CEOs - Publications - Faculty & Research

January 2018
Case

Mary Barra, CEO, General Motors

By: Nitin Nohria, Kerry Herman and Sarah Gulick

Library case detailing the career of Mary Barra, GM’s CEO from January 2014, and her handling of the GM ignitions scandal, GM’s move into electric and autonomous car development, and activist investors. View Details

Keywords: CEO; Female Ceo; Automobiles; Leadership; Crisis Management; Auto Industry; Michigan

Citation

Educators

24 Sep 2014
Op-Ed

The Climate Needs Aggressive CEO Leadership

Corporations are facing great uncertainty. For the world to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, the United States eventually will have to put a price on carbon dioxide emissions, as has been done by Europe, parts of Canada, and California. To plan for the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Toffel & Auden Schendler; Energy; Utilities

March 27, 2018
Other Article

Why CEOs Are Taking a Stand

By: Aaron K. Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel

In this podcast, we discuss the emerging phenomenon of CEO activism. We explain how political polarization in the U.S. and employee expectations around company values are pushing corporate leaders to enter into controversial political and social debates. We also hear... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Social Issues; Values and Beliefs; Communication Strategy

Citation

22 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

CEO Succession: The Case at Ford

Podcast with: Joseph Bower Interviewer: James Aisner Running Time: 8 min., 23 sec. In early September, Ford Motor Company announced that Bill Ford would be replaced as CEO by Boeing's Alan Mulally, credited with the turnaround of the... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner; Auto; Employment

2014
Working Paper

Higher-Ambition CEOs Need Higher-Ambition Boards

By: Edward Ludwig, Elise Walton and Michael Beer

Over the past years, forward-looking CEOs have adopted a higher-ambition approach to strategy and leadership. These "higher-ambition CEOs" are driven by a sense of purpose that goes beyond achieving financial success. They aspire to build organizations that succeed in... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Leadership Style; Management Teams

Citation

SSRN

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04 May 2020
News

Your CEO Succession Plan Can’t Wait

2016
Working Paper

CEO Personality and Firm Policies

By: Ian D. Gow, Steven N. Kaplan, David F. Larcker and Anastasia A. Zakolyukina

Based on two samples of high quality personality data for chief executive officers (CEOs), we use linguistic features extracted from conferences calls and statistical learning techniques to develop a measure of CEO personality in terms of the Big Five traits:... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Personal Characteristics; Management Teams

Citation

Find at Harvard

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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

27 Mar 2018
News

Why CEOs Are Taking a Stand

Article

Assessing the Impact of CEO Activism

By: Aaron K Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel

CEO activism refers to corporate leaders speaking out on social and environmental policy issues not directly related to their company’s core business. Distinct from nonmarket strategy and traditional corporate social responsibility, the recent wave of CEO activism... View Details

Keywords: Business And Society; Leadership; Policy; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Governance; Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Public Opinion

October 2010 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Hewlett-Packard Company: CEO Succession in 2010

By: Jay W. Lorsch, Krishna G. Palepu and Melissa Barton

Mark Hurd resigned as the CEO of Hewlett Packard in 2010 after the board discovered that he had misfiled expense reports and paid an H.P. contractor for unsubstantiated work. After Hurd left H.P., he joined Oracle, an H.P. competitor. Soon thereafter, the H.P. board... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Governing and Advisory Boards; Leadership Development; Management Succession; Competitive Strategy; Technology Industry

Citation

Educators

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12 Mar 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Managing the Family Business: Firing the CEO

Editor's note: This is part of a series of occasional columns on managing the family business written by Senior Lecturer John A. Davis. In this article, Davis discusses when to make changes at the top. No one needs convincing that the right View Details