Publications

February 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Johnson Security Bureau: Building Multigenerational Success

By: Henry McGee, Annelena Lobb and David Muoser

Jessica Johnson-Cope, CEO of Johnson Security Bureau (JSB), pondered options for scaling the firm. JSB was the oldest Black-owned security firm in New York, and among the oldest Black-owned security firms in the United States. It provided mostly unarmed security guards... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Gender; Race; Cybersecurity; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; New York (state, US)

20 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

The Seven Things That Surprise New CEOs

new CEOs. See a video interview with Porter.Most new chief executives are taken aback by the unexpected and unfamiliar new roles, the time and information limitations, and the altered professional relationships they run up against. Here are the common surprises new... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter, Jay W. Lorsch & Nitin Nohria

12 Mar 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Managing the Family Business: Firing the CEO

Successful family CEOs often have the values, vision, passion for the business and abilities to build loyalty with key owners, customers, suppliers, and the employees that make them the right leaders of... View Details

06 Nov 2000
What Do You Think?

Succession at GE: What’s Next?

Last year I completed a case series on GE, titled "GE ... We Bring Good Things to Life," in which the issue of CEO succession was raised in the last of the two cases. In classes in which I've used... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

20 Mar 2013
Research & Ideas

How CEOs Sustain Higher-Ambition Goals

At a recent Harvard Business School conference, dozens of CEOs committed to the idea of working toward "higher-ambition" goals that go beyond just short-term shareholder value. Inspired by the book Higher Ambition: How Great Leaders... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

2018
Working Paper

When to Take the Leap: The Antecedents and Consequences of Leapfrog CEOs

By: J. Yo-Jud Cheng

Much of the prior research on CEO successions focuses on differences between CEOs appointed from within the firm and those appointed from outside; however, this dichotomy neglects significant heterogeneity in CEOs’ career trajectories. In this study, I examine the... View Details

Keywords: Management Succession; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Innovation and Management

Forthcoming
Article

Communication within Firms: Evidence from CEO Turnovers

By: Stephen Michael Impink, Andrea Prat and Raffaella Sadun

This paper uses novel, firm-level communication measures derived from communications metadata several months before and after a CEO transition for 102 firms to study whether and how this organizational event is reflected in employees’ communication flows. We find that... View Details

Keywords: Information; Communication; Management Succession; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Alignment

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11 Apr 2023
Op-Ed

The First 90 Hours: What New CEOs Should—and Shouldn't—Do to Set the Right Tone

headhunters will have tempted away your best executives. 7 steps to a successful start Here are seven recommendations newly appointed leaders should consider following—and it would be best to get all of this work done by the end of their... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

December 2014
Case

Groupon: A New CEO Takes Charge

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Arnold B. Peinado

On August 7, 2013, Eric Lefkofsky, the chairman and largest shareholder of Groupon was named CEO, replacing founder Andrew Mason, who had run the company since its inception in 2009. When Groupon had its initial public offering (IPO) in November 2011, the company's... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Disruptive Technologies; Growth Strategy; Customer Relations; Service Management; International Business; Business Models; Strategy Execution; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; United States

October 2003 (Revised November 2006)
Case

GE's Talent Machine: The Making of a CEO

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Andrew N. McLean

GE believes its ability to develop management talent is a core competency that represents a source of sustainable competitive advantage. This case traces the development of GE's rich system of human resource policies and practices under five CEOs in the post-war era,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Capital; Selection and Staffing; Leadership Development; Management Succession; Corporate Strategy

06 Aug 2021
Book

Steve Jobs and the Rise of the Celebrity CEO

In the 1950s, most Americans probably couldn’t name the CEOs of the largest companies in the United States, including General Motors, United States Steel, and Standard Oil. But these days, some of the most View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

December 6, 2013
Article

Family Businesses Shouldn't Hunt for Superstar CEOs

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

This article discusses the challenges faced by family businesses when it comes to succession planning, particularly in selecting an outside CEO. It presents a case study of a third-generation family business looking for an external CEO, named "Mr. Wonderful," to manage... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Management Succession

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29 May 2006
Research & Ideas

Why CEOs Are Not Plug-and-Play

and where to cut was clearly a plus for Carlos Ghosn, who is not a GE alumnus but is one of the cases we teach on a new CEO widely known for transforming the nearly bankrupt Japanese auto manufacturer Nissan into one of the world's most... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Andrew N. McLean & Nitin Nohria; Employment

27 Apr 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi: Transforming Lives with Access to Credit

Keywords: Re: Caroline M. Elkins; Banking; Financial Services

30 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

New Paths to Success in Asia

make the best use of their time by providing logistical and research support, establishing contacts with leading CEOs in the region, and sharing expertise that comes from living and working in the Asian environment on a daily basis."... View Details

Keywords: by Alejandro Reyes & Deborah Blagg

06 Feb 2006
What Do You Think?

Should CEOs of Public Companies Offer Earnings Guidance?

Summing Up Based on some of the most thoughtful comments to any of these columns, one might conclude that acceptable earnings guidance by CEOs should take on new forms. Let's first consider the pros and cons, then some research, then some... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

01 Aug 2005
What Do You Think?

Is There an “Efficient Market” in CEO Compensation?

the number of candidates willing to consider such CEO positions, even though their willingness might be an indicator of potential success in these jobs. Taking the matter to an extreme, shareholders more... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

How Much Time Should CEOs Devote to Customers?

And future growth prospects are baked into stock market valuations of companies. Yet an increasingly high percentage of Fortune 500 CEOs have not come up the ranks through marketing or sales. At the same time, in many companies, the chief... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

January 2017
Case

Where Should Pat Gelsinger's Time Go?

By: Raffaella Sadun

Pat Gelsinger, CEO of VMware, is deciding how to structure the firm presence in cloud computing. He can pursue the opportunity in multiple ways: doubling down the investments in an internal and nascent cloud offering, partnering with established third parties, or... View Details

Keywords: CEO Time Use; Corporate Strategy; Time Management