Publications

Research Summary

Overview

By: Lynn S. Paine

My work focuses on boards of directors and corporate governance. I am currently developing new cases and materials for our MBA and Executive offerings in this area and working on a project entitled The Future of Corporate Governance. In addition, I am currently... View Details

December 2007 (Revised October 2008)
Case

The American National Red Cross (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch, Eliot Sherman and David Chen

Describes the governance issues facing the Board of Governors of the American Red Cross. After a series of issues--FDA consent decree on its blood operations; the response to 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina--the Red Cross board was under pressure to fix its governance from... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Practices and Processes; Service Operations; Business Processes; Non-Governmental Organizations; Service Industry

November 2006 (Revised May 2007)
Case

Hewlett-Packard Company: The War Within

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Jay W. Lorsch, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Eliot Sherman

In September 2006 it was revealed that the Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) had been carrying out an extended investigation of its own employees, board members, and journalists outside the company. The investigation was launched in response to a series of leaks to the... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Employee Relationship Management; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Communication Technology; Conflict and Resolution; Newspapers; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry

October 2008 (Revised September 2011)
Supplement

PepsiCo's Bid for Quaker Oats (C)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

Third in a series of PepsiCo's bid for Quaker Oats. Describes the auction for Quaker Oats including terms of the bids. After winning the auction, Coke's stock price fell dramatically. Coke's Board then refused to approve the deal and withdrew. Quaker then approached... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Stocks; Governing and Advisory Boards; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Negotiation Tactics; Valuation; Food and Beverage Industry

Gary Pisano is the Harry E. Figgie, Jr. Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School where he has been on the faculty since 1988. From 2018-2023, Pisano was Harvard Business School’s Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Promotion and... View Details

Keywords: biotechnology; electronics; health care; manufacturing; pharmaceuticals

Srikant M. Datar

Srikant M. Datar became the eleventh dean of Harvard Business School on 1 January 2021. During his tenure as a faculty member, he served as Senior Associate Dean for University Affairs (including Faculty Chair of the Harvard Innovation Lab), for Research, for... View Details

Keywords: accounting industry; airline; automobiles; banking; biotechnology; communications; consumer products; e-commerce industry; health care; high technology; investment banking industry; management consulting; manufacturing; pharmaceuticals; venture capital industry

16 Feb 2011
News

What to Ask Your Company's Auditors

June 2001 (Revised July 2001)
Case

Boston Lyric Opera

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Dennis Campbell

The Boston Lyric Opera was the fastest growing opera company in North America during the 1990s. Having successfully completed a move to a larger facility in 1999, the board and general director recognize the need to develop a formal strategic planning and governance... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Strategic Planning; Arts; Growth and Development Strategy; Governing and Advisory Boards; Fine Arts Industry; Massachusetts

21 Sep 2018
News

Innovation Should Be a Top Priority for Boards. So Why Isn’t It?

February 1991 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Alantar, Inc.

By: Jay W. Lorsch

The CEO and chairman of Alantar, Inc. is confronted with the problem of how to create a more effective board of directors and also how to provide for his own successor. View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Succession; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Ecuador

2009
Working Paper

Corporate Misgovernance at the World Bank

By: Ashwin Kaja and Eric D. Werker

We test for evidence of corporate misgovernance at the World Bank. Most major decisions at the World Bank are made by its Board of Executive Directors. However, in any given year the majority of the Bank's member countries do not get a chance to serve on this powerful... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; International Finance; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards

Read Now

13 May 2014
First Look

First Look: May 13

how management and corporate boards of directors can best manage investor relations with activist stockholders such as hedge funds who are demanding major changes within a corporation to improve stockholder return. Beverage industry firm... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

31 Jan 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Boardroom Centrality and Firm Performance

Keywords: by David F. Larcker, Eric C. So & Charles C.Y. Wang

February 2013
Article

Exceptional Boards: Environmental Experience and Positive Deviance from Institutional Norms

By: Judith Walls and Andrew J. Hoffman

This paper explores the phenomenon of positive organizational deviance from institutional norms by establishing practices that protect or enhance the natural environment. Seeking to explain why some organizations practice positive environmental deviance while others do... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Networks; Organizational Culture; Governing and Advisory Boards; Environmental Management

Find at Harvard

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

September 2022 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Esas Group: Investing Together, Staying Together

By: Christina R. Wing and Alpana Thapar

This case opens in June 2022, after Esas Group, one of Turkey’s largest family-owned investment firms, implements a series of changes to professionalize the business and help transition family members from operators to responsible investors. In December 2019, the Group... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Transition; Business or Company Management; Organizational Structure; Governing and Advisory Boards; Governance; Financial Services Industry; Turkey