Publications

November 2008 (Revised November 2024)
Case

The Fall of Enron

By: Paul Healy and Krishna Palepu

The case traces the rise of Enron, covering the company's business innovations, personnel management, and risk management processes. It then examines the company's dramatic fall including the extension of its trading model into questionable new businesses, the... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Management Practices and Processes; Crime and Corruption; Financial Reporting; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards

15 Nov 2022
Book

Stop Ignoring Bad Behavior: 6 Tips for Better Ethics at Work

In 1995, Purdue Pharma began selling a powerful and addictive opioid drug called OxyContin. The company was aware that the drug, which was marketed to doctors as a safe way to manage chronic pain, was a potent narcotic that could quickly hook patients. Even as opioid... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

September 2019 (Revised December 2023)
Case

Accounting Fraud at Tesco Stores (A)

By: Jonas Heese, Suraj Srinivasan and Julia Kelley

This case describes the accounting fraud at Tesco Stores Limited (TSL), which was discovered by a senior accountant in TSL’s finance department. The accountant was concerned about TSL’s handling of commercial income, which, according to the accountant, overstated... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Crime and Corruption; Organizational Culture; Corporate Accountability

07 Mar 2023
HBS Case

ChatGPT: Did Big Tech Set Up the World for an AI Bias Disaster?

images. In 2017, Gebru took this research a step further. She used AI to not only identify vehicle makes in Google Street View images, but connect them to demographic, crime, and voting data. For example, more Buicks meant more Black residents in a neighborhood, and... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis; Technology

April 2007 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Dr. Iqbal Survé at Sekunjalo Investment Group (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Stecker

Dr. Iqbal Surve, a self-described "medical doctor, philanthropist, and social entrepreneur," was born in 1963 and grew up in poverty, like virtually all non-white South Africans during apartheid. During the 1970s and 1980s, he served in leadership positions in the ANC,... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Social Entrepreneurship; Investment; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Partners and Partnerships; South Africa

27 Jan 2023
Op-Ed

Have We Lost Sight of Integrity?

Every month, another leader creates an onslaught of media coverage for being dishonest. Have we lost sight of the importance of leaders with integrity? Why do failed leaders get so much more attention than those who are doing things the right way? Take, for example,... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

12 May 2023
News

Alabama's Yella Fella

Photo credit: Auburn University Photo credit: Auburn University In 1970, Jimmy Rane (OPM 11, 1986) took over a tiny treated-lumber business in Abbeville, Alabama, that was hovering near bankruptcy. Its owners, Rane's in-laws, had died suddenly in a car accident. Over... View Details

Keywords: Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods; Wholesale Trade

Web

Topics - HBS Working Knowledge

Derivatives and Swaps (1) Credit (8) Crime and Corruption (43) Crisis Management (51) Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues (23) Culture (10) Currency Exchange Rate (3) Currency (12) Curriculum and Courses (2) Customer Focus and... View Details

February 2019 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Theranos: The Unicorn That Wasn't

By: Joseph B. Fuller and John Masko

In 2003, 19-year-old Elizabeth Holmes founded a startup dedicated to making blood testing easier and more affordable. By 2015, her company, Theranos, was worth $9 billion. It boasted a star-studded board and contracts with national pharmacy and supermarket chains... View Details

Keywords: Theranos; Blood; Lab Testing; Fraud; Holmes; Balwani; Shultz; Carreyrou; Securities And Exchange Commission; Food And Drug Administration; FDA; SEC; Health Testing and Trials; Corporate Accountability; Organizational Culture; Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Crime and Corruption; Entrepreneurship; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

16 Jan 2024
Cold Call Podcast

How SolarWinds Responded to the 2020 SUNBURST Cyberattack

Keywords: Re: Frank Nagle; Information Technology

Web

Interviewing - Alumni

may have to work weekends and do not anticipate any issues with that. Age Illegal : How old are you? Legal : Are you over 18? Response : If you're wondering if I'm over 18, the answer is, "Yes." Arrest Record Illegal : Have you ever been arrested? Legal : Have you ever... View Details

February 2019 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Theranos: Who Has Blood on Their Hands? (A)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Christina R. Wing, Emilie Fournier and Anna Resman

This case covers the rise and fall of Theranos, the company founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2004 to revolutionize the blood testing industry by creating a device that could provide from a small finger prick the same results and accuracy as intravenous blood draws. As... View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Corporate Accountability; Organizational Culture; Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Entrepreneurship; Lawsuits and Litigation

22 Apr 2022
Research & Ideas

Companies Can Expand Their Talent Pool by Giving Ex-Convicts a Second Chance

hire workers with a criminal history, especially if crime and safety insurance is available, or if the worker can provide past work performance reviews. The findings were included in a working paper, Increasing the Demand for Workers with... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

December 2009 (Revised January 2024)
Case

A Letter from Prison

By: Eugene Soltes

Stephen Richards, the former global head of sales at Computer Associates, Inc. (CA), is serving a seven-year prison sentence for financial fraud. In the case, Richards responds to a number of questions about managerial responsibility and the manipulation of financial... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Corporate Accountability; Managerial Roles

2016
Book

Why They Do It: Inside the Mind of the White-Collar Criminal

By: Eugene F. Soltes

From the financial fraudsters of Enron, to the embezzlers at Tyco, to the Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, the failings of corporate titans are regular fixtures in the news. But what drives wealthy and powerful people to white-collar crime? I draw from extensive personal... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Corporate Finance

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