Publications

25 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Being a Team Player: Why College Athletes Succeed in Business

career choice at 3.5 percent. Among all the Ivy League graduates: 21 percent held at least one finance job after graduation. 8 percent made it to the C-suite, the highest level of management at most companies. 14 percent pursued science,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

October 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Case

The Transformation of Thomson

By: David J. Collis and Troy Smith

Thomson, a French multinational, went through a decade of dramatic change in the early years of the 21st century. From a state-owned enterprise earning 97% of its revenue from television sets and other analog consumer electronics, Thomson had become a publicly traded... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Technology Industry; France

January 2013 (Revised August 2013)
Case

First Solar: CFRA's Accounting Quality Concerns

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Ian McKown Cornell

The case relates to accounting quality analysis conducted by the leading research firm Center for Financial Research and Analysis (CFRA) on companies in the solar industry with a focus on First Solar Inc. In 2009, CFRA was concerned that First Solar, like much of the... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Accounting Quality; Financial Accounting; Financial Statement Analysis; Accounting Fraud; Accounting Red Flags; Accounting Scandal; Risk and Uncertainty; Quality; Earnings Management; Valuation; Crime and Corruption; Financial Statements; Energy Sources; Green Technology Industry; Accounting Industry; Energy Industry

September 12, 2022
Article

Merit or Inherit: How to Approach Succession in a Family Business

By: Josh Baron

One of the most critical questions facing family businesses is how to treat the next generation. They are clearly different from other employees, as current or potential owners of the company, whose wealth and reputation are on the line. On the flip side, most parents... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Family and Family Relationships; Management Succession

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Wenxin Du is a Professor of Finance and the Sylvan C. Coleman Professor of Financial Management at the Harvard Business School. She studies global currency and fixed income markets, central banking, financial... View Details

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Programs & Events - Alumni

a Purposeful Leader Orient your business around a greater noble purpose, develop strategies to bring that purpose to life, and drive exceptional outcomes. May 20 20 MAY–25 JUL 2025 Executive Education Virtual PLD Module 5 Build on PLD learning as you expand your View Details

September 2019 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Gap, Inc., 2019

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In 2000, The Gap, Inc. (Gap) was the world’s largest player in specialty fashion retailing, and companies such as Inditex of Spain, H&M of Sweden, and Fast Retailing of Japan were less than a quarter of Gap’s size. But after two decades of growth, Gap’s progress... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Change; Fashion; Multinational; Brands; Fast Fashion; Competition; Multinational Firms and Management; Performance Improvement; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Change Management; Strategy; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sweden; Spain; United States

29 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

Pride Goeth Before a Profit

At General Motors' Car Assembly Plant in Wilmington, DE, there is a film that managers like to show when times get tough. Dating to 1991, the film opens with a GM executive saying that the plant will be closed in three years. There is no... View Details

Keywords: by Theodore Kinni

Waze Connected Citizens Program

Di-Ann Eisnor, Director of Growth at Waze, founded the company’s Connected Citizens Program (CCP), a data-sharing partnership that provided officials with traffic incident and congestion data in exchange for data on anticipated road closures, re-routing, etc.... View Details

15 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

Why Giving to Others Makes Us Happy

their belts, the team’s review adds valuable new insights into how to prioritize spending in ways that not only help people in need but improve the mood and well-being of the helpers. Oh, goody! In one of the experiments included in the review, participants learned... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

11 Aug 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Decision Making Under Information Asymmetry: Experimental Evidence on Belief Refinements

Keywords: by William Schmidt & Ryan W. Buell

02 Apr 2024
What Do You Think?

What's Enough to Make Us Happy?

today’s multibillionaires and much less than most people would have assumed. One reason was that he gave away half of what he earned throughout his career. He gained a great deal of satisfaction from being frugal with the rest. His major... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

23 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

How to Keep Employees Productive: Support Caregivers

Ostensibly, Shah was trying to refocus employees. New research from Harvard Business School Professor Joseph B. Fuller offers a different take. When workers feel tension between their work and private lives, they’re likely to quit or be less productive. Fuller’s latest... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

June 2016
Supplement

FANUC Corporation: Reassessing the Firm's Governance and Financial Policies Spreadsheet Supplement

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Akiko Kanno

In February 2015, Daniel Loeb (a US-based activist investor) announced his firm had a large investment in FANUC Corporation, a leading producer of industrial robots and software for machine tools. Loeb was demanding that the Japanese firm change its financial and... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Valuation; Investment Funds; Policy; Corporate Governance; Macroeconomics; Investment Activism; Change Management; Financial Strategy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Japan; United States