Publications

SSRN

December 2020
Supplement

France Télécom (C): An Unprecedented Trial

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and Ashley V. Whillans

In the C case we learn that former CEO Didier Lombard, Deputy Chief Executive Louis-Pierre Wenes, Human Resources Head Olivier Barberot and France Telecom itself were charged for institutional harassment by French authorities, a first for a CAC 40 company. In December... View Details

13 Aug 2011
News

First, Make Money. Also, Do Good.

26 Mar 2020
News

Coronavirus Pandemic Could Elevate ESG Factors

05 Mar 2019
News

The Dual-Purpose Playbook

Editorial

Can Index Funds Be a Force for Sustainable Capitalism?

By: George Serafeim

Keywords: Sustainability; Sustainable Development; Sustainable Finance; Social Impact; Indexing; Finance

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August 2019
Case

Simón Cohen at Henco: Sustaining 'High Performance, Happy People'

By: Francesca Gino, Jeff Steiner, Arianna Camacho and Paul Green

Simón Cohen—Founder of Henco Logistics—transformed a small Mexican logistics company into a major player within the industry. Cohen credits the firm’s focus on employee happiness as the key ingredient to its success, an approach he developed following a personal... View Details

Keywords: Work/life Balance; Growth Strategy; Corporate Culture; Motivation; Values; Authentic Leadership Development; Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Motivation and Incentives; Values and Beliefs; Service Operations; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry

April 2005 (Revised November 2008)
Case

Banco Real: Banking on Sustainability

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

ABN AMRO REAL made corporate social responsibility central to its brand, adding to customer focus and reflecting its values. Leaders developed the Bank of Value theme and implemented it through activities such as microfinance in poor communities, environmentally... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage

2023
Working Paper

The Value of Professional Ties in B2B Markets

By: Navid Mojir and Sriya Anbil

We study how a particular form of social ties (i.e., professional ties proxied by past employment) aﬀects price and proﬁtability in business-to-business (B2B) markets. While most of the work on social ties focuses on information diﬀusion in business-to-consumer... View Details

Keywords: Professional Ties; Social Ties; Business-to-business Marketing; B2B Marketing; Repo; Individual Connections; B2B Pricing; Pricing; Decision-making In Financial Markets; Marketing; Relationships; Price; Financial Markets; Decision Making

SSRN

June 2018 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Valuing Snap After the IPO Quiet Period (A)

By: Marco Di Maggio, Benjamin C. Esty and Gregory Saldutte

Snap, the disappearing message app, went public at $17 per share on March 2, 2017, making its two 20-something founders the youngest self-made billionaires in the country. Over the next three weeks, 14 analysts made investment recommendations on Snap: two with buy... View Details

March 2018 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Edward Lewis: Essence Magazine

By: Steven Rogers and Jacqueline Adams

Essence, the first magazine aimed at African-American women, was created by four, young, Black entrepreneurs in the aftermath of massive racial and political upheaval in the United States in 1968. The venture was a financial, branding and cultural success. By 2005, the... View Details

Article

The Effects of Media Slant on Firm Behavior

By: Vishal P. Baloria and Jonas Heese

The media can impose reputational costs on firms because of its important role as an information intermediary and its ability to negatively slant coverage. We exploit a quasi-natural experiment that holds constant the information event across firms, but varies the... View Details

Keywords: Media Slant; Reputational Capital; Strategic Corporate Decisions; Media; News; Communication Strategy; Reputation

SSRN

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January 9, 2023
Editorial

The Pursuit of Profit with Purpose Requires Patience

By: George Serafeim

Keywords: Corporate Purpose; Purpose; Purpose Of Business Schools; Entrepreneur; Mission and Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Profit; Entrepreneurship

July 2022
Article

Mental Health During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review and Recommendations for Moving Forward

By: Lara Aknin, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Elizabeth Dunn, Daisy Fancourt, Elkhonon Goldberg, John Helliwell, Sarah P. Jones, Elie Karam, Richard Layard, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Andrew Rzepa, Shekhar Saxena, Emily Thornton, Tyler VanderWeele, Ashley V. Whillans, Jamil Zaki, Ozge Karadag Caman and Yanis Ben Amour

COVID-19 has infected millions of people and upended the lives of most humans on the planet. Researchers from across the psychological sciences have sought to document and investigate the impact of COVID-19 in myriad ways, causing an explosion of research that is broad... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Mental Health; Psychological Distress; Subjective Well-being; Lonelines; Social Connection; Self-harm; Suicide; Health Pandemics; Well-being

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06 Sep 2017
What Do You Think?

Summing Up: What Are the Limits of CEO Activism?

CEOs face difficult choices when deciding to speak out under the company's brand. Credit: fizkes Summing Up: Should Boards Specify Limits on CEO Activism? Opinions about suitable CEO activism—taking public positions and actions on social... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

January 2019 (Revised July 2019)
Case

New Balance: Managing Orders and Working Conditions

By: Michael W. Toffel, Eileen McNeely and Matthew Preble

New Balance Athletics, Inc., a major U.S.-based athletic footwear and apparel brand, sources most of its footwear products from independent suppliers whose factories are located in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Monica Gorman, vice president of responsible leadership... View Details

Keywords: Footwear; Athletic Footwear; Manufacturing; CSR; Sustainability; Quality Management; Supply Chains; Operations; Management; Production; Working Conditions; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Labor and Management Relations; Supply Chain Management; Supply Chain; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Consumer Products Industry

September 2009 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Western Union: Our World, Our Family®

By: Christopher Marquis

In 2006, Western Union spun-off from its former parent, First Data Corporation, and began the process of defining itself as a stand-alone organization. Part of that effort was the creation of a strategic corporate social responsibility program called Our World, Our... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Programs; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Alignment; Value

January 2015
Article

Are Incentives Without Expertise Sufficient? Evidence from Fortune 500 Firms

By: Emilie R. Feldman and Cynthia A. Montgomery

Agency theory predicts that incentives will align agents' interests with those of principals. However, the resource-based view suggests that to be effective, the incentive to deliver must be paired with the ability to deliver. Using Fortune 500 boards as an... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Corporate Governance; Incentives; Expertise; Motivation and Incentives; Governing and Advisory Boards; Experience and Expertise; Agency Theory

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January 2006 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Akin Ongor's Journey

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

A retired bank CEO, one of Turkey's most admired leaders, wants to start a leadership institute to develop emerging leaders in the eastern Mediterranean region. Describes his biography and values, the models he established for excellent financial performance and... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Values and Beliefs; Partners and Partnerships; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business Startups; Environmental Sustainability; Retirement; Education Industry; Turkey; United States