Publications

Teaching Interest

Turnarounds and Transformation (formerly Entrepreneurial Management in a Turnaround Environment)

By: Ranjay Gulati

The focus of this course is the leader as a strategist, architect, decision maker, and change agent in a turnaround or transformation environment. This course is intended for students pursuing a range of career options as business operators,... View Details

Keywords: MBA; Transformation

December 2005 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Leerink Swann & Co.: Creating Competitive Advantage

By: Boris Groysberg and Andrew N. McLean

In the spring of 2005, CEO Jeff Leerink has called a meeting of the executive committee to formulate Leerink Swann's growth strategy over the next five years so that it accomplishes three goals: expand into a new business, reinforce the firm's legacy businesses, and... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Human Resources; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Alignment; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Expansion

October 2002 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Jinwoong: Financing an Entrepreneurial Firm in the Wake of the Korean Financial Crisis

Describes T.P. Lee, the founder and CEO of Jinwoong, a 19-year-old entrepreneurial company in Korea that has grown to become the world's largest manufacturer of camping tents. Labeled by Fortune as one of the most promising entrepreneurs in Asia in 1993, Lee faces some... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Financial Crisis; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; South Korea

28 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Coronavirus Could Create a 'Bankruptcy Pandemic'

runs out. Importantly, there is no surviving, ongoing business. In the US, in stark contrast, bankruptcy law serves a much different purpose. Under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code, the goal is to give distressed companies the View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Banking

18 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

Penn State Lesson: Today’s Cover-Up was Yesterday’s Opportunity

acknowledged its pedophilia scandals, it would have protected victims and its moral authority. Had President Bill Clinton admitted his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, the scandal would have subsided, enabling him to focus on his pro-growth policies to balance the... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Education

14 Sep 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Google Engineer Deserved to be Fired by the CEO

the authentic leaders in my research —both male and female—strive to achieve. It is regrettable that such important issues as workplace culture, creating environments that do not discriminate or stereotype groups of people, or ensuring... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

29 Mar 2010
Research & Ideas

Ruthlessly Realistic: How CEOs Must Overcome Denial

Reviewing a spectacular business failure, we often wonder why the CEO didn't see trouble coming. It was so obvious. Why didn't Digital Equipment Corp. CEO Kenneth Olsen see the PC as a threat to... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Auto; Retail; Technology

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Paid for Success: Options for Compensating CEOs

new options; these offer another opportunity to reach the pot of gold and even recoup previous losses. "The upshot of this approach," says Hall, "is that CEOs have a carrot and a stick in... View Details

Keywords: by Judith A. Ross

24 Nov 2015
Research & Ideas

Developing Your Next CEO for the Family Business

A good book on CEO succession is The CEO Within by my Harvard Business School colleague Joe Bower. Bower studied how companies perform after hiring a new CEO, noting whether the successor had been recruited... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Auto

August 15, 2014
Article

Can an Outside CEO Run a Family-Owned Business?

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

This article explores the intricate dynamics that often characterize family-owned businesses, shedding light on key archetypes that play prominent roles within these organizations. Using a narrative approach, the article illustrates the challenges faced by leaders... View Details

Keywords: Family Ownership; Personal Characteristics; Family and Family Relationships; Management Practices and Processes

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18 Aug 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Courageous Leader Triggers a Moral Revolt of CEOs Against Trump

Nothing like this has happened in 50 years. Forty-three CEOs of major American corporations revolted against President Trump this week, which led to the shutdown of two presidential advisory councils. In so doing, these leaders may have... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

11 Oct 2004
Research & Ideas

Four Ways to Create Lasting Change

work of creating new processes, systems, and behaviors. You've learned, however, that it is important to lay the groundwork much earlier on. What attracted you to the "Alpha Corporation" in order to learn how to change a firm's... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

22 Apr 2020
Research Event

How Investors Are Sizing Up Climate Change’s Risks—and Opportunities

imperative to a matter of value. “Climate is extremely important to understanding the long-term value prospects of individual companies,” said guest speaker Ronald P. O’Hanley (MBA 1986), CEO of State Street, which oversees nearly $32... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services

11 Apr 2023
Op-Ed

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

for a strategic plan, not a detailed document engraved in stone, but a clear sense of strategic direction and vision that will have excited them sufficiently to warrant entrusting you with the CEO role. Once you start implementing... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

May 2006 (Revised July 2007)
Case

Creating Meaning for the Customer: The Case of GMACI

Excellence in exploiting customer information and leveraging its affiliation to the GM group are among the strategic options that GMAC Insurance CEO Gary Kusumi is considering. GMAC Insurance, the wholly-owned auto insurance subsidiary of General Motors, formed through... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Strategy; Auto Industry; Insurance Industry