Publications

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August 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Board of Directors at The Coca-Cola Company, The

By: Jay W. Lorsch, Rakesh Khurana and Sonya Sanchez

Provides a history of the board of directors of the Coca-Cola Co. through 2003. Describes the evolution in the board's membership, practices, and structure and the role it played in the company's governance. Questions are raised about the relationship between the board... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Food and Beverage Industry

January 2021
Supplement

Aptiv PLC Board of Directors (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

October 2021
Article

Board Design and Governance Failures at Peer Firms

By: Shelby Gai, J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Andy Wu

Our study introduces board committees as a crucial determinant of board actions. We examine how directors who structurally link different board committees—referred to as multi-committee directors (MCDs)—explain why some board actions are merely symbolic while others... View Details

Keywords: Board Committees; Board Monitoring; New Director Nomination; Peer Financial Restatements; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Performance Effectiveness

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September 2015 (Revised February 2016)
Supplement

Novell (B): Board of Directors Aftermath of Hedge Fund Attack

By: Richard L. Nolan

No corporation and its board of directors is immune to a disruptive shareholder activist attack. The Novell (A) and (B) cases take students through a shareholder activist attack and its aftermath—a saga that spanned 5 years. The cases outline the activist playbook in... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Governing and Advisory Boards; Decision Making

October 2005
Article

Information Technology and the Board of Directors

By: Richard Nolan and F. Warren McFarlan

Keywords: Information Technology; Governance

October 2012 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Jim Johnson's Re-election to the Goldman Sachs Board

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Kelly Baker

The case presents the opposition by a leading institutional investor in Goldman Sachs to the re-election of Jim Johnson to the board of directors of the company. The investor, Sequoia Fund, opposes the re-election citing Jim Johnson's prior track record as the CEO of... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Corporate Governance; Director Elections; Goldman Sachs; Reputation; Institutional Investing; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Accountability; Banking Industry; New York (city, NY)

16 Sep 2015
Op-Ed

The Real Duty of the Board of Directors

capital. These rights are free from the burdens of ownership. Shareholders thus become temporary, while the corporation is permanent—controlled not by shareholders, but by the board View Details

Keywords: by Robert G. Eccles & Tim Youmans

4 Apr 2013
Panel Discussion

Getting onto Corporate Boards

By: Lynn S. Paine

Keywords: Women Executives; Corporate Culture; Boards Of Directors; Leadership Skills; Gender; Governing and Advisory Boards; Leadership; Organizational Culture

July 2020
Supplement

Board Diversity at Amazon (B): The Board's Decision

By: Aiyesha Dey and Anu Atluru

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Diversity; Gender

August 23, 2016
Article

7 Charts Show How Political Affiliation Shapes U.S. Boards

By: J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Boris Groysberg

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Political Affiliation; Corporate Governance

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June 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

The Board of Directors at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Ashley Robertson

Examines the resignation of Philip Purcell as chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley as a result of poor performance and cultural problems, as well as his relationship to the board of directors. View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Corporate Governance; Resignation and Termination; Performance; Rank and Position

May 2006
Article

The Board of Directors and the Company Lawyers

By: Jay W. Lorsch and John L. Howard

Keywords: Governance; Employees; Law

First Quarter, winter 2006
Article

Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy and Boards of Directors

By: Herman B. Leonard and V. Kasturi Rangan

Keywords: Strategy; Governance

January 2024 (Revised November 2024)
Technical Note

Legal Analysis: Corporate Governance and the Board of Directors

By: Louis Caldera

June 2005 (Revised May 2006)
Background Note

Reminders for Owner-Managers Regarding the Board of Directors of Private Companies

By: John A. Davis

Presents a consolidated list of corporate governance best practices for owner-managers of private companies, including family businesses. View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Family Business

August 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Supplement

The Board of Directors at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (B)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Alexis Chernak

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Financial Services Industry

June 2008 (Revised July 2008)
Case

How Serial Entrepreneurs Build and Manage a Board of Directors in a Venture-Backed Start Up

By: Michael J. Roberts, William A. Sahlman and Sasha Novakovich

This case includes structured interviews with four serial entrepreneurs about the way in which they built and used their boards in each of their companies and what they have learned through that process. These entrepreneurs were asked similar questions, such as "How do... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards

July 2020
Background Note

Gender Diversity on Boards: Views from Norway

By: Aiyesha Dey

The issue of gender diversity on boards has received increased attention in U.S markets over the past few years. In 2018, California introduced a law which required boards of U.S-listed firms with headquarters in California to include at least one female director by... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Board Decisions; Gender; Diversity; Governing and Advisory Boards; Norway; United States