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- July 2012 (Revised April 2013)
- Case
Peter Jepsen
By: Howard H. Stevenson, Michael J. Roberts and James M. Sharpe
About to break bank covenants, Peter Jepsen has to deal with a contentious prior owner, improve profitability and staff appropriately all while maintaining credibility with his investors, in the furniture hardware company he has owned for less than a year. View Details
Keywords: Acquisitions; Bankruptcy; Crisis Management; Entrepreneurial Management; Entrepreneurial Finance; Financial Crisis; Turnarounds; Financial Distress; Negotiation; Entrepreneurs; Bank Loan; Search Funds; Liquidation; Boards Of Directors; Ethics; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Acquisition; Entrepreneurship; Manufacturing Industry; United States
- 2012
- Article
Hiring Cheerleaders: Board Appointments of 'Independent' Directors
By: Lauren Cohen, Andrea Frazzini and Christopher Malloy
We provide evidence that firms appoint independent directors who are overly sympathetic to management, while still technically independent according to regulatory definitions. We explore a subset of independent directors for whom we have detailed, micro-level data on... View Details
- May 2012
- Case
Westlake Lanes: How Can This Business Be Saved?
By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Alisa Zalosh
Shelby Givens, a new MBA, is the general manager of Westlake Lanes, a near-bankrupt bowling alley that her grandfather founded decades earlier. Givens has been given one year to turn a profit; if the goal is not met Westlake will close. During the first few days on the... View Details
- April 2012
- Case
Pret A Manger
By: Frances X. Frei, Rick Goldberg and Stephanie van Sice
Pret A Manger, a London-based chain of sandwich shops, was known for its fast, genuine service and pre-packaged sandwiches prepared on-site daily. Instructed by its board to grow at 15 percent per year, Pret considered opening "twin" shops in locations too small to... View Details
Keywords: Customer Service Excellence; Growth Planning And Management; Employee Performance Management; Information Management; Production Planning; Employee Attitude Development And Empowerment; Employee Retention; Leadership Development And Career Planning; Service Delivery; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Employees; Performance; London
- April 2012
- Case
Meli Marine
By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Sunru Yong
Meli Marine, a container shipping company, is facing an important strategic decision after an interesting acquisition opportunity presents itself. Founded in 1974 by the Chang Family, the Singapore-based company has carved out a niche in the intra-Asia transport... View Details
- April 2012 (Revised June 2012)
- Case
HP Labs in Singapore
By: Willy Shih, Pankaj Agarwal and Christine Chi
When HP established a branch of its corporate research lab in Singapore, the government played a key role through its Economic Development Board (EDB). Chris Whitney, the lab's director, sought to generate revenue from the lab's innovations, making it financially... View Details
- February 2012
- Case
First Quantum Minerals vs. Eurasian Natural Resources
By: George Serafeim
The case describes the battle between First Quantum Mineral (FQM) and Eurasian Resources over mines in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). After FQM's license to operate was revoked by the government of the DRC, Eurasian bought the rights over the mines that were... View Details
- December 2011 (Revised September 2015)
- Case
Carl Icahn and Clorox
By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kathleen Durante
This case outlines the takeover attempt by activist investor, Carl Icahn, for the Clorox Company. The board of the company repeatedly rejected Icahn's offers as inadequate. He made three bids over the course of three months. View Details
- December 2011
- Case
Negotiating the Path of Abraham
By: James K. Sebenius and Kimberlyn Leary
The Abraham Path Initiative board faces strategic and negotiating challenges in revitalizing a route of Middle East cultural tourism following Abraham's path 4000 years ago. The Path begins in the ancient ruins of Harran, in modern-day Turkey, where Abraham first heard... View Details
- December 2011
- Article
CEO and Board Chair Roles: To Split or Not to Split?
By: Aiyesha Dey, Ellen Engel and Xiaohui Liu
We examine the performance and compensation implications of firms' decisions to combine the roles of CEO and board chairman (duality). We document that firms that split the CEO and chairman positions due to investor pressure have significantly lower announcement... View Details
- November 29, 2011
- Article
The Role of The Board in Creating a Sustainable Strategy
By: Robert G. Eccles, Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim
While conceptually elegant, the belief that a corporation's role is to maximize value for shareholders is under increasing challenge as society's expectations for companies change. An equally elegant new concept that takes account of these dual pressures has yet to... View Details
Keywords: Value Creation; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Strategy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Expectations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Practices and Processes; Decisions; Risk and Uncertainty; Cost vs Benefits; Information
- November 2011
- Teaching Note
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (TN)
By: Josh Lerner, Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon
- 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
- November 2011
- Article
The Role of the Board in Accelerating the Adoption of Integrated Reporting
By: Robert G. Eccles and George Serafeim
This report examines the concept of integrated reporting and its current state of adoption around the globe. It also discusses the benefits to both companies and society and recommends ways boards can help their organizations accelerate the implementation of integrated... View Details
- October 2011
- Case
Strategy and Governance at Yahoo! Inc.
By: Krishna G. Palepu, Suraj Srinivasan, David Lane and Ian McKown Cornell
Yahoo! faces a number of governance and strategic challenges in late 2011 as it tries to compete with rivals such as Google and find ways to monetize its shareholding and business links with Alibaba Group in China and Yahoo! Japan. The company is now valued at almost... View Details
- September 2011 (Revised November 2011)
- Case
Liberté, Égalité, Sororité: How Should France Achieve Boardroom Parité?
By: Boris Groysberg and Hilary Fischer-Groban
The French government is considering mandating a gender quota for corporate boards. Other countries have approached the question of gender equity in corporate governance in various ways; which model might best work for France? View Details
- August 2011 (Revised October 2015)
- Case
Boardroom Battle Behind Bars: Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings—A Corporate Governance Drama
By: William C. Kirby and Tracy Yuen Manty
Despite widespread news of the incarceration of Gome Electronics' CEO, Huang Guangyu, Bain Capital felt they carefully undertook due diligence before making a significant investment in the company. The venture capital firm was confident that it and the current... View Details
Keywords: China; Legal Aspects Of Business; Corruption; Risk; Corporate Governance; Crime and Corruption; Power and Influence; Risk Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Venture Capital; Ethics; Governing and Advisory Boards; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Values and Beliefs; Private Equity; China
- June 2011
- Case
Trouble in Islandia; Computer Associates 2001 - 2004
By: Jay W. Lorsch and Melissa Barton
The Board of Directors of Computer Associates deals with pressure from the U.S. Department of Justice as its members try to gain better insight into the accounting practices of the company's top management team. View Details
- June 2011
- Case
Changes to Harvard University's Governing Board
By: Rakesh Khurana and Eric Baldwin
This case examines the decision made by the governing board of Harvard University, known as the Harvard Corporation, to alter its size and operations. The case provides background on Harvard's history, its existing governance structure, and some of the issues that... View Details