Publications

SSRN

04 Jan 2022
What Do You Think?

Firing McDonald’s Easterbrook: What Could the Board Have Done Differently?

(iStockphoto/tofumax) A corporate board’s most important decision is selecting the organization’s CEO. By the same token, one could argue that a board’s most distasteful decision concerns firing a CEO. Once directors agree to release the CEO, the next step is... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

12 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Investors Often Lose When They Sue Their Financial Adviser

investments and never assume that years of education will make them more aware of misdeeds. Egan started studying ethics in financial services after an adviser swindled his aunt, a high-level university administrator. Watching her seek... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services

14 Jan 2019
Op-Ed

These 4 CEOs Created a New Standard of Leadership

Four titans who defined a new era in business during the past decade recently concluded their terms: PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi, Unilever’s Paul Polman, Mayo Clinic’s John Noseworthy, and US Bancorp’s Richard Davis. When they became CEOs, the Great Recession of 2008 was... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Health; Banking; Food & Beverage; Consumer Products

23 Aug 2021
News

Why White-Collar Crime Spiked in America After 9/11

February 2012
Case

Henkel: Building a Winning Culture

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This case illustrates a CEO-led organizational transformation driven by stretch goals, performance measurement, and accountability. When Kasper Rorsted became CEO of Henkel, a Germany-based producer of personal care, laundry, and adhesives products, in 2008, he was... View Details

Keywords: Performance Measurement; Performance Appraisals; Human Resource Management; Values; Organizational Transformations; Pay For Performance; Strategy Execution; Values and Beliefs; Work-Life Balance; Organizational Culture; Human Resources; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits

October 2011
Case

Chris and Alison Weston (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Celia Moore

Chris and Alison Weston describe how they, a well-educated middle class couple, ended up committing mail fraud, for which they each served a year and a half in federal prison. The case highlights for students how otherwise upstanding individuals much like themselves... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Conflict of Interests; Value

28 Jun 2022
News

The Moral Enterprise: How Two Companies Profit with Purpose

December 2009 (Revised January 2024)
Case

A Letter from Prison

By: Eugene Soltes

Stephen Richards, the former global head of sales at Computer Associates, Inc. (CA), is serving a seven-year prison sentence for financial fraud. In the case, Richards responds to a number of questions about managerial responsibility and the manipulation of financial... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Corporate Accountability; Managerial Roles

11 Apr 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Managers and Market Capitalism

Keywords: by Rebecca Henderson & Karthik Ramanna

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang

Launching Technology Ventures
Launching Technology Ventures (LTV) is designed for students who are actively working on their own startups or who will work at early-stage startups. The course material is, in particular, focused on new businesses in the... View Details

July 2020
Case

Steve Kerr: Coaching the Golden State Warriors to Joy, Compassion, Competition, and Mindfulness

By: Francesca Gino and Jeffrey Huizinga

Steve Kerr, coach of the 3-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors, reflects on his values-driven leadership style in the wake of a challenging season. View Details

Keywords: Coaching; Values; Basketball; Agility; Leadership; Values and Beliefs; Diversity; Leadership Style; Sports

15 Dec 2023
News

The Musts of 2023

(MBA 1988): Brian Crombie. I'm 1988, section E. I think Oppenheimer is one of the best movies I've ever seen, and I think to understand that history, and how even the gentleman that invented, effectively, the atomic age, questioned the View Details

Web

Continuing Education - Business & Environment

Understand how decisions affect markets and business on a global scale and prepare for the political, social, and economic factors driving change. Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability Online Develop a toolkit for making tough leadership decisions with... View Details

September 2016
Case

Truly Human Leadership at Barry-Wehmiller

By: Dylan Minor and Jan Rivkin

The chief executive of Barry-Wehmiller, a large maker of industrial equipment, has resolved to run the company via “truly human leadership” in which “success is measured by the way we touch the lives of people.” With unusual people practices and a distinctive strategy,... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Values and Beliefs; Organizational Culture; Employees; Business Strategy; Manufacturing Industry

Web

Participation - Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning

Transcript Don't forget the B players Tom DeLong Professor Delong discusses the importance of not overlooking the "solid citizens" who make up a majority of the class or institution. Transcript Suggested Reading 1991 Patterns of Participation by Julie Hertenstein 1991... View Details

June 2013 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Governance and Sustainability at Nike (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Nien-hê Hsieh and Lara Adamsons

Two members of Nike's executive team must decide what sustainability targets to propose to Nike's CEO and to the corporate responsibility committee of Nike's board of directors. Set in 2012, the case traces the evolution of Nike's approach to environmental and social... View Details

Keywords: Nike; Hannah Jones; Mark Parker; Phil Knight; Philip Knight; Eric Sprunk; Jill Ker Conway; Phyllis Wise; Don Blair; Sustainable Business And Innovation; SB＆I; Flyknit; DyeCoo; Footwear; Athletic Footwear; Apparel; Athletic Apparel; Sustainability; Greenpeace; Detox Campaign; Dirty Laundry; Water; Water Use; Water Pollution; Water Resources; Corporate Responsibility Committee; Judgment; Board Of Directors; Board Committees; Environmental And Social Sustainability; Footwear Industry; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Ethics; Fairness; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governance; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance; Alignment; Supply Chain; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Judgments; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Asia; China; United States; Oregon; Portland