CEO Succession - Publications - Faculty & Research

16 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

Turning One Thousand Customers into One Million

Few companies in the past few years have rocketed to success faster than Uber, Airbnb, and Etsy, which together have transformed the way we hail a cab, plan a vacation, and shop for handmade gifts, respectively. In a previous HBS Working... View Details

Keywords: by Thales S. Teixeira and Michael Blanding; Retail; Transportation; Accommodations

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Asia Pacific - Global

discussions held in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing. At these events, Prof. Gompers introduced his new course, Entrepreneurship Outside the Valley, which currently featured 25 cases across continents, and shared his research insights on the key elements that... View Details

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Entrepreneurial Management - Faculty & Research

of entrepreneurial success for our students and for practitioners worldwide. Because it is such a complex phenomenon, entrepreneurship must be studied through multiple lenses. We use three. The process of entrepreneurship - We seek to... View Details

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Skydeck - Alumni

Recipients of the 2025 Alumni Achievement Award describe a time when life put them to the test—and what came out of it The Working Parent Revolution Bright Horizons CEO Stephen Kramer (MBA 1997) on what modern parents really want from... View Details

06 Jun 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Leaders Lose Their Way

forced to resign for trading in Lubrizol stock prior to recommending that Berkshire Hathaway purchase the company. Examples abound of other recent failures: Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd resigned for submitting false expense reports... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

12 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Rocket Science Retailing: A Practical Guide

with tools for identifying and solving these problems, engage their employees and suppliers in their improvement efforts. Q: Your book notes that typical stores experience staff turnover of 100 percent each year. How do you see successful... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Retail; Auto

August 2004 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Stanley O'Neal at Merrill Lynch (A)

By: David A. Thomas and Ayesha Kanji

In the late 1970s, Stanley O'Neal joined Merrill Lynch as an investment banker. Profiles O'Neal's ascent at Merrill to CEO. O'Neal put Merrill through a comprehensive restructuring program, cutting costs and significantly reducing the work force. As CEO, O'Neal faces... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Race; Cost Management; Investment Banking; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Leadership; Management Succession; Performance Effectiveness; Personal Development and Career

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30 Jun 2022
HBS Case

Peloton Changed the Exercise Game. Can the Company Push Through the Pain?

Few companies create an entirely new consumer market and reach icon status—and then set out to reinvent themselves. But that’s the hill the at-home, interactive-exercise firm Peloton is now climbing. Peloton was one of the freewheeling View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Media & Broadcasting; Health; Bicycle

07 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Fail—and How Their Founders Can Bounce Back

entrepreneurs whose companies are succeeding. Ghosh says boards of successful companies often seek out the founders and CEOs of failed companies because they value experience over a clean slate. After all,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

June 2007 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Les is More, Times Four

By: Noam T. Wasserman and Rosy Fynn

"I've had enough! I've decided that I need to resign," read the email from the founder of Webpoint to the company's board of directors. Les Trachtman, the CEO of Webpoint, has to figure out how to react to the founder's "it's Trachtman or me" ultimatum. Webpoint was... View Details

Keywords: Conflict Management; Management Succession; Entrepreneurship

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2023 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

Chairperson, Private Equity at Apollo; Tracy Palandjian (MBA 1997), CEO and Co-Founder of Social Finance; Member of the Harvard Corporation; Fran Seegull (MBA 1998), President, US Impact Investing Alliance + More Info – Less Info Impact... View Details

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Leadership Fellows

participants Leadership Fellows positions are selected based on the program goals of access, impact, and leadership. All positions: Report to the CEO or another senior executive and have regular meaningful access to the View Details

02 Sep 2015
What Do You Think?

What's Wrong With Amazon’s Low-Retention HR Strategy?

low-retention HR strategy, its customers probably regard it as a highly successful application of that idea. Advocates of a high-retention strategy may wonder why Amazon hasn’t learned something from online retailer Zappos, a... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Web Services; Retail; Apparel & Accessories; Consumer Products; Fashion

01 May 2013
What Do You Think?

Why Isn’t ‘Servant Leadership’ More Prevalent?

What do you think? Original Article Servant leadership is an age-old concept, a term loosely used to suggest that a leader's primary role is to serve others, especially employees. I witnessed a practical example of it at a ServiceMaster board meeting in the 1990s when... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

04 Oct 2010
Research & Ideas

Introverts: The Best Leaders for Proactive Employees

We often expect corporate executives to conform to certain extroverted CEO stereotypes: C for charismatic, E for effusive, and O for outgoing. To wit: Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson, who very publicly flew around the world in a hot... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

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Klarman Hall | About

the Name Beth & Seth Klarman Seth Klarman (MBA 1982) is the CEO and portfolio manager of the Boston-based Baupost Group, one of the most successful investment partnerships in the world. Beth Klarman is... View Details

20 Nov 2012
First Look

First Look: November 20

business-government relations, nonmarket strategy, and organization theory. Read the paper: http://www.people.hbs.edu/shiatt/GMO_paper_AMJ.pdf ISO Standards Stamp Approval Authors:Michael James and Michael W. Toffel Publication:European View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Mar 2021
In Practice

COVID Killed the Traditional Workplace. What Should Companies Do Now?

A year ago, COVID-19 forced many companies to send employees home—often with a laptop and a prayer. Now, with COVID cases subsiding and vaccinations rising, the prospect of returning to old office routines appears more possible. But will employees want to flock back to... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

08 Aug 2022
HBS Case

Building an 'ARMY' of Fans: Marketing Lessons from K-Pop Sensation BTS

the group and CEO of its management company, Hybe, explained, “Fans used to be passive receivers, but now they have grown to be active supporters that contribute to the artist’s growth.” To grow a loyal following, Bang said BTS followed a... View Details

Keywords: by Shalene Gupta; Media & Broadcasting; Music

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California - Global

Case Adobe: GenAI Opportunity or Threat? By: Sunil Gupta , Rajiv Lal and Allison Ciechanover In December 2022, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen faced a pivotal strategic decision due to the rapid rise of generative AI image models from OpenAI,... View Details

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