Publications

April 2002
Background Note

Note on Minority Interest

This case provides a brief introduction to the concept of minority interest and the issues that it gives rise to in valuation of firms. View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Investment; Business and Shareholder Relations

12 Jul 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Negotiation Processes As Sources of (And Solutions To) Interorganizational Conflict

Keywords: by Elizabeth Long Lingo, Colin Fisher & Kathleen L. McGinn

December 26, 2018
Article

Why Family Businesses Need to Find the Right Level of Conflict

By: Josh Baron

Many families avoid conflict because it makes them uncomfortable. For families that own and manage businesses, this is a problem. Conflict avoidance leads people to avoid difficult–but necessary–conversations and decisions. Instead of avoiding conflict, the people who... View Details

Keywords: Management Skills; Conflict and Resolution; Family Business

January 1995 (Revised June 1995)
Case

Managing Conflict in a Diverse Workplace

Consists of several vignettes and discussion points around issues of conflict in the workplace. Issues presented are differences of race, gender, nationality, culture, religion; access to power, training, advancement; tolerance of style of management, language,... View Details

Keywords: Conflict Management; Working Conditions; Diversity Characteristics

April 1996 (Revised March 2008)
Exercise

Exercises on Tradeoffs and Conflicting Objectives

Presents two methodologies for making decisions in the face of conflicting objectives, pricing out, and additive scoring systems. This material is followed by four exercises designed to develop and test understanding of the basic methodology. The exercises include an... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions

Fall 2016
Article

The Integrity of Private Third-party Compliance Monitoring

By: Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel

Government agencies are increasingly turning to private, third-party monitors to inspect and assess regulated entities’ compliance with law. The integrity of these regulatory regimes rests on the validity of the information third-party monitors provide to regulators.... View Details

Keywords: Regulation; Compliance; Compliance Policies; Conflict Of Interest; Independent Third Party; Inspection; Audit Quality; Auditor; Audit; Environment; Safety; Conflict of Interests; Working Conditions; Labor; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Governance Compliance; Accounting Audits

Read Now

Research Summary

Teaching and Research Interests

Professor Morris is highly regarded for his research on social judgment, the study of how people make sense of events observed in their environment (both internal and external to their work settings). One of his main emphases is on the effects of cross-cultural... View Details

2012
Book

Strength in Numbers: The Political Power of Weak Interests

By: Gunnar Trumbull

This book investigates the sources of interest group influence on public policy. Trumbull argues that diffuse groups like consumers are more influential, and industry less influential, than we commonly assume. View Details

Keywords: Government and Politics; Interests; Power and Influence; Demand and Consumers; Policy

Find at Harvard

September 1978 (Revised November 1979)
Background Note

Some Aspects of Problem Solving and Conflict Resolution in Management Groups

Provides a brief overview of the strengths and weaknesses of group problem solving and suggests criteria for when to use a group. Also, describes the three primary modes of conflict resolution (smoothing and avoidance; bargaining and forcing, problem solving) and... View Details

Keywords: Conflict Management; Groups and Teams

2008
Working Paper

Media versus Special Interests

By: Alexander Dyck, David A. Moss and Luigi Zingales

We argue that profit-maximizing media helps overcome the problem of "rational ignorance" highlighted by Downs (1957) and in so doing makes elected representatives more sensitive to the interests of general voters. By collecting news and combining it with entertainment,... View Details

Keywords: Voting; Government Legislation; Media; Interests; Power and Influence; United States

Read Now

July 2012
Case

El Paso's Sale to Kinder Morgan

By: John Coates, Clayton Rose and David Lane

On October 16, 2011, El Paso agreed to sell itself to Kinder Morgan for just over $21 billion. Shareholders filed suit, arguing that the process was tainted by conflict and that a higher price could be obtained. Delaware Chancellor Leo Strine agreed with the plaintiffs... View Details

Keywords: El Paso; Kinder Morgan; Goldman Sachs; Leo Strine; Conflicts Of Interest; Corporate Governance; Relationships; Lawsuits and Litigation; Energy Industry; Banking Industry; United States

Many consumers feel powerless in the face of big industry’s interests. And the dominant view of economic regulators (influenced by Mancur Olson’s book The Logic of Collective Action, published in 1965) agrees with them. According to this... View Details

Research Summary

Current Research Interests

Employment Contract, Collective Bargaining, and Human Capital Investment

American Welfare Capitalists, 1910-1940

Political Economy of New Deal Labor Legislation

A Comparative Historical Analysis of Wartime Labor Regulation during W.W.II in the U.S.... View Details

January 2008 (Revised May 2013)
Background Note

Accounting for Interest Rate Derivatives

Explains the accounting for interest rate derivatives under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards 133. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Instruments; Interest Rates; Standards

Article

Market Interest in Nonfinancial Information

By: R. G. Eccles, Michael P. Krzus and George Serafeim

Market interest in nonfinancial (e.g., Environmental, Social, and Governance [ESG]) information, including data produced by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), is growing. Using data from Bloomberg we analyze this interest from a variety of different perspectives, and... View Details

Keywords: Markets; Analytics and Data Science; Perspective; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Corporate Disclosure; Projects; Interests

Find at Harvard