Publications

October 2000 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Richard Spellman (B)

Presents the final version of the agreements introduced in the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Internet and the Web; Executive Compensation; Personal Development and Career; Business Startups; Management Teams

29 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

Star Power! How to Win in Professional Services

Limits To Leadership Being the chief executive of any company is a demanding job. Carrying out the responsibilities of a CEO in a professional service firm is exceptionally challenging because the position lacks the inherent power and... View Details

Keywords: by Jay W. Lorsch & Thomas J. Tierney

08 Mar 2011
First Look

First Look: March 8

determinant of their severity. The Empire Struck Back: Sanctions and Compensation in the Mexican Oil Expropriation of 1938 Author:Noel Maurer Publication:Journal of Economic History (forthcoming) Abstract The Mexican expropriation of 1938... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

With Millions of Workers Juggling Caregiving, Employers Need to Rethink Support

senior you are, and the more money you make, the more likely you are to leave a job because of a caregiving obligation. Employers are always surprised by that. They assume a worker is more likely to leave if they’re low-paid. A worker in the top quartile of View Details

Keywords: by Christine Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette

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 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

26 Apr 2016
First Look

April 26

self-employment. Using the reform to instrument for private-sector labor supply, we find that private-sector labor demand is very elastic, with elasticity estimates ranging between -3.1 and -5.3. Download working paper:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2015 (Revised October 2017)
Teaching Note

Buffett's Bid for Media General's Newspapers

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Annelena Lobb

On May 12, 2012, BH Media Group, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, announced an offer to buy Media General's (MEG) newspaper division for $142 million in cash and provide debt financing to the struggling firm. Reactions from investors and industry... View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Bankruptcy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Strategy; Risk Management; Executive Compensation; Cash Flow; Business Exit or Shutdown; Media; Advertising; Restructuring; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Publishing Industry; United States

June 2013 (Revised April 2015)
Case

Buffett's Bid for Media General's Newspapers

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia

On May 12, 2012, BH Media Group, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, announced an offer to buy Media General's (MEG) newspaper division for $142 million in cash and provide debt financing to the struggling firm. Reactions from investors and industry... View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Bankruptcy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Strategy; Risk Management; Executive Compensation; Cash Flow; Business Exit or Shutdown; Media; Advertising; Restructuring; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Publishing Industry; United States

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

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)

03 Sep 2009
What Do You Think?

Are Retention Bonuses Worth the Investment?

organizations known for their prowess in developing their employees have to bear? What do you think? Original Article Last March 25, Jake DeSantis, then an executive vice president with American International Group, published his... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

16 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

At the Center of Corporate Scandal Where Do We Go From Here?

wrong: I don't want to return to some "idyllic" past when markets were less powerful and effective. I want to go forward. But I think we have problems that we need to address. The trouble with executive View Details

Keywords: by Kim B. Clark

November 2011
Article

Corporate Governance When Founders Are Directors

By: Feng Li and Suraj Srinivasan

We examine CEO compensation, CEO retention policies, and M&A decisions in firms where founders serve as a director with a non-founder CEO (founder-director firms). We find that founder-director firms offer a different mix of incentives to their CEOs than other firms.... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Executive Compensation; Retention; Policy; Motivation and Incentives; Performance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Mergers and Acquisitions; Wages; United States

SSRN

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March 2001 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Venture Capital Vignettes

By: G. Felda Hardymon

Presents three fictionalized but realistic situations in which a venture capitalist may find himself. One situation requires crisis intervention to quell a dispute between a vice president of sales and a CEO; another poses the problem of working out the composition of... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Crisis Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Teams; Executive Compensation; Situation or Environment; Employee Relationship Management; Problems and Challenges; Financial Services Industry