Discussion Leadership - Publications - Faculty & Research

June 2025
Case

From Single Stock to Diversified Portfolio: Mastercard Foundation's $42 Billion Asset Management Launch

This case examines the decision of the Mastercard Foundation in 2023 to divest its holdings of Mastercard stock, its only asset since inception in 2006 and worth $42 billion in early 2024, and to invest the proceeds in a newly designed diversified portfolio. To this... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Financial Liquidity; Financial Strategy; Investment Portfolio; Corporate Governance; Selection and Staffing; Risk Management; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Motivation and Incentives

Citation

Educators

Purchase

06 Oct 2010
Research & Ideas

John Kotter: Four Ways to Kill a Good Idea

fear mongering and all the other attack strategies (more on that soon). Delay There are questions and concerns that can kill a good proposal simply by creating a deadly delay. They so slow the communication and discussion of a plan that... View Details

Keywords: by John Kotter & Lorne A. Whitehead

Program

Risk Management for Corporate Leaders—Virtual

takes a more comprehensive and strategic view of risk management. It provides frameworks and tools for senior leadership and corporate boards to strengthen your company's approach to managing both internal and external risks. You will... View Details

Video

Mostafa Terrab

Mostafa Terrab, Chairman and CEO of Morocco-based OCP Group, discusses his appointment as director-general of the organization in 2006 and outlines how he prioritized investments into fertilizer production. View Details

29 Jan 2015
News

McDonald's rock & hard place

23 May 2019
Book

These Entrepreneurs Take a Pragmatic Approach to Solving Social Problems

date so far back? Howard Stevenson: I think it depends on your perspective. The discussion about the role of business in society and the responsibilities of business leaders has been going on since Scottish economist Adam Smith wrote The... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Green Technology

Career Coach

Ellen Harris

Ellen (HGSE ’86) is the Senior Director of Outward Bound Professional/Facilitator at Cathleen Stone Island Outward Bound Professional where she is responsible for business development and corporate team and leadership development. Ellen... View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Consumer Products; Education; Hospitality; Manufacturing; Retail; Social Enterprise

04 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Most Leaders (Even Thomas Jefferson) Are Replaceable

impact." It's likely that another candidate chosen by GE management would have performed nearly or as well as he did. On the other end from low impact leaders are those whom Mukunda terms "extremes." These people, who slip through the cracks of conventional View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

10 Feb 2014
HBS Case

Stressing Safety in South Africa’s Platinum Mines

One morning last fall, Gautam Mukunda told the MBA students in his first-year Leadership and Organizational Behavior class to crawl under their desks and stay there. He wanted them to experience a sense of how it feels to work in a... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Manufacturing

What You Don't Know About Making Decisions

Most executives think of decision making as a singular event that occurs at a particular point in time. In reality, though, decision making is a process fraught with power plays, politics, personal nuances, and institutional history. Leaders who recognize this make... View Details

06 Mar 2013
News

HBS Cases: Women MBAs at Harvard Business School

15 Apr 2015
News

Lessons From Steve Jobs, Andy Grove and Bill Gates

01 Jun 2015
News

Five Timeless Lessons

Video

Dr. Laura Catena

Dr. Laura Catena, Managing Director of Bodega Catena Zapata, discusses the state of gender equality in the wine industry as well as her efforts to promote women to executive positions. View Details

19 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

China’s Complicated Relationship With Mother Nature

Despite its name, the Great Wall of China began as a series of smaller, isolated defensive fortifications. Those structures grew and were later unified into the imposing structure that exists today. The Great Wall is a great metaphor for the Chinese economy. By... View Details

Keywords: Re: William C. Kirby; Manufacturing

19 Aug 2021
News

Harvard’s Neeley on Mistakes Bosses Will Make Returning to Offices

Web

Resumes & Cover Letters - Alumni

project completion." Education - Spell out your degree so it will stand out better. It is not necessary to include your GPA or GMAT score. Do not list courses. Do list any leadership roles or study abroad experiences. + – Optional... View Details

24 May 2013
News

'What You're Really Meant To Do'

29 Jun 2021
Cold Call Podcast

Procter & Gamble’s Lean Innovation Transformation

Keywords: Re: Emily Truelove; Consumer Products

27 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

Corporate Values and Employee Cynicism

Business School, have studied the risks and rewards of organizational values in depth using a young, ambitious advertising agency for a field study. What they learned about positive values surprised them, and their findings were published in the February issue of The... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Publications