Publications

June 1991
Case

Continental Carriers, Inc.

By: W. Carl Kester

A U.S. trucking company is considering using debt for the first time to acquire another company. The directors of the company are divided in their opinion of the likely impact of leverage on Continental Carriers' performance. Their differences must be reconciled and a... View Details

Keywords: Debt Securities; Financing and Loans; Acquisition; Borrowing and Debt; Equity; Transportation Industry; United States

July 1989
Background Note

What Is Marketing?

An introductory note for MBA students on the nature of marketing and topics encountered in its study. Defines the topic then breaks marketing into two major conceptual pieces--the tools, tasks and variables of the marketer, and the marketing process. In the tools... View Details

Keywords: Marketing

September 2003
Case

Executive Compensation at Reckitt Benckiser plc

By: V.G. Narayanan, Krishna G. Palepu and Lisa Brem

Investors felt betrayed by the increasingly lucrative pay packages awarded to CEOs and other top executives at multinational companies. Yet, board members charged with adequately rewarding executives were forced to compete with rising packages of salaries and stock... View Details

Keywords: Design; Stock Options; Investment Activism; Corporate Accountability; Compensation and Benefits; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Management Teams; Business and Shareholder Relations; Consumer Products Industry; Netherlands; United States

June 2018
Case

Candor at Clever

By: Ethan Bernstein and Om Lala

Clever, a high-growth EdTech company based in San Francisco, had grown quickly in market share and headcount. As with many high-growth companies, however, early employees (many of whom had never managed people before) had been given the opportunity to manage teams, and... View Details

September 2018
Article

Assembling the Sales Team

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Data and analytical tasks have lengthened productivity ramp-up times in many sales contexts, making each hire a bigger sunk cost for a longer time. Most companies adopt two common practices: They hire on the basis of “experience” and/or look at their best reps and try... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Selection and Staffing

28 Apr 2021
News

Psychological Safety in a Hybrid World

Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards 2012

The Inaugural Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards (EIA) took place on 5 September in Johannesburg. The guest speakers were Professors Robert G. Eccles and George Serafeim of Harvard Business School. The EIA recognized the top 100 South African companies... View Details

July 1995
Background Note

Managerial Effectiveness and Diversity: Individual Choices

Provides an introduction to the key concepts and questions individuals encounter in a diverse workplace. These concepts and questions are organized around three critical interactions and experiences in any individual's career: entry into an organization or work group;... View Details

Keywords: Management; Diversity

2020
Article

Assessing the Impact of Big Data on Firm Innovation Performance: Big Data is not Always Better Data

By: Maryam Ghasemaghaei and Goran Calic

In this study, we explore the impacts of big data’s main characteristics (i.e., volume, variety, and velocity) on innovation performance (i.e., innovation efficacy and efficiency), which eventually impacts firm performance (i.e., customer perspective, financial... View Details

Keywords: Big Data; Analytics and Data Science; Performance; Innovation and Invention

Read Now

30 Mar 2015
News

Two Ways to Clarify Your Professional Passions

24 Jun 2013
Working Paper Summaries

The Entrepreneurial Gap: How Managers Adjust Span of Accountability and Span of Control to Implement Business Strategy

Keywords: by Robert L. Simons

May 2001
Article

Competing at Home to Win Abroad: Evidence from Japanese History

By: Mariko Sakakibara and Michael E. Porter

The study explores the influence of domestic competition on international trade performance, using data from a broad sample of Japanese industries. Domestic rivalry is measured directly using market-share instability rather than employing structural variables such as... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Global Range; History; Japan

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July 2016
Case

'Golden Leash' Pay for Directors at The Dow Chemical Company

By: Ian Gow, Suraj Srinivasan and Neeraj Goyal

In November 2014, The Dow Chemical Company was faced with the prospect of a proxy battle with prominent hedge fund and activist investor Third Point Management. The activist had criticized Dow’s recent performance and advocated that the company split itself to maximize... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Investment Activism; Chemical Industry

2005
Working Paper

Aggregate Corporate Liquidity and Stock Returns

By: Robin Greenwood

Aggregate investment in cash and liquid assets as a share of total corporate investment is negatively related to subsequent U.S. stock market returns between 1947 and 2003. The share of cash in total investment is a more stable predictor of returns than scaled price... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Financial Liquidity; Cash; Investment Return; Corporate Finance

02 Jan 2024
What Do You Think?

Do Boomerang CEOs Get a Bad Rap?

boomerang CEO? Other competitors in the industry? Other organizations in general? Performance expectations? Critics of the notion of bringing back a former CEO can back up their arguments with a large-scale... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

July 2022
Article

A Strategic View of Team Learning in Organizations

By: Jean-François Harvey, Henrik Bresman, Amy C. Edmondson and Gary P. Pisano

Research in strategic management and organizational behavior has increasingly focused on understanding how organizations achieve and sustain performance in fast-changing environments. Strategy research suggests that senior managers, through their decisions, influence... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Management; Organization Behavior; Teams; Organizational Capabilities; Groups and Teams; Learning; Management; Decision Making; Performance; Organizational Design

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February 1997 (Revised June 1999)
Background Note

Committed and Flexible Resources

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Stresses the difference between costs committed in advance of knowing actual demand (committed costs) and cost incurred proportional to demand. Committed costs appear fixed since their supply is independent of the amount actually used. Flexible resources are supplied... View Details

Keywords: Cost