Publications

William Sahlman is a Baker Foundation Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

Mr. Sahlman received an A.B. degree in Economics from Princeton University (1972), an M.B.A. from Harvard University (1975), and a Ph.D. in Business... View Details

2021
Working Paper

Accounting for Product Impact in the Oil and Gas Industry

By: Katie Panella, George Serafeim and Katie Trinh

We apply the product impact measurement framework of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative (IWAI) in two competitor companies within the oil and gas industry. We design a monetization methodology that allows us to calculate monetary product impact estimates of... View Details

SSRN

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June 1998 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Wells Fargo Online Financial Services (A)

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Nicole Tempest

Wells Fargo, the industry leader in electronic banking, has implemented a Balanced Scorecard in its online financial services group (OFS) to track and measure performance. The OFS group develops and supports services that allow existing and future banking customers to... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Internet and the Web; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Finance; Change; Situation or Environment; Measurement and Metrics; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

2004
Chapter

Measuring the Value of Political Connections After Liberalization: Some Thoughts on Theoretical Constructs and Improved Research Design

By: Jordan I. Siegel

Scholars have recently begun to focus heightened attention on how firms in emerging economies react and even thrive during deep liberalization. Yet one fundamental question remains less than satisfactorily answered. How much in terms of scarce resources should firms in... View Details

Keywords: Liberalization; Emerging Economies; Political Connections; Business and Government Relations; Emerging Markets; Strategy

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November 2012 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Restructuring at Nova Chemical Corporation (Abridged)

By: Scott P. Mason

Management of a diversified chemicals company faces two financial decisions: whether to finance a major investment in new production facilities for its rapidly expanding Environmental Products Division, and whether to sell a more slowly growing non-specialty chemicals... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Decision Choices and Conditions; Chemicals; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Finance; Chemical Industry

June 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Case

The Vanguard Group, Inc. in 2006 and Target Retirement Funds

By: Luis M. Viceira

The Vanguard Group is one of the largest asset managers in the U.S., with over $1 trillion in assets, ninety percent of which are mutual fund assets, and more than 12,000 employees at year-end 2006. Vanguard has built a strong reputation as the manager of reference for... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Investment Funds; Personal Finance; Brands and Branding; Retirement; Trust; Financial Services Industry; United States

01 Aug 2022
What Do You Think?

Does Religious Belief Affect Organizational Performance?

organizational culture has a significant impact on an index comprised of annual net income growth, annual return on invested capital, and annual growth of stock price. We found that strong cultures can have either significantly positive... View Details

Keywords: Re: James L. Heskett

TeachingInterests

Program for Leadership Development

By: Michael L. Tushman

Accelerating the Careers of High-Potential Leaders

Successful businesses know that investing in the next generation of leaders is critical to sustaining competitive advantage and achieving corporate growth over the long term. The Program for Leadership... View Details

Teaching Interest

Launching New Ventures

By: Rembrand M. Koning

The early days of a new venture demand a combination of strategy, vision, and impeccable timing to capitalize on market opportunities and establish a successful business.

Launching New Ventures delves into the core elements of entrepreneurship and building... View Details

March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
Teaching Note

Spotify's Audio-First Strategy: Leading the Podcasting Market

By: Hong Luo and Carol Lin

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 721-439. Within 15 years, CEO Daniel Ek had led Spotify from an ambitious startup to a multi-billion dollar company that had transformed the music industry. As part of Spotify’s next phase of growth, the platform would invest heavily in... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Divisions; Customer Relationship Management; Revenue; Music Industry

June 2008 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Vignettes on Governance of Private Equity Firms

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Ann Leamon and Eugenia Adofo

In a series of vignettes, Nigella Hardy-Smyth of an international development agency that invests in emerging markets private equity firms must decide how to handle various situations that arise. As a member of the Limited Partner Advisory Board of each of the five... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment Funds; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Managerial Roles; Emerging Markets; Partners and Partnerships

12 Sep 2023
What Do You Think?

Who Gets the Loudest Voice in DEI Decisions?

counterparts in other organizations brought to task over DEI issues." Some observers regard these issues as “paper tigers.” Threats to disinvest from ESG proponents have been followed up with action in only a few cases. How willing, really, are investors to give up... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

12 Sep 2016
Blog Post

An Interview with Corporate Relations Director, Jonathan Shepherd

What did you do before coming to HBS? I was lucky enough to have literally stumbled upon my HBS job after spending the prior part of my career working exclusively in finance roles. Before HBS, I worked in investment banking, asset View Details

David Ager

David Ager is a Senior Lecturer in Executive Education. He engages CEOs, CHROs, and their teams to design and deliver customized executive development experiences for executive, senior and high potential leaders. The companies hail from diverse sectors including... View Details

28 Jan 2022
News

Helping Trapped Low-Wage Workers, Employers Struggling to Fill Spots

May 2022
Case

From GOP to NFT: Anthony Scaramucci and the Launch of Flatter NFT

By: Lauren Cohen, Richard Ryffel and Grace Headinger

Anthony Scaramucci, Managing Director of SkyBridge Capital, considered whether he should officially greenlight the launch of SkyBridge’s own NFT platform — Flatter NFT. He had led the investment firm to push first into Bitcoin and then Ethereum to make SkyBridge a... View Details

April 2012 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Merck: Operating Science-Based Business

By: Ananth Raman, Inga Maurer and William Schmidt

Merck is known for its commitment to investing in basic R&D. Are Merck's long-term investments justifiable when the firm faces extreme earnings pressure? View Details

Keywords: Science-Based Business; Management; Research and Development; Business and Shareholder Relations; Operations; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

January 2014
Case

Social Strategy at Cisco Systems

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, Daniel Malter and Aaron Smith

In April 2013, Jeanne Beliveau-Dunn, vice president and general manager for Learning@Cisco Systems, was planning the future of the Cisco Learning Network, an online platform hosted at Cisco.com. Since its launch in 2008, the Cisco Learning Network provided content to... View Details

Keywords: Networks; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Competency and Skills; Learning; Web Services Industry