Publications

February 2009 (Revised August 2012)
Background Note

Note on Socially Responsible Investing

By: Sandra J. Sucher, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Ian McKown Cornell

This note describes Socially Responsible Investing, providing a brief history, description of different socially responsible investing approaches, and overview of selected players and institutions involved in the socially responsible investing field. It has been... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Corporate Governance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability

June 2012 (Revised August 2012)
Case

MF Global: Where's the Money?

By: Clayton S. Rose, Pamela Chan and Raghav Chopra

When MF Global failed in October of 2011, it was discovered that $1.6 billion of segregated customer assets was missing. Safeguarding these assets was the firm's responsibility, and in the words of one SEC official, its "sacred obligation." What is known about the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Firms; Customer Obligations; Bankruptcy; Regulation; Financial Crisis; Brokerage; Asset Management; Ethics; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Financial Management; Crisis Management; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Services Industry

March 2014 (Revised May 2014)
Teaching Note

The TELUS Share Conversion Proposal

By: Lucy White and Benjamin C. Esty

On February 21, 2013, TELUS announced a proposal to convert the firm's non-voting shares into voting shares on a one-to-one basis, thereby eliminating the firm's dual class structure. Shareholders were scheduled to vote on the proposal at the firm's annual general... View Details

30 Jun 2010
News

Congressional Pork Is Bad for Business

The passing on June 28 of Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia at 92, after a 51-year career in the Senate, triggered an outpouring of remembrances, positive and negative, of his long service on Capitol Hill. Serving in a variety of... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support; Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support

November 2001 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Evolution of Treatment, The: The Case of Diabetes

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, Jeffrey D. Street and Laura Feldman

Scientific knowledge surrounding diabetes mellitus has grown over the last century to include its cause, treatment, and prevention strategies. However, the type and level of care that patients receive is suboptional. This case examines the forces in industry,... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Management; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Health Industry

August 1990
Case

NASA After Challenger: Restoring an Image

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Norman Klein

In the days following the loss of the space shuttle Challenger and its crew in January of 1986, NASA officials were unwilling to communicate with the media or the public. A siege mentality took hold, and the press and public responded with intense criticism and... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Policy; Business and Community Relations; Situation or Environment; Conflict Management

21 Jun 2011
First Look

First Look: June 21

telecommunications to tobacco and soft drinks. The dangers of excessive market concentration are greater in finance, however, because of the systemic importance of credit to the economy and the now widely... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Spring 2021
Article

Building Cities' Collaborative Muscle

By: Jorrit De Jong, Amy C. Edmondson, Mark Moore, Hannah Riley-Bowles, Jan Rivkin, Eva Flavia Martínez Orbegozo and Santiago Pulido-Gomez

The most pressing social problems facing cities today require multiagency and cross-sector solutions. We offer tools and techniques to facilitate the process of diagnosing and solving problems by breaking down silos to build up cities. View Details

Keywords: Collaboration; Cross-sector Collaboration; City; Governance; Problems and Challenges; Cooperation

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July 2016
Case

'Golden Leash' Pay for Directors at The Dow Chemical Company

By: Ian Gow, Suraj Srinivasan and Neeraj Goyal

In November 2014, The Dow Chemical Company was faced with the prospect of a proxy battle with prominent hedge fund and activist investor Third Point Management. The activist had criticized Dow’s recent performance and advocated that the company split itself to maximize... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Investment Activism; Chemical Industry

January 2025
Case

Cyber Oversight: SolarWinds Board of Directors

By: Lynn S. Paine

In 2020, just two years after its IPO, information technology company SolarWinds discovered that it was the victim of an attack on its information systems by Russian hackers. The incident, known as the Sunburst attack, was costly for the company, and certain... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Corporate Accountability; Governing and Advisory Boards; Cybersecurity; Lawsuits and Litigation; Legal Liability; Business and Shareholder Relations; Risk Management; Information Technology Industry; United States; Texas; Delaware

Mar 2012
Article

Green Rules to Drive Innovation

increasing carbon charge; this would help internalize environmental costs, drive investment in energy efficiency, encourage innovation in renewable power, and raise substantial revenues that could reduce the national debt. Second, they... View Details

January 2016 (Revised January 2019)
Case

The Allergan Board Under Fire (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Suraj Srinivasan, John C. Coates and David Lane

In 2014, the Allergan Inc. board of directors received a surprise takeover offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals in alliance with hedge fund activist Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management. In the unprecedented arrangement between an acquirer and a hedge fund... View Details

2024
Working Paper

Laparoscopy—Minimally Invasive Surgery: Case Histories of Transformational Advances

By: Amar Bhidé, Caitlin N. Bowler and Srikant M. Datar

We describe how operations through laparoscopes – tubular instruments inserted into abdominal cavities – revolutionized gynecological and other surgeries inside the abdomen, such as gall bladder removal. Specifically, we chronicle the 1) foundational contributions of... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Technology Adoption; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Invention; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

SSRN

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22 Mar 2018
Blog Post

“Mission + Profit: What’s the Balance?” asks SECON 2018

How do you balance between being a mission-driven organization and a financially profitable company? That was the central question we posed to participants and speakers of this year’s Social Enterprise... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit / Government; Nonprofit / Government; Nonprofit / Government; Nonprofit / Government; Nonprofit / Government

16 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

The Times Captures History of American Business

the door, so to speak. There is not a huge amount in the book about political history, which is an integral part of business. World Wars I and II were enormously influential on the American economy, but they... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Journalism & News

October 2002 (Revised June 2006)
Case

KnowledgeNet (A)

By: William A. Sahlman and Elizabeth Kind

Describes the internal reporting package for a rapidly growing company in the e-learning industry. Management must analyze the data in the package and decide what actions to take. They must also decide what to communicate to the board of directors. Contains a... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Growth Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Performance Improvement; Performance Evaluation; Education Industry