Publications

02 Dec 2002
What Do You Think?

How Will We Respond to the “Moment of Truth” in Option Plans?

really know? Has enough attention been focused on what is an admittedly difficult issue to examine, considering that compensation is only one of many factors in an organization's performance? Given the fact that we're talking about tens... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Dec 2006
News

Enron’s Legacy

today? The answer is yes and no. The no (or probably not) answer reflects the likelihood that executives of private-equity firms do not, on average, possess any more ethical discipline than leaders of public companies. Maintaining ethical... View Details

Keywords: Malcolm S. Salter; Enron; Finance

01 Dec 2002
News

Bad Times for Business

everything seemed to be going well. Palepu: Mention of compensation committees brings to mind the issue of dramatic escalations in executive pay. What's behind these big increases? Hall: One element was the... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons

01 Dec 2020
What Do You Think?

How Can We Get Companies to Invest More in Low-Wage Workers?

Inequality in society has been studied from almost every angle. Among others, French economist Thomas Piketty has provided ample evidence of trends in inequality, their causes, and their consequences. We’re reminded constantly of the growing View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

January 2023
Case

Gerald Weiss (2023)

By: Brian J. Hall, Carleen Madigan, Andrew Wasynczuk and Caroline Witten

Gerald Weiss left Wall Street for the promise of a CFO position at a well-established corporation. He was given a 10-year options package with a guaranteed floor of $12 million and unlimited upside. To ensure the entire package would be worth at least $12 million after... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Resignation and Termination; Executive Compensation; Organizational Culture; Agreements and Arrangements; Stock Options; Conflict and Resolution; New York (city, NY)

July 2002 (Revised November 2002)
Case

Crucial Conversations

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Vineeta Vijayraghavan

Todd McKenna, a third-year associate at an investment banking firm, confronts his boss. His boss had told him he would be the top paid associate at the firm, and McKenna finds out that this isn't true. He approaches his boss to find out why he was lied to. View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Investment Banking; Executive Compensation; Employee Relationship Management; Rank and Position; Banking Industry

01 Oct 2002
News

Faculty Research Symposium

compensation used to consist of cash, in the form of salaries and bonuses, executive wealth today is dominated by stock-option holdings. This, in turn, has led to dramatic yearly swings in View Details

April 1999 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Gerald Weiss

By: Brian J. Hall and Carleen Madigan

Gerald Weiss left Wall Street for the promise of a CFO position at a well-established corporation. He was given a 10-year options package with a guaranteed floor of $12 million and unlimited upside. To ensure the entire package would be worth at least $12 million after... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Resignation and Termination; Executive Compensation; Organizational Culture; Agreements and Arrangements; Stock Options; Conflict and Resolution; New York (city, NY)

01 Jun 1999
News

Short Takes

Rewarding the Top Dog The media, institutional investors, and even government officials all seem to have an opinion about CEO compensation, often criticizing how and how much top executives are paid. But do CEOs really dictate their own... View Details

Keywords: Judith A. Ross

December 2003 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Circon (A) (Abridged)

By: Brian J. Hall, Christopher Rose and Guhan Subramanian

In 1996, U.S. Surgical launched a hostile takeover bid against Circon Corp. CEO Richard Auhll recruited an old HBS friend, George Cloutier, to the Circon board to help him defend the company. Circon's primary defenses include a "poison pill" and a staggered board and... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Trust; Relationships; Acquisition; Business and Shareholder Relations; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

Web

Real Estate Private Equity - Course Catalog

final module consists of a focus on private investment firms, their compensation structures and how they impact behavior. For the final project students will be asked to develop an investment concept and present it via a paper and... View Details

Alan C. Greenberg

Greenberg also championed a compensation plan for executives based on performance without waiver. Of the 300 senior managing directors at Bear Stearns, all were required by Greenberg to donate 4% of their... View Details

Keywords: Finance

01 Mar 2008
News

Lessons from Private Equity

firms are the management arsenals of many public companies — strategic due diligence, blueprints for action, tying compensation to performance — but they are not applied with sufficient consistency, rigor, or thoroughness. In short, what... View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Finance; Management

22 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: November 22

and with the firm's future performance. The results do not support the view that executive and outside directors use their connections to extract rents. Rather the company compensates these individuals for... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Jun 2010
News

M.I.A. Boards

gatekeepers, and financial institutions they pay to grow their investments. Public outrage over scandals or excessive executive compensation is ephemeral. It must be channeled to demand a transformation in... View Details

Keywords: John Gillespie;David Zweig; Finance

September 2004 (Revised October 2004)
Case

Pat Anderson

By: Leslie A. Perlow and Daisy Wademan

Patten Bank's pending sale jeopardizes Pat Anderson's prospect of receiving an expected year-end bonus. What to do now? This problem follows several earlier conflicts that Anderson has confronted during the past four-and-one-half years spent working as an analyst and... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Conflict Management; Power and Influence; Executive Compensation; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States