Publications

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08 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 8, 2008

(forthcoming) Abstract In large U.S. corporations, founding families are the only blockholders whose control rights on average exceed their cash flow rights. We analyze how they achieve this wedge, and at... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier

In Build the Life You Want, Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey invite you to begin a journey toward greater happiness no matter how challenging your circumstances. Drawing on cutting-edge science and their years of helping people translate... View Details

July 2006 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Charles Veillon, S.A. (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Aldo Sesia

The top management team at Charles Veillon, a Swiss mail-order company, is considering whether to work with a human rights organization to monitor the labor practices of its suppliers. A particular concern is avoiding child labor and other forms of workplace coercion.... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Governance Controls; Labor; Rights; Nonprofit Organizations; Switzerland

June 2021
Case

Building the Governance to Take Capital SAFI to the Next Level

By: V.G. Narayanan, Asis Martinez Jerez and Mariana Cal

Asset management firm Capital SAFI wanted to attract new strategic investors and expand to other countries. Having the right corporate governance in place was critical to achieve this goal. View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Transparency; Sustainable Finance; South America; Latin America; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business Organization; Corporate Strategy; Transformation; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry; Bolivia; South America; Latin America

December 2022 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Daniel Defense: Responding to the Shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

At 11:33am on May 24, 2022, an 18-year-old man from Uvalde, Texas walked into the Robb Elementary School carrying a semi-automatic "AR-15-style” rifle manufactured by Daniel Defense and killed 19 children and two adults. Three days later, Representative Carolyn Maloney... View Details

Keywords: Gun Violence; Gun Policy; Second Amendment; Legal Liability; Government Legislation; Marketing Strategy; Business or Company Management; Product Marketing; Ethics; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Moral Sensibility; Crime and Corruption; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Manufacturing Industry; Advertising Industry; United States

June 2002 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Life, Death, and Property Rights: The Pharmaceutical Industry Faces AIDS in Africa

By: Debora L. Spar

In the final years of the 20th century, the world was hit by a plague of epidemic proportions--AIDS, a life-threatening disease that remained stubbornly immune to any cure or vaccine. In the developed nations of the West, AIDS was slowly brought under control through a... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Health Pandemics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Pharmaceutical Industry; Africa

April 2008 (Revised August 2008)
Supplement

Leading Citigroup (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Aldo Sesia

The (B) case describes the actions taken by Citigroup CEO Chuck Prince and his management team to right the company in the wake of the controversies and alleged misdeeds described in the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Leadership; Management Teams; Organizational Culture

02 Aug 2004
What Do You Think?

For Greater Transparency, Is Section 404 an Effective Response?

an entire group of lower level functions and staff." Rich Lanza pointed out that "(Section 404) is a necessary step ... (but) more continuous controls monitoring is needed that independently analyze company databases daily for... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

29 Oct 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Estimating the Effects of Large Shareholders Using a Geographic Instrument

Keywords: by Bo Becker, Henrik Cronqvist & Rüdiger Fahlenbrach

29 May 2006
Research & Ideas

Why CEOs Are Not Plug-and-Play

and the needs of his or her new employer.Not all managers are equally suited to all business situations. The strategic skills required to control costs in the face of fierce price competition are not the same as those required to improve... View Details

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

16 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Can Decades of Military Overspending be Fixed?

States has often turned to cutting-edge technology solutions to solve strategic and operational challenges. “Costs tend to rise in all organizations unless managers and their staffs are skilled in industrial management and strongly motivated to View Details

Keywords: by J. Ronald Fox; Service

September 2010 (Revised February 2013)
Background Note

The Cage-Free Egg Movement

By: Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice

Describes the social movement confronting conventional egg production techniques (battery cages) based on animal welfare concerns, and some merits and drawbacks of cage-free alternatives. Highlights animal rights activist campaigns, political and regulatory responses,... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Rights; Supply Chain Management; Natural Environment; Social Issues; Competitive Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

August 2006 (Revised March 2008)
Case

iPod vs. Cell Phone: A Mobile Music Revolution?

By: David B. Yoffie, Travis D. Merrill and Michael Slind

In 2006, a nascent market for music-enabled mobile phones was emerging to challenge Apple Computer's dominant position in the digital music industry. Through its iPod line of portable digital music devices and its iTunes Music Store, Apple controlled more than half of... View Details

Keywords: Music Entertainment; Emerging Markets; Brands and Branding; Sales; Opportunities; Price; Business Model; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Digital Platforms; Service Delivery; Communications Industry; Music Industry

08 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: A Sense of Urgency

Mistake Number 3: Passively sitting and waiting for a crisis (which many never come). A major problem with passive strategies is that nature may not cooperate by providing the right amount of lightning in the View Details

Keywords: by John P. Kotter

21 Aug 2006
Research & Ideas

How Europe Wrote the Rules of Global Finance

Finance, forthcoming from Harvard University Press, Abdelal discusses the rise and diminishment of capital controls in the 1900s, the coming influence of China and India on global financial markets, and a conspiracy theory that U.S.... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

17 Feb 2015
HBS Case

HBS Cases: The Battle for San Francisco

policies around rent control and restrictions on building heights put in place to preserve San Francisco's character have also limited the amount of housing, forcing up rents and speeding dislocation. Last year, officials responded with a... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

12 Nov 2015
Research & Ideas

Can Consumers be Trusted with Their Own Health Care?

Consumers today have more control than ever over the way they choose goods and services—from browsing freely at grocery stores to managing their own financial assets. Perhaps consumers should also have a greater sense of empowerment when... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Health

September 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Background Note

Copyright Law in the U.S. and EU

By: Robert C. Pozen and Elizabeth Leonard

This note reviews the basic rules for copyright protection in both the U.S. and the EU. It outlines the works and rights protected, the fair use and first-sale limitations on copyright, as well as the application of these rules to software, video, recordings, and... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Copyright; Laws and Statutes; European Union; United States