Publications

14 Jan 2019
Op-Ed

These 4 CEOs Created a New Standard of Leadership

Four titans who defined a new era in business during the past decade recently concluded their terms: PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi, Unilever’s Paul Polman, Mayo Clinic’s John Noseworthy, and US Bancorp’s Richard Davis. When they became CEOs, the... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Health; Banking; Food & Beverage; Consumer Products

August 2001 (Revised March 2008)
Case

NerveWire, Inc.

By: Nitin Nohria and Anthony Mayo

NerveWire, a management consulting and systems integration provider based in Newton, MA, was closing in on its second anniversary. In the beginning days of NerveWire, the major challenge was recruiting--finding the right people who embodied its values and business... View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Leadership; Mission and Purpose; Behavior; Internet; Newton

14 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

Deflategate and the Sustained Success of the New England Patriots

Deflategate, the pro football controversy that spawned a media frenzy, Twitter war, even a presidential joke, has a new claim to fame as a Harvard Business School case study. At the heart of Deflategate is the question of whether the New... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Sports

26 Aug 2013
Lessons from the Classroom

Built for Global Competition from the Start

Thanks to the Internet, entrepreneurs are no longer confined to a local geography when building a new business—the world can be their market from day one. But building a startup as a global business requires managers with skills and... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Education

March 2016 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Michael Milken: The Junk Bond King

By: Tom Nicholas and Matthew G. Preble

Michael Milken, an investment banker who dominated the junk bond market in the 1980s, was sentenced to jail in 1990 after pleading guilty to a number of securities and tax-related felonies. In the preceding decade, Milken had helped usher in a new wave of leveraged buy... View Details

Keywords: Junk Bonds; High-yield Bonds; Financial Innovation; Shareholder Value; Bonds; Capital; Capital Structure; Cost of Capital; Crime and Corruption; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Finance; Investment Banking; Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Ownership; Private Equity; Restructuring; United States

30 May 2000
Research & Ideas

Market Makers Bid for Success

In late February, Harvard Business School professor Bill Sahlman spoke with two former MBA students, Scott Randall ('87) and Glen Meakem ('91), to discuss their perspectives on organizing markets in a new and evolving economy and what... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Web Services; Technology

27 Jan 2016
Research & Ideas

A Politician's Investment Portfolio Might Tip Off Corruption Potential

The risk taken in a politician’s private investment portfolio is a strong indicator of whether that person will cross legal or ethical lines in office. The riskier the portfolio, the more likely the lawmaker will be involved in at least... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

25 Jul 2006
First Look

First Look: July 25, 2006

http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=206046 PublicationsLasting Success for the Christian in Business Author:Laura L. Nash Periodical:Business and Professional View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2001 (Revised August 2004)
Case

AdNet (A)

By: Ashish Nanda

Confronted by a business proposal that is remarkably similar to a project recently financed by a sister office, venture capitalist Monique LeMieux ponders what she should do. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Ethics; Standards; Financial Services Industry

July 2012
Supplement

How Much? (B)

By: Clayton Rose

The leader of a small business team must deal with an employee who is unwilling to reveal to him the profitability of a transaction for the firm and client. View Details

Keywords: Culture; Client Responsibility; Leadership; Ethics; Organizational Culture; Employees

02 Mar 2009
Research & Ideas

When Goal Setting Goes Bad

It's the rare manager who doesn't partake in quarterly or annual goal-setting exercises. And woe to those who don't make their goals SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely). But do these goals really work? Researchers from four top View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

October 2022
Case

Cost Plus Drugs

By: Alexander MacKay and James Barnett

In September 2022, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Company CEO Alex Oshmyansky considered the future of the company. Cost Plus Drugs was a retailer for more than 340 generic oral medications, selling their drugs at significantly lower prices than typical pharmacies.... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Decision Making; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Health; Markets; Social Enterprise; Society; Strategy; Health Care and Treatment; Business Divisions; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States; Texas

August 2019
Case

Humanistic Capitalism at Brunello Cucinelli

By: Francesca Gino and Gary Pisano

This case explores one company’s attempt to experiment with a different underlying model for a capitalist enterprise. Brunello Cucinelli, S.p.A. is a leading manufacturer of luxury fashion apparel. Despite being a publicly traded enterprise with annual revenues... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Culture; Human Resource Practices; Growth; Growth Strategy; Motivation; Values; Fashion; Capitalism; Organizational Culture; Values and Beliefs; Human Resources; Management; Business Model; Policy; Behavior; Growth and Development Strategy; Luxury; Italy

16 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

Adam Smith, Behavioral Economist?

activity. Q: What do you think Adam Smith's advice to business leaders would be concerning corporate ethics given what he writes about trust? A: This is a great question. Smith believed that there were... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

27 Mar 2005
Research & Ideas

Should I Pay the Bribe?

At Harvard Business School, one of professor Rafael Di Tella's areas of study is how political corruption and common crime can be controlled in a variety of contexts. So it was only natural that Di Tella would be asked to comment when the... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia D. Churchwell

July 2012
Supplement

How Much? (C)

By: Clayton Rose

The leader of a small business team must deal with an employee who is unwilling to reveal to him the profitability of a transaction for the firm and client. View Details

Keywords: Culture; Client Responsibility; Leadership; Employees; Ethics; Communication; Knowledge Sharing; Organizational Culture

November 2007
Case

Differences at Work: Allie (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Rachel Gordon

On a business trip, Allie's boss demands that she and a colleague skip planned company meetings and "meet him at the beach in their bikinis." View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Managerial Roles; Ethics; Gender; Diversity; Power and Influence

Find at Harvard

06 Jan 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Expensing Options Doesn’t Solve the Problem

up discouraging the use of stock options, the potential for fraud, and grotesquely outsized gains, will not be reduced. Any compensation system that is based on performance has the potential to encourage cheating. Only ethical management,... View Details

Keywords: by William Sahlman

Article

When Hiring CEOs, Focus on Character

By: Aiyesha Dey

The author, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, has studied the ways in which the lifestyle behaviors of CEOs—in particular, materialism and a propensity for rule breaking—may spell trouble for a company. Her research, which includes looking at... View Details

Keywords: CEOs; Lifestyle; Risk Management; Recruitment; Ethics