Publications

02 Sep 2019
What Do You Think?

Are Overlooked Forces Shielding the US from Severe Economic Downturns?

trade war continues (TonyO), leadership or lack thereof (Harry White), actions by the current US administration to encourage firms to bring jobs home and promulgate “America first” policies (Todd Z.), reduced dependency on foreign oil,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Service

John F. Batter

John Batter is a retired Litigation Partner in the Boston Office of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP where his practice focussed on on the defense of public and private companies and their directors and management against breach of fiduciary duty claims and... View Details

13 Jul 2010
First Look

First Look: July 13

open space while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. This year, the DUMBO BID must decide if it should continue its small actions or pursue a neighborhood-wide Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating while constrained... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

Who is Boss in the Sharing Economy?

argued, the company was "involved in every aspect of the operation"-from how many rides drivers had to accept in an hour to how they had to interact with customers. Two separate class-action lawsuits against Uber and Lyft are still... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Service; Technology

18 Feb 2021
Blog Post

SIPs in 2021

entire class openly in tears. But there we were, Zoom screen after Zoom screen of emotional, vulnerable participants reacting to the deeply personal reflections of Bozoma (Boz) Saint John, the CMO of Netflix, in Professors Frances Frei... View Details

April 2007 (Revised June 2008)
Background Note

USG

By: Elie Ofek and Kerry Herman

Serves as a background note for purposes of class discussion around next-generation innovation at USG. Describes the company, its products, and competitors. Of relevance is the fact that it recently filed for Chapter 11 due to litigation over asbestos-related claims.... View Details

Keywords: Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Innovation and Invention; Lawsuits and Litigation; Competition

TeachingInterests

Managing the Future of Work (MBA Education—Elective Curriculum)

By: Christopher T. Stanton

The nature and scope of work is changing rapidly, creating massive business challenges in the shadow of broader political and social shifts. HBS launched a major initiative in 2017 on Managing the Future of Work to define these workplace issues and... View Details

September 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Supplement

Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A2)

By: V.G. Narayanan, Fabrizio Ferri and James Weber

The A1 and A2 versions of the “Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A)” split the original A case into two parts. The A1 case ends as activists Sardar Biglari and Phil Cooley prepare to meet with CEO Don Smith at Friendly's headquarters in September 2006. The... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Business and Shareholder Relations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Conflict and Resolution; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

26 Feb 2008
First Look

First Look: February 26, 2008

Working PapersAn Investigation of Earnings Management through Marketing Actions Authors:Craig J. Chapman and Thomas J. Steenburgh Abstract Combining new, hand-collected data with a widely studied dataset, we examine how firms use... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

13 Aug 2021
Blog Post

Exploring Racial Justice with the Scaling Minority Businesses Course

Nimisha Ganesh is a Class of 2021 MBA graduate from Harvard Business School and the Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer of GenUnity, a civic leadership startup. Prior to HBS, she worked at Goldman Sachs and Kitamba, a U.S.-based... View Details

December 2003 (Revised August 2006)
Background Note

Grutter v. Bollinger: A Synopsis

By: Lynn S. Paine

In June 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, upholding the principle of affirmative action in university admissions, which had been challenged as a violation of the U.S. Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment. This case includes... View Details

Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation

Educators

December 1998
Article

Entrepreneurs and Business Performance in Nineteenth Century France

By: Tom Nicholas, Elisa Boccaletti and James Foreman-Peck

A popular explanation for the supposed "delayed industrialisation" of the nineteenth century French economy has been the inappropriate attitudes and actions of the managerial classes and family firms. To address these claims we model the supply and demand for... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Performance; Economy; Management; Success; Opportunities; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Saving; Higher Education; Training; Demand and Consumers; France

Read Now

22 May 2020
Blog Post

Remembering Well and Making Meaning of Memorial Day

Harvard, the campus is quiet. Under the restrictions imposed in response to COVID-19, the halls and lawns of HBS are eerily mute. Sunlight falls on solitary landscapers installing fresh sod and shoveling mulch around spring plantings, while now-rare students have given... View Details

Program

Program for Leadership Development

reflect greater confidence and capabilities Capitalize on the opportunities unleashed by digital transformation Formulate a detailed action plan to address your strategic and leadership challenges Build enduring bonds with accomplished... View Details

January 2022 (Revised January 2023)
Technical Note

Legal Analysis: Sexual Misconduct in the Workplace

By: J.S. Nelson and Trevor Fetter

This background piece describes the spectrum of sexual misconduct, from sexual assault through sexual harassment to gender discrimination. It outlines the patterns involved in this behavior, the legal process for reporting it, and its prevalence both domestically and... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Gender; Social Psychology; Behavior; Lawsuits and Litigation

Educators

2012
Working Paper

Earnings Management from the Bottom Up: An Analysis of Managerial Incentives Below the CEO

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Julie Wulf

Performance-based pay is an important instrument to align the interests of managers with the interests of shareholders. However, recent evidence suggests that high-powered incentives also provide managers with incentives to manipulate the firm's reported earnings. The... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Interests; Business and Shareholder Relations; Motivation and Incentives; Earnings Management; Performance Evaluation; Stock Options

Read Now

12 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

Competition the Cure for Healthcare

the information can be used against them in malpractice lawsuits. Wouldn't you expect that to be the case? A: We believe that the more you measure results, the fewer lawsuits you will have, in part because many View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Health

June 1989 (Revised May 1993)
Supplement

Rossin Greenberg Seronick & Hill, Inc. (C)

By: John A. Quelch

Teaching objectives: 1) to consider legal and other obligations advertising agencies owe to their clients, 2) to show how aggressive marketing can lead to allegations of misconduct, 3) to explore conflicts of interest which may arise for professional service companies... View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Ethics; Lawsuits and Litigation; Marketing; Advertising; Advertising Industry; New England

2014
Article

Models of Caring, or Acting as if One Cared, About the Welfare of Others

By: Julio J. Rotemberg

This paper surveys the theoretical literature in which people are modeled as taking other people's payoffs into account either because this affects their utility directly or because they wish to impress others with their social-mindedness. Key experimental results that... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Behavior; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving