Publications

Keywords: Infrastructure, Mining

Web

Alumni in Climate Networking Series: San Francisco - Addressing Extreme Weather, Climate Risk, and Resilience - Blog - Business & Environment

Environmental & Energy Law Program (EELP), hosted a panel and networking reception during San Francisco Climate Week at the University Club of San Francisco focused on how communities, businesses, and View Details

September 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Supplement

Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A2)

By: V.G. Narayanan, Fabrizio Ferri and James Weber

The A1 and A2 versions of the “Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A)” split the original A case into two parts. The A1 case ends as activists Sardar Biglari and Phil Cooley prepare to meet with CEO Don Smith at Friendly's headquarters in September 2006. The... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Business and Shareholder Relations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Conflict and Resolution; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

September 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Case

Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A1)

By: Fabrizio Ferri, V.G. Narayanan and James Weber

Two activist investors, one a founder and one a hedge fund manager, seek to improve board oversight at a chain restaurant company. Prestley Blake founded Friendly Ice Cream in 1935 with his brother, and the two created a chain of full-service restaurants. In 1979, they... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Governing and Advisory Boards; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Conflict of Interests; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

23 Dec 2013
News

Just How Independent are ‘Independent’ Directors?

Tarun Khanna

Tarun Khanna is the Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at the Harvard Business School. For almost three decades, he has studied entrepreneurship as a means to social and economic development in emerging markets. At HBS since 1993, after obtaining degrees from Princeton... View Details

September 2020
Case

Keeping It in the Family at the Hayden Saw Company

By: V.G. Narayanan and John Masko

In 2019, Board Chair and third-generation shareholder Helen Fullerton was preparing for a meeting to discuss Ohio-based Hayden Saw Company’s (Hayden) future as a family business. As the company entered its fifth decade, the Hayden family was dealing with three distinct... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Corporate Governance; Family Ownership; Business and Shareholder Relations; Family and Family Relationships; Governing and Advisory Boards; Construction Industry; Ohio; United States

August 2024
Case

Cristina Ventura: The Career of a Catalyst

By: Linda A. Hill, Allison J. Wigen and Ruth Page

This multimedia case follows the career of Chief Catalyst Officer for the Lane Crawford Joyce Group (LCJG), Cristina Ventura. After beginning her career in luxury in Europe and Asia, Ventura was recruited in 2011 to open Apple’s flagship stores in Hong Kong and South... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Entrepreneurship; Luxury; Family Business; Personal Development and Career; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; Technology Industry; Asia; China; Hong Kong

February 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Mission Related Investments at the Ford Foundation (A)

By: Shawn Cole, Michael Norris and T. Robert Zochowski

In 2017, Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic foundations in the world, was preparing to meet with his board of directors to discuss beginning a mission related investments (MRI) program. Walker hoped to devote $1 billion of... View Details

Keywords: Mission-Related Investing; Philanthropy; Foundation; Endowments; Socially Responsible Investing; Investment; Institutional Investing; Investment Activism; Governance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; United States; New York (city, NY)

Benjamin Esty is the Roy and Elizabeth Simmons Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Over the years, he has taught a variety of courses ranging from advanced corporate finance and project finance to competitive strategy and leadership. He... View Details

Keywords: banking; asset management; investment banking industry; consumer products; shipping; wine; financial services

April 2009
Case

Invest Early: Early Childhood Development in a Rural Community

By: Stacey M. Childress and Geoff Eckman Marietta

Invest Early was an early childhood development partnership in rural northern Minnesota between 14 different organizations, which worked together through an advisory board, governing board, and leadership team in order to deliver coordinated early childhood services to... View Details

Keywords: Early Childhood Education; Rural Scope; Management Teams; Managerial Roles; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Community Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Social and Collaborative Networks

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July 2002 (Revised August 2003)
Case

EXP Systems

By: Malcolm S. Salter and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Discusses selecting investors and avoiding board-level conflicts of interest in start-ups. Using the "term sheet" in third-round financing as a negotiation over future governance and control rights. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Governance Controls; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business Startups; Management Teams

June 2013
Article

Dysfunction in the Boardroom: Understanding the Persistent Gender Gap at the Highest Levels

By: Boris Groysberg and Deborah Bell

The article examines the gender gap that is present in boardrooms in U.S. corporations and internationally in 2013 as more women attempt to reach executive-level positions. Countries in the European Union are attempting to institute laws regarding the minimum... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Governing and Advisory Boards; Gender; United States; European Union

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Career Coach

Annette Rodriguez-Ferrer

Precision Products. Annette’s non-profit experience includes various Harvard Business School boards, the International Women’s Forum (IWF), Florida New Member Nominating Committee and over a decade on the View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products; Entrepreneurship; Impact Investing; Financial Services (All); Investment Banking; Financial Services (All); Investment Management; Financial Services (All); Private Equity; Financial Services (All); Health Care; Retail; Startup - Founder; Entrepreneurship; Startup - Joiner; Entrepreneurship

December 2012
Article

Estimating the Value of Connections to Vice-President Cheney

By: Rakesh Khurana, Raymond Fisman, Julia Galef and Yongxiang Wang

We estimate the market valuation of personal ties to Richard Cheney. Our proxies for personal ties are based on corporate board linkages that are prevalent in the network sociology literature. We consider a number of distinct political and personal events that either... View Details

Keywords: Event Analysis; Political Economy; Corruption; Networks; United States

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Jerry R. Green

David A. Wells Professor of Political Economy

John Leverett Professor in the University

Harvard University

Jerry Green is the John Leverett Professor in the University and the David A. Wells... View Details

Keywords: aerospace; education industry; insurance industry; professional services

November 1996 (Revised April 1999)
Case

United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE)

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Ellen L. Kaplan / RA

A regional United Way organization, a nonprofit already active in total quality management, implements a Balanced Scorecard to link its strategic planning objectives with day-to-day operations, and is able to translate its vision and strategy into objectives and... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Nonprofit Organizations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Strategy; United States

March 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch

By: Guhan Subramanian and Nithyasri Sharma

In September 2008, as Lehman Brothers struggled to survive, John Thain, CEO of Merrill Lynch, realized that his bank was also on the brink of failure. Throughout the weekend of September 13–14, 2008, Thain successfully negotiated a deal with Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Crisis; Financing and Loans; Negotiation Deal; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; United States