CEO Succession - Publications - Faculty & Research

03 Jun 2013
News

Who's Really Responsible for P&G's Succession Problems?

4 PM – 5 PM EST, 10 Mar 2021
Virtual Programming

Meet the i-labs Unicorns: Celebrating Venture Success Stories

How did two Harvard Innovation Lab alumni teams achieve valuations of more than $1 billion. In a discussion moderated by i-lab executive director Matt Segneri (AB 2004, MBA 2010), Will Ahmed (AB 2012), founder and CEO of WHOOP, and Lissy Hu (MD/MBA 2014), founder and... View Details

20 Mar 2013
Research & Ideas

How CEOs Sustain Higher-Ambition Goals

At a recent Harvard Business School conference, dozens of CEOs committed to the idea of working toward "higher-ambition" goals that go beyond just short-term shareholder value. Inspired by the book Higher Ambition: How Great Leaders... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

January 2025
Article

Communication Within Firms: Evidence from CEO Turnovers

By: Stephen Michael Impink, Andrea Prat and Raffaella Sadun

This paper uses novel, firm-level communication measures derived from communications metadata several months before and after a CEO transition for 102 firms to study whether and how this organizational event is reflected in employees’ communication flows. We find that... View Details

Keywords: Information; Communication; Management Succession; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Alignment

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11 Mar 2021
Video

Meet the i-Lab‘s “Unicorns”: Celebrating Venture Success Stories

11 Apr 2023
Op-Ed

The First 90 Hours: What New CEOs Should—and Shouldn't—Do to Set the Right Tone

headhunters will have tempted away your best executives. 7 steps to a successful start Here are seven recommendations newly appointed leaders should consider following—and it would be best to get all of this work done by the end of their... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

2018
Working Paper

When to Take the Leap: The Antecedents and Consequences of Leapfrog CEOs

By: J. Yo-Jud Cheng

Much of the prior research on CEO successions focuses on differences between CEOs appointed from within the firm and those appointed from outside; however, this dichotomy neglects significant heterogeneity in CEOs’ career trajectories. In this study, I examine the... View Details

Keywords: Management Succession; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Innovation and Management

Citation

December 2014
Case

Groupon: A New CEO Takes Charge

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Arnold B. Peinado

On August 7, 2013, Eric Lefkofsky, the chairman and largest shareholder of Groupon was named CEO, replacing founder Andrew Mason, who had run the company since its inception in 2009. When Groupon had its initial public offering (IPO) in November 2011, the company's... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Disruptive Technologies; Growth Strategy; Customer Relations; Service Management; International Business; Business Models; Strategy Execution; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; United States

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From C-Suite to CEO - Alumni

Careers From C-Suite to CEO Careers From C-Suite to CEO Interested in making the transition from C-suite executive to CEO? The path will be different for everyone, however, studies of View Details

October 2003 (Revised November 2006)
Case

GE's Talent Machine: The Making of a CEO

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Andrew N. McLean

GE believes its ability to develop management talent is a core competency that represents a source of sustainable competitive advantage. This case traces the development of GE's rich system of human resource policies and practices under five CEOs in the post-war era,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Capital; Selection and Staffing; Leadership Development; Management Succession; Corporate Strategy

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01 Mar 2007
News

Avon CEO Jung on Leadership

Jung Andrea Jung, chairman and CEO of Avon Products, Inc., knows a thing or two about reinvention. After taking over the venerable beauty-products firm in 1999, she helped it shed the last vestiges of its “Ding-dong, Avon calling” image... View Details

Keywords: makeup; grooming; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management; Health and Personal Care Stores; Retail Trade

29 May 2006
Research & Ideas

Why CEOs Are Not Plug-and-Play

and where to cut was clearly a plus for Carlos Ghosn, who is not a GE alumnus but is one of the cases we teach on a new CEO widely known for transforming the nearly bankrupt Japanese auto manufacturer Nissan into one of the world's most... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Andrew N. McLean & Nitin Nohria; Employment

06 Aug 2021
Book

Steve Jobs and the Rise of the Celebrity CEO

In the 1950s, most Americans probably couldn’t name the CEOs of the largest companies in the United States, including General Motors, United States Steel, and Standard Oil. But these days, some of the most View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

December 6, 2013
Article

Family Businesses Shouldn't Hunt for Superstar CEOs

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

This article discusses the challenges faced by family businesses when it comes to succession planning, particularly in selecting an outside CEO. It presents a case study of a third-generation family business looking for an external CEO, named "Mr. Wonderful," to manage... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Management Succession

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04 Feb 2021
News

Andy Jassy Named Amazon’s New CEO

Amazon announced this week that Andy Jassy (MBA 1997) will take over the role of CEO from founder Jeff Bezos later this year. Jassy has been with Amazon since 1997 and currently runs Amazon Web Services, which the Wall Street Journal... View Details

30 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

New Paths to Success in Asia

make the best use of their time by providing logistical and research support, establishing contacts with leading CEOs in the region, and sharing expertise that comes from living and working in the Asian environment on a daily basis."... View Details

Keywords: by Alejandro Reyes & Deborah Blagg

30 Apr 2021
News

Weekend Reading: The Soul of a CEO

06 Feb 2006
What Do You Think?

Should CEOs of Public Companies Offer Earnings Guidance?

Summing Up Based on some of the most thoughtful comments to any of these columns, one might conclude that acceptable earnings guidance by CEOs should take on new forms. Let's first consider the pros and cons, then some research, then some... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

January 2017
Case

Where Should Pat Gelsinger's Time Go?

By: Raffaella Sadun

Pat Gelsinger, CEO of VMware, is deciding how to structure the firm presence in cloud computing. He can pursue the opportunity in multiple ways: doubling down the investments in an internal and nascent cloud offering, partnering with established third parties, or... View Details

Keywords: CEO Time Use; Corporate Strategy; Time Management

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