Publications

June 1997
Case

Olympic Financial Ltd.

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Sarayu Srinivasan

Olympic Financial is a sub-prime lender in the auto financing industry. Several other financing companies have been wrought with accounting fraud and business mismanagement. Olympic's debt has been downgraded, and its stock has been denigrated although the company is... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Crime and Corruption; Valuation; Financial Reporting; Credit; Financial Services Industry

March 2017
Article

Creativity in Unethical Behavior Attenuates Condemnation and Breeds Social Contagion: When Transgressions Seem to Create Little Harm

By: Scott S. Wiltermuth, Lynne C. Vincent and F. Gino

Across six studies, people judged creative forms of unethical behavior to be less unethical than less creative forms of unethical behavior, particularly when the unethical behaviors imposed relatively little direct harm on victims. As a result of perceiving behaviors... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Perception; Creativity

17 Jun 2013
News

4 Questions To Identify Your Innovation Killers

May 1997 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Vermeer Technologies (E): New Beginning

By: Ashish Nanda

The Vermeer team is pleasantly surprised by the benefits and hospitality that their new surroundings offer. Their happiness is tempered, however, by discomfort with some elements of the "Microsoft Way." As the Vermeer engineers embark on a punishing schedule for the... View Details

Keywords: Performance Expectations; Horizontal Integration; Organizational Design; Organizational Culture; Product Development; Information Technology Industry

March 2010
Article

Nameless + Harmless = Blameless: When Seemingly Irrelevant Factors Influence Judgment of (Un)ethical Behavior

By: Francesca Gino, Lisa L. Shu and Max Bazerman

People often make judgments about the ethicality of others’ behaviors and then decide how harshly to punish such behaviors. When they make these judgments and decisions, sometimes the victims of the unethical behavior are identifiable, and sometimes they are not. In... View Details

Keywords: Judgments; Ethics; Behavior

Read Now

14 Apr 2016
News

The Secret Weapon For Collaboration

January 11, 2021
Article

The Breach of the U.S. Capitol Was a Breach of Trust

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta

This article frames the January 6th attack of the U.S. Capitol as a betrayal of our trust in government. Using Sucher and Gupta’s trust framework, the article explains how the attacks were a failure of the four elements of trust: competence, motives, fair means, and... View Details

Keywords: Violence; Trust; Government and Politics

Register to Read

19 Jul 2016
News

$14.7 Billion Volkswagen Settlement Will Not Deter Future White Collar Corporate Crime

09 Aug 2017
News

Financial Fraud: It Takes Two

October 1992 (Revised February 1995)
Background Note

Note on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations

By: Lynn S. Paine

Describes the federal guidelines used by judges for sentencing organizations convicted of criminal wrong-doing under U.S. law as of November 1, 1991. Describes the guidelines' approach to calculating criminal fines for organizations, determining an organization's... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Governance Compliance; Law Enforcement; Laws and Statutes; Organizations; Legal Services Industry; United States

2008
Working Paper

Nameless + Harmless = Blameless: When Seemingly Irrelevant Factors Influence Judgment of (Un)ethical Behavior

By: Francesca Gino, Lisa L. Shu and Max H. Bazerman

People often make judgments about the ethicality of others' behaviors and then decide how harshly to punish such behaviors. When they make these judgments and decisions, sometimes the victims of the unethical behavior are identifiable, and sometimes they are not. In... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Judgments; Ethics; Law; Behavior; Cognition and Thinking; Prejudice and Bias

Read Now

28 Apr 2021
News

Psychological Safety in a Hybrid World

06 Jun 2023
Cold Call Podcast

The Opioid Crisis, CEO Pay, and Shareholder Activism

Keywords: Re: Suraj Srinivasan; Health; Pharmaceutical; Distribution

February 2014 (Revised August 2015)
Case

The Estate Tax Debate

By: Matthew Weinzierl, Katrina Flanagan and Valerie Galinskaya

Per dollar of revenue, no tax policy generates more sound and fury than the taxation of estates. To supporters, the tax is a break on the concentration of wealth and power and an easy way to fund redistribution. To opponents, the tax is an unjust punishment of the... View Details

Keywords: Atkinson-Stiglitz; Optimal Capital Taxation; Bequest Motives; Taxation; Family and Family Relationships; Property