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

Can Obamacare Be Saved?

On August 15th, Aetna announced that it would reduce by 80 percent its participation in the Obama administration’s public exchanges for health insurance policies in 2017, citing significant financial losses. The move came just a few weeks after the Department of... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch and Emily Boudreau; Insurance; Health

October 2008 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Executive Pay and the Credit Crisis of 2008 (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan, Fabrizio Ferri and Lisa Brem

The credit crisis of 2008 placed compensation practices at publicly traded firms in the United States under scrutiny. This case examines perceived excessive pay and severance packages at several firms implicated in the credit crisis of 2008, the executive compensation... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Governing and Advisory Boards; Government Legislation; Executive Compensation; United States

10 Mar 2014
News

Counting Up the Effects of Sarbanes-Oxley

Keywords: Government

28 Apr 2011
Op-Ed

While Waiting for Japan’s Recovery, Let’s Enhance Supplier Competitiveness at Home

the new competitiveness council created by the White House and would give President Obama an occasion for convening the business community to request specific commitments. Governors and mayors could follow suit. No new government funding or View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

05 Jun 2013
Op-Ed

Corporate Leaders Need to Step Up on Climate Change

Green initiatives are ubiquitous these days, implemented with zeal at companies like Dupont, IBM, Walmart, and Walt Disney. The programs being rolled out—lighting retrofits, zero-waste factories, and carpool incentives—save money and provide a green glow. Most large... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Toffel & Auden Schendler

04 Dec 2000
What Do You Think?

Have We Overdone Deregulation and Privatization?

Congress enacted legislation that had become known as "the Federal Express bill." It was designed to test the idea of deregulation by allowing air freight carriers to fly planes of any size on any routes, without federal price... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Web

Buy Now, Pay Later: The Secondary Credit Market

industry association and trade publication, the Industrial Lenders News. The key was a new, higher lending rate. Economists and legislators realized that the bank rate of 6 percent was too low to allow small lenders even a modest profit,... View Details

01 Dec 2020
News

The Fine Print: Alumni Recommend Their Best Reads

(ranked choice voting, open primaries, legislative process reform). Very relevant this season. —Nathan Nemon (MBA 2020) The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies, by Erik Brynjolfsson and... View Details

July–August 2014
Article

Obamacare Rules Pose Challenges for S Corp Owners

By: Josh Baron, Steve Salley and Judith L. Walsh

The article offers information financial impacts of tax by the U.S. Affordable Care Act (ACA) applied in January 2013 on family business shareholders and owners of S Corp. It discusses suggestions in tax planning to equalize tax burden including establishing family... View Details

Keywords: Ownership Type; Family Ownership; Compensation and Benefits; Taxation; Government Legislation

Find at Harvard

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June 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Background Note

The U.S. Retirement Savings Market and the Pension Protection Act of 2006

By: Luis M. Viceira and Helen Tung

Provides an overview of the evolution of the private retirement savings market in the U.S. since 1990; the management and administration of defined-contribution (DC) plans; the existing evidence about the investment and savings decisions of participants in DC plans;... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Personal Finance; Saving; Government Legislation; Retirement; Business and Government Relations; Financial Services Industry; United States

March 2004 (Revised July 2004)
Case

Sarbanes-Oxley Act, The

By: Lynn S. Paine and James Weber

Describes the evolution and passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 from the perspective of the senior counsel on capital markets for the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services. View Details

Keywords: Government Legislation; Corporate Accountability; Governance Controls; Capital Markets; Financial Reporting; Laws and Statutes; United States

01 Dec 2016
News

Ask the Expert: Energy’s Next Era

© d20/ZUMA © d20/ZUMA Governments across the globe are getting serious about weaning themselves off of fossil fuels. Denmark has pledged to be powered solely by renewable energy by 2050; Sweden pledged to reach the goal by 2040. Hawaii made the same promise, with a... View Details

28 Jun 2010
HBS Case

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

in-house education program on improvement science that emphasizes rapid cycles of small-scale change. Their finding that an accumulation of small changes can add up to significant gains is leading the way for health-care reform that is just as revolutionary as its... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

01 Sep 2006
News

Strange Bedfellows

estimates are that a 15 percent tax on reported GAAP profits would be revenue-neutral for the government. A tax with a lower rate on a more sensible base is a central lesson of economics. Legislators would also be restricted to changes in... View Details

Keywords: Mihir A. Desai; Government

February 1998 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Atlantic Energy/Delmarva Power & Light (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Mathew M Millett and Tracy Aronson

Delmarva Power & Light and Atlantic Energy are neighboring electric utilities based in Delaware and New Jersey, respectively. In early 1996, they entered into merger negotiations, but were unable to reach an agreement on price because they could not agree on what... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Negotiation Offer; Government Legislation; Risk and Uncertainty; Mergers and Acquisitions; Contracts; Utilities Industry; Delaware; New Jersey