Publications

July 2008 (Revised September 2010)
Case

Sony Ericsson WTA Tour (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kaitlyn Simpson

Larry Scott, the new CEO of the Women's Tennis Association, arrives amidst turmoil. Players and tournaments clash over opposing interests. As a result, the board members who represent them are equally divided and feel conflicted about their role. They aren't sure how... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Leadership; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Conflict of Interests; Cooperation; Sports Industry

Find at Harvard

December 2011 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Carl Icahn and Clorox

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kathleen Durante

This case outlines the takeover attempt by activist investor, Carl Icahn, for the Clorox Company. The board of the company repeatedly rejected Icahn's offers as inadequate. He made three bids over the course of three months. View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Governing and Advisory Boards

February 1991 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Ross Perot and General Motors

By: Jay W. Lorsch

In December, 1986 the General Motors Board of Directors must decide whether to accept the buyout agreement between GM and Ross Perot, a director of GM and its largest stockholder. The agreement called for GM to purchase all of Perot's GM shares in exchange for his... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Stock Shares; Resignation and Termination; Business or Company Management; Agreements and Arrangements

01 Apr 2008
News

The Leader Within

Willy C. Shih

Willy Shih is the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Management Practice in Business Administration. He is part of the Technology and Operations Management Unit, and he teaches in the MBA and Executive Education Programs. His expertise is in manufacturing, product... View Details

Keywords: aerospace; automotive; biotechnology; communications; computer; digital imaging; electrical equipment; electronics; entertainment; high technology; industrial goods; information technology industry; manufacturing; retailing; semiconductor

07 Sep 2011
News

Judging success in funding medical research

07 Jun 2014
Video

Courtney Miller Cavatoni - Making A Difference

November 2005
Case

Playgrounds and Performance: Results Management at KaBOOM! (A)

By: Herman B. Leonard, Marc J. Epstein and Laura Winig

KaBOOM!, a successful playground-building social enterprise funded through corporate partnerships, wants to develop a performance measurement system that will enable the organization to expand its impact substantially. The board of directors and management are trying... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Growth and Development Strategy; Social Enterprise; Performance Evaluation; Management Systems; Design; Construction Industry

March 2018 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Chewy.com (A)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Matthew G. Preble

In late 2013, Ryan Cohen, cofounder and CEO of online pet products retailer Chewy.com, faces a “bet the company decision”—whether to stay with a third-party logistics provider (3PL) for all of its e-commerce fulfillment or to take the function in house. Cohen worries... View Details

Keywords: Pet Food; Pet Products; Retail; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Decision Choices and Conditions; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Service Industry; Florida; United States

09 Apr 2012
News

Rise of the paperless meeting

Richard G. Hamermesh

Richard Hamermesh was the MBA Class of 1961 Professor of Management Practice at the Harvard Business School. While at HBS Richard served as co-chair of the HBS Healthcare... View Details

Keywords: health care

Shawn A. Cole

Shawn Cole is the John G. McLean Professor in the Finance Unit at Harvard Business School, where he teaches and conducts research on financial services, impact investing, and Social Enterprise. He serves as faculty chair of the Social Enterprise... View Details

Keywords: banking; financial services; microfinance

March 2023
Case

Azenta Life Sciences: The Road to Transformation

By: Gary P. Pisano and Catherine Piner

When the Board brought Steve Schwartz in as President of Brooks Automation in 2010, they gave him a clear mission: strengthen the company’s core semiconductor equipment business and find a new industry to enter. Over the course of the next decade, Schwartz and the... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Market Entry and Exit; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Segmentation; Technology Industry

January 2018
Supplement

Blue Harbour's Activism at Babcock & Wilcox (B)

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher

Follow-up case detailing the changes and performance upswing at BWX Technologies after hedge fund Blue Harbour Group's investment and when the fund’s Managing Director Robb LeMasters (MBA’05) joined its board of directors. View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Energy Industry; Construction Industry; United States

May 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Background Note

Incentive Strategy II: Executive Compensation and Ownership Structure

By: Brian J. Hall

This case analyzes incentive strategy from the perspective of a company's board of directors and owners. The focus is the role that executive compensation and ownership structure (the composition of, and financial structure between, a company's owners) play in... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Ownership; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Perspective; Strategy; Value Creation