Publications

August 2010 (Revised March 2012)
Supplement

The Dow Acquisition of Rohm and Haas (C)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Melissa Barton

The global economy entered a crippling recession in the fourth quarter of 2008 and Dow lost its primary source of funding for its planned acquisition of Rohm and Haas. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Crisis; Financing and Loans; Chemical Industry

August 2010 (Revised March 2012)
Supplement

The Dow Acquisition of Rohm and Haas (D)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Melissa Barton

Dow's board and management team worked on arranging appropriate financing to complete the acquisition of Rohm and Haas. Meanwhile, the board of Rohm and Haas filed suit against Dow after it delayed the completion of the acquisition. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financing and Loans; Governing and Advisory Boards; Lawsuits and Litigation; Management Teams; Chemical Industry

August 2010 (Revised March 2012)
Supplement

The Dow Acquisition of Rohm and Haas (E)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Melissa Barton

Dow completed the acquisition of Rohm and Haas and escaped a battle in a Delaware courtroom View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Legal Liability; Managerial Roles; Complexity

May – June 2010
Article

The Pay Problem

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Rakesh Khurana

Read Now

February – March 2010
Article

Lessons from the Crisis about Governing Financial Institutions

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Keywords: Learning; Governance; Financial Institutions

Read Now

2010
Chapter

A Contingency Theory of Leadership

By: Jay W. Lorsch

The idea of a contingency theory of leadership is not novel. In the 1960s several scholars conducted research and proposed such an approach arguing that the style of leadership that would be most effective depended upon the situation (Fiedler, Tannenbaum and Schmidt,... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Situation or Environment; Behavior; Theory

November 2009 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Board Leadership at Entergy Corporation

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Melissa Barton

Wayne Leonard became CEO of Entergy in 1999. After serving as CEO for close to eight years, the Entergy Board named Leonard Chairman and CEO. View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Governing and Advisory Boards; Leadership

October 22, 2009
Article

The Capital Question

By: Robert G. Eccles Jr. and Jay W. Lorsch

Keywords: Capital

July 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Case

RiskMetrics Group

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kaitlyn Simpson

RiskMetrics Group, a risk and governance consultancy, had a great deal of influence on U.S. companies. This case examines the history and growth of the company, the governance services it offers, the extent of its impact on shareholders, the controversy surrounding its... View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Risk Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Power and Influence; Consulting Industry; United States

June 2009
Case

The Role of the Audit Committee in Risk Oversight

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kaitlyn Simpson

An audit committee chair considers how he can help his committee become more effective given the increasing regulatory demands on audit committees. He also wrestles with the lack of specificity in audit committee duties and whether his committee should take on... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Corporate Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governing and Advisory Boards; Laws and Statutes; Risk Management

June 2009
Case

Executive Remuneration at Royal Dutch Shell (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kaitlyn Simpson

The remuneration committee at Shell decided to exercise their discretionary power to award five top executives a bonus for 2008, even though they had not met the necessary performance measures under the compensation plan. Proxy advisors RiskMetrics and the British... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Executive Compensation; Performance Evaluation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Energy Industry

June 2009
Supplement

Executive Remuneration at Royal Dutch Shell (B)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kaitlyn Simpson

At the 2009 Shell annual meeting, the majority of shareholders vote against the exclusive pay package. The B case compares the remuneration committee perspective (and their rationale for using discretion to award the bonuses) as well as the shareholder perspective (and... View Details

Keywords: Voting; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Executive Compensation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Perspective; Energy Industry

March 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Case

Relational Investors and Home Depot (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kaitlyn Simpson

In 2006, amidst shareholder upset over CEO Robert Nardelli's compensation and Home Depot's declining stock price, Relational Investors decided to further investigate the situation. As experts in turning around underperforming and undervalued companies, Relational's... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Financial Management; Investment; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Ownership Stake; Business and Shareholder Relations; Corporate Strategy

March 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Supplement

Relational Investors and Home Depot (B)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kaitlyn Simpson

Keywords: Investment; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry

2009
Chapter

Leadership: The Key to Effective Boards

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Keywords: Leadership; Governing and Advisory Boards

2008
Book

On Competition

By: M. E. Porter

Competition is one of society's most powerful forces for making things better in many ﬁelds of human endeavor. The study of competition and the creation of value, in their full richness, have preoccupied me for several decades. Competition is pervasive, whether it... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Practice; Competitive Strategy; Theory; Value Creation