Publications

Article

Laws versus Contracts: Legal Origins, Shareholder Protections, and Ownership Concentration in Brazil, 1890–1950

By: Aldo Musacchio

This article examines some of the institutional conditions that facilitated the development of equity markets in Brazil. A critical factor was the addition of protections for investors to corporate bylaws, which enabled relatively large corporations in Brazil to... View Details

Keywords: Voting; Equity; Financial Markets; Investment; Governance Controls; Business History; Ownership Stake; Brazil

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12 Mar 2020
News

As Coronavirus Spreads, Should You Have More Cash—or Less?

June 2016
Article

Wicked Problem Solvers: Lessons from Successful Cross-industry Teams

By: Amy C. Edmondson

Companies today increasingly rely on teams that span many industries for radical innovation, especially to solve “wicked problems.” So leaders have to understand how to promote collaboration when roles are uncertain, goals are shifting, expertise and organizational... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Leadership Style; Collaborative Innovation and Invention

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TeachingInterests

Tuck MBA Program

VG is the most popular teacher in the Tuck MBA Program. VG has been named in BusinessWeek’s Guide to Best Business Schools as an outstanding teacher. His current courses focus on Implementing Strategy and his research on Global Leadership's research on... View Details

May – June 2011
Article

Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth: How High Status Individuals Decrease Group Effectiveness

By: Boris Groysberg, Jeffrey T. Polzer and Hillary Anger Elfenbein

Can groups become effective simply by assembling high status individual performers? Though an affirmative answer may seem straightforward on the surface, this answer becomes more complicated when group members benefit from collaborating on interdependent tasks.... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Equity; Theory; Human Resources; Integration; Body of Literature; Performance Effectiveness; Status and Position; Experience and Expertise

October 2009 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Societe Generale (A): The Jerome Kerviel Affair

By: Francois Brochet

This case illustrates the tension/balance that firms with complex and risky business models must consider in designing their internal controls. It describes the environment in which a derivatives trader engaged in massive directional positions on major European stocks... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Problems and Challenges; Complexity; Cost Management; Balance and Stability; Business Model; Design; Stocks; Crisis Management; Financial Markets; Consulting Industry; Europe

02 Aug 2018
News

Learning From Henry Kissinger

November 2006 (Revised August 2008)
Case

Lincoln Electric

By: Jordan I. Siegel

The case describes Lincoln Electric's business strategy and incentive system, and it discusses the global strategy choices that the company faces going forward. Lincoln Electric is deciding whether a strong push into India should be the next step in the company's... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Expansion; India

August 1974 (Revised November 1974)
Case

Reynolds Construction Company

By: Paul W. Marshall

Deals with the use of critical path method for the construction of remote control building, which is part of a water purification system. Discusses the necessity of determining the shortest possible time in which a job could be done without spending more money. Case... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Construction; Cost Management; Time Management; Wastes and Waste Processing; System; Construction Industry

14 Jul 2006
Op-Ed

The Case for Consumer-Driven Medicaid

legislators who decline to raise taxes and, instead, attempt to control these costs, face three choices: Cut Medicaid expenses through reductions in enrollment, benefits, and provider reimbursement; cut other state expenditures for the... View Details

Keywords: by Regina E. Herzlinger

28 Feb 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Colonial Land Tenure, Electoral Competition and Public Goods in India

Keywords: by Abhijit Banerjee & Lakshmi Iyer

2019
Working Paper

Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 15 The IBM PC

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

The IBM PC was the first digital computer platform that was open by as a matter of strategy, not necessity. The purpose of this chapter is to understand the IBM PC as a technical system and set of organization choices in light of the theory of how technology shapes... View Details

Keywords: IBM; Personal Computer; Digital Platforms; System; Strategy

SSRN

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31 Oct 2019
Video

Dato' Sri Tahir

Daro’ Sri Tahir, founder of a large financial service group in Indonesia, argues that the whole eco-system of the country is corrupt, with businesses pursuing strategies which make no economic sense, and then... View Details

June 1991 (Revised July 1993)
Case

Sunbeam Oster Co., Inc.

By: Steven R. Fenster

Japonica Partners, an investment firm, is trying to determine whether there is any unseen value in Sunbeam Oster Co., Inc., a Chapter 11 debtor. If there is, Japonica must consider the means by which they can acquire control of a company in Chapter 11. View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Acquisition; Financial Services Industry

June 28, 2021
Article

4 Imperatives for Managing in a Hybrid World

By: Kalle Heikkinen, William R. Kerr, Mika Malin and Panu Routila

As more and more companies turn to a hybrid model of work more than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, what challenges are leaders likely to face when managing people both in the office and remotely? Interviews with 38 executives in Nordic countries point to four main... View Details

Keywords: Hybrid Organizations; Organizational Structure; Management; Leadership

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November 2018
Teaching Note

The Tax Man: Taxes in Private Equity Real Estate

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Sayiddah Fatima McCree

Teaching Note for HBS No. 218-077. This teaching note provides the back up analysis for the various alternatives to be considered in choosing the optimal investment structure for the real estate acquisition. It contrasts the interests of the tax exempt investors... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Alternative Investment Structures; Taxation; Private Equity; Property; Acquisition; Conflict of Interests; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

April 1998 (Revised May 2000)
Case

Guidant Corporation: Shaping Culture Through Systems

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Guidant is a successful IPO start-up selling pacemakers and defibrillators. The case describes how managers install systems to balance innovation and control. Three parts of a shareholder value strategy are described. Controls include incentive systems, beliefs... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Motivation and Incentives; Planning; Risk Management; Management Systems; Business Strategy; Value Creation; System; Service Industry; Financial Services Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

Article

Managing Proprietary and Shared Platforms

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

In a platform-mediated network, users rely on a common platform, provided by one or more intermediaries, that encompasses infrastructure and rules required by users to transact with each other. A fundamental design decision for firms that aspire to develop... View Details

Keywords: Governance Controls; Digital Platforms; Infrastructure; Competition; Cooperation; Information Infrastructure

March 2023
Case

Ransomware Attack at Colonial Pipeline Company

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni

On the morning of May 7, 2021, Colonial Pipeline Company became aware that the company had been the victim of a malicious ransomware attack that had stolen and locked up company data. The extortionists demanded 75 bitcoins (worth about $4.4 million at the time) in... View Details