Publications

June 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Creating World-Class Board Governance at SECO

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Emer Moloney

In Spring 2023, SECO CEO Massimo Mauri had the ambition to grow the €200 million revenue technology company to a €1 billion company by 2030. Founded in Italy in the 1970s, the family-owned company had gone through a period of growth and internationalization,... View Details

30 Jan 2019
Blog Post

The Life and Role of a CEO

opportunity for me to explore this topic. Led by Dean Nitin Nohria and Professor Kevin Sharer (former CEO at Amgen), we participated in case discussions with current and past View Details

20 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

The Seven Things That Surprise New CEOs

new CEOs. See a video interview with Porter.Most new chief executives are taken aback by the unexpected and unfamiliar new roles, the time and information limitations, and the altered professional relationships they run up against. Here are the common surprises new... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter, Jay W. Lorsch & Nitin Nohria

July 2017 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Upwork: Creating the Human Cloud

By: Dylan Minor and David Yoffie

Stephane Kasriel, the new CEO of Upwork, the leading platform for freelance labor, needs to decide on how to redesign its business model. While the firm has been growing rapidly since the merger of Odesk and eLance, the newly combined firm continues to face problems of... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Platform; Platform Businesses; Technology; Business Model; Digital Platforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Labor

21 Dec 2017
News

Finding Opportunities to Grow and Lead

Ilene Lang (MBA 1973) is the former president and CEO of Catalyst, where she worked to promote women in leadership in business and beyond. In this interview she talks about finding and creating View Details

28 Oct 2021
News

Creating a Meaningful Corporate Purpose

01 Feb 2000
News

Bart Harvey: Opportunities for Others

Foundation and its related organizations have raised and leveraged $3 billion and helped create one hundred thousand homes for low-income Americans. They have also placed some thirty thousand people in jobs. Harvey, who was named the... View Details

October 28, 2021
Article

Creating a Meaningful Corporate Purpose

By: Hubert Joly

Today, most company leaders believe that their companies’ larger purpose is to make a positive difference in the world—not just to maximize shareholder value. Defining a corporate why and making sure it guides decisions and operations has therefore become a cornerstone... View Details

Keywords: Corporations; Purpose; Meaningfulness; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation

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December 1, 2023
Article

When Charismatic CEOs Are an Asset—and When They’re a Liability

By: Nitin Nohria

Starting in the 1980s, a generation of larger-than-life CEOs became full-blown celebrity, but over time, research suggested that charismatic CEOs tended to have drawbacks at leaders. However, charisma can be especially useful in two business concepts with big unknowns:... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Business Startups; Risk and Uncertainty; Organizational Change and Adaptation

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30 Sep 2011
News

The Most Successful CEOs Come from Within

30 Oct 2019
News

Creating Agents of Change

Susana Eshleman (MBA 1998) is president and CEO of Children International. In this interview she talks about the goals and benefits of running an international nonprofit organization. “Children International is a global nonprofit... View Details

April 2025
Case

Setting a CEO Agenda: Ole Rosgaard at Greif

By: Krishna Palepu and Kerry Herman

Since taking over as CEO of industrial packaging giant Greif, Ole Rosgaard has focused on growing the company and improving the perception of its value by the capital markets. He and his senior leadership team have made inroads to this end, including adjusting the... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Valuation; Governing and Advisory Boards; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Industrial Products Industry; North America; Europe

31 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

From SpinPop to SpinBrush: Entrepreneurial Lessons from John Osher

the more eclectic business careers of the last few decades. His entrepreneurial journey culminated (at least temporarily) in the sale of his electric toothbrush company to Procter & Gamble for almost a half-billion dollars. Not bad... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Consumer Products

07 Feb 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Creating the Founders’ Dilemmas Course

important to them and something that's really important to them," Wasserman says. "But at the end of the course we look at founders who were able to grow something valuable and also remain CEO of it—those rare ducks."... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Education

23 Oct 2020
Video

Entrepreneurship Opportunities in a Post-COVID World: The Future of Travel, Mobility and Hospitality

18 Apr 2016 - 19 Apr 2016
Other Presentation

Creating Shared Value in Health Care

By: Michael E. Porter

The overall purpose of the conference was to inspire CEOs to become more aware of their public health footprint, how they can improve the sustainability of their products and health of their workforce and their untapped power to influence change and progress in the... View Details

Keywords: Society; Health Care; Community Impact; Shared Value; Value Creation; Organizations; Civil Society or Community; Health Care and Treatment; Business and Community Relations