Publications

August 2021
Case

Danone S.A.: Becoming a Mission-Driven Company (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Emilie Billaud

Emmanuel Faber became CEO of Danone SA, the French food and beverage company, in 2014. Right from the start, he ran the company with a dual commitment to both profit and purpose (i.e., ESG objectives). In fact, in 2018, he said, “It’s time to make sustainable business... View Details

Keywords: Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Governance; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Environmental Sustainability; Goals and Objectives; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; France; Europe

01 Jun 2014
News

Alumni and Faculty Books for June 2014

Musing of Gilmore Tostengard by Gilmore Tostengard (MBA 1953) (Outskirts Press) This book tracks Tostengard's lifelong journey from small-town Minnesota to Arizona with a couple of oceans and numerous stops on the way. Great Inventions... View Details

June 1995 (Revised November 1996)
Case

Northern Telecom and Tong Guang Electronics (C): Future Challenges

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Pamela A. Yatsko

This case considers the future challenges facing the Northern Telecom joint venture in China with Tong Guang Electronics. Asks how well the start-up and transition have been managed and whether the right foundation has been laid for the future. View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Growth Management; Business Startups; Change Management; Transition; Corporate Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Electronics Industry; Canada; China

04 May 2021
Working Paper Summaries

Accounting for Product Impact in the Telecommunications Industry

Keywords: by George Serafeim and Katie Trinh; Telecommunications

24 Nov 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Accounting for Product Impact in the Consumer Finance Industry

Keywords: by George Serafeim and Katie Trinh; Financial Services

November 2022 (Revised April 2025)
Teaching Note

Driving Decarbonization at BMW - Teaching Note

By: Shirley Lu, George Serafeim and Michael W. Toffel

Teaching note in support of the case "Driving Decarbonization at BMW" (HBS No. 123-008) View Details

26 Feb 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 26, 2019

bigger, more visible issue in more firms with implications for building and sustaining a sales career. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55738 forthcoming Journal of Financial... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

April 2025
Supplement

#FutureFresenius: 'Committed to Life' in 2024 and Beyond (B)

By: David J. Collis, Benjamin C. Esty and Haisley Wert

From February 2024 onward, Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA continued to make progress on the #FutureFresenius transformation that CEO Michael Sen had initiated in October 2022. The company had completed the initial "reset" phase and moved into the "revitalize" portion of the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Finance; Transformation; Leading Change; Health Industry; United States; Germany

December 2011 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Bananas (A)

By: Eric Van den Steen

As owner and CEO, Wim Van der Borght had grown Bananas in 8 years from a 4.5 million euro company into a 40 million euro group of companies with a range of field marketing activities in Belgium and the Netherlands. The core of the group consisted of two companies —... View Details

Keywords: Sustainable Competitive Advantage; Growth Strategy; Strategic Analysis; PVA; Culture As Commitment; Competitive Advantage; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Belgium

Article

Complementarity between Audited Financial Reporting and Voluntary Disclosure: The Case of Former Andersen Clients

By: Richard Frankel, Alon Kalay, Gil Sadka and Yuan Zou

Prior literature presents various perspectives on the role of financial reporting. One view is that mandatory periodic reporting disciplines managers and encourages timely voluntary disclosure. We examine this "confirmation hypothesis" using the shock to financial... View Details

Keywords: Financial Disclosure; Mandatory Reporting; Reliability; Voluntary Disclosure; Financial Reporting; Quality; Corporate Disclosure

Find at Harvard

28 May 2019
News

Alumni and Faculty Books for June 2019

neighbors. Bulletproof Problem Solving: The One Skill That Changes Everything by Charles Conn (MBA 1990) and Robert McLean Wiley Complex problem solving is a critical skill, View Details

January 2008 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Henry J. Kaiser and the Art of the Possible

By: Anthony J. Mayo, Mark Benson and David Chen

From his humble beginnings as a local salesman in New York, Henry J. Kaiser rose to become one of the leading industrialists of 20th century America. Though he had no technical engineering training, Kaiser mastered the management and execution of plans for several... View Details

Keywords: History; Mission and Purpose; Transition; Management Practices and Processes; Construction; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Business History; Business Growth and Maturation; Civil Society or Community; Business Strategy; Planning; Construction Industry; Shipping Industry; United States

01 Jun 1996
News

Four Professors to Retire

ownership by dir-ectors. Stobaugh chaired the 1995 National Asso-ciation of Corporate Directors' Blue Ribbon Commission, which recommended changes in the selection and... View Details

Keywords: Elaine Gottlieb and John Prestage

10 Jun 2022
Blog Post

New Venture Competition 2022: Business and Environment Ventures

2023TerraTrade is a two-sided marketplace that eliminates consultants & enables corporates to buy power directly from renewable energy projects. TerraTrade aims to harness the potential of corporations... View Details

September 2006 (Revised May 2007)
Case

GE's Jeff Immelt: The Voyage from MBA to CEO

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Andrew N. McLean

GE believes its ability to develop management talent is a core competency that represents a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Traces the development of a 25-year-old MBA named Jeff Immelt, who 18 years later is named as CEO of GE, arguably the biggest and... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Human Resources; Leadership Development; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Energy Industry; Technology Industry