Shareholder Value Maximization - Publications - Faculty & Research

18 Aug 2022
Op-Ed

Your Best Employees Are Burning Out: A Framework for Retaining Talent

the 1970s and enjoyed the roaring ‘90s, only to experience the dot.com bust, followed by the financial crisis in 2008. The need for employees to job-hop, along with the corporation’s requirement to increase value for View Details

Keywords: by Hise Gibson and MaShon Wilson

29 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 29, 2008

and marginal-cost options. The emphasis on short-term earnings per share as the primary driver of share price, and hence shareholder value creation, acts to restrict investments in innovative long-term... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

04 May 2021
Book

Best Buy: How Human Connection Saved a Failing Retailer

shareholders and is a money-making machine,” he says. “But no, a company is a human organization made up of individuals working together in pursuit of a goal.” Leading with purpose and humanity Based on his own track record in... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail

November 2006 (Revised June 2010)
Case

SUN Brewing (B)

In July 2004, Shiv, Nand, and Uday Khemka are discussing their holdings in SUN Interbrew, a leading Russian beer producer that is part of the family's global portfolio of businesses. SUN Interbrew has been operating as a joint venture since 1998, when the Khemka... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Investment; Globalized Markets and Industries; Ownership Stake; Family Ownership; Valuation; Food and Beverage Industry; Russia

Citation

Educators

Purchase

22 Nov 2016
First Look

November 22, 2016

employer that presents itself as valuing diversity, minority job applicants engage in relatively little résumé whitening and thus submit more racially transparent résumés. Yet our audit study of how employers respond to whitened and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

26 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Japanese Businesses Are So Good at Surviving Crises

the face of a crippled economy. “Many Japanese companies are not that popular with Wall Street types because they are not as focused on gaining superior profitability and maximizing shareholder value,” he... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

12 Dec 2005
Research & Ideas

Using the Law to Strategic Advantage

"bridge the communications gap" between lawyers and managers. Sean Silverthorne: You argue that managers shouldn't just view the law as a compliance issue, but rather something that can be used actively to increase the firm's View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Legal Services

12 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

The Three Components of Family Governance

strengthening business-family communication and bond. A family constitution—the family's policies and guiding vision and values that regulate members' relationship with the business. This written document can be short or long, detailed or... View Details

01 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

Organizing the Family-Run Business

Family companies that progress to the Cousin Consortium stage, where two or more cousins control the company, can have bloated, highly political boards. But over time many family businesses learn the value of a well-composed and well-run... View Details

08 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

Decision Rights: Who Gives the Green Light?

in any organization is a difficult task fraught with controversy and organizational politics. Yet, it is also one in which organizations must routinely engage to maintain a competitive edge and maximize View Details

Keywords: by Peter Jacobs

24 Apr 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Courage: The Defining Characteristic of Great Leaders

Polman immediately wheeled into action, convincing KHC to drop its bid two days later. Then he announced seven bold moves to enhance shareholder value without compromising the company’s ambitious long-term... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Auto; Food & Beverage

23 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

As Climate Fears Mount, More Investors Turn to 'ESG' Funds Despite Few Rules

Investor interest in social responsibility has skyrocketed in the past three years, even as US regulations to hold companies accountable remain in flux and the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) label itself draws backlash. Investors are willing to pay a... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

04 Apr 2023
What Do You Think?

How Does Remote Work Affect Innovation?

they have decided to give up their weekend to come up with a better idea? Would they have agreed to break the routine of Mondays working remotely to share their response in the relative privacy of the office (vs. online)? Would the five even be sharing the same View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

08 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: Nov. 8

the value of shareholder proxy access. We find that firms that would have been most vulnerable to proxy access, as measured by institutional ownership and activist institutional ownership in particular, lost... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

4+2 = Sustained Business Success

maintain a total return to shareholders greater than their industry peers for more than ten years. And so, it seems, there is value in being reminded from time to time what really works. Excel At Four... View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria, William Joyce & Bruce Roberson

16 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Strategy and the Internet

forms, including better technologies, superior inputs, better trained people, or a more effective management structure. The other way to achieve advantage is strategic positioning—doing things differently from competitors, in a way that delivers a unique type of View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter

21 Mar 2019
HBS Case

The Ferrari Way

company was run in a more casual way, with a great deal of informality,” he says. Being accountable to shareholders caused Ferrari to have to get serious about setting performance targets and professionalizing its organizational chart.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Auto

26 May 2022
HBS Case

Apple vs. Feds: Is iPhone Privacy a Basic Human Right?

would embroil the company in an ugly fight—one that risked alienating some shareholders—but he felt strongly that Apple should champion its customers’ basic human right to privacy. “We believe that a company that has values and acts on... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

22 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

Does Spirituality Drive Success?

said, "I'd rather use the word fulfillment. Success is a metric; you never have enough. But only you can define fulfillment. We as individuals are the only judges." HBS senior research fellow Laura Nash moderated the session. Entrepreneurship And View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace, Sean Silverthorne & Wendy Guild

21 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

The Most Common Strategy Mistakes

that's actually a good thing. I also believe that as capital markets have evolved they have become more and more toxic for strategy. The single-minded pursuit of shareholder value, measured over the short term, has been enormously... View Details

Keywords: by Joan Magretta

Publications