Publications

September–October 2024
Article

Boards Need a New Approach to Technology

By: Tarun Khanna, Mary C. Beckerle and Nabil Y. Sakkab

The boards of too many publicly traded companies are downright timid when considering matters involving science and technology. More often than not, they focus on security and digitization—a defensive posture that fails to consider the bigger opportunities emerging... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Opportunities; Technology Adoption

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Video

OnBoard The Board Chair – Executive Director Relationship

August 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Board of Directors at The Coca-Cola Company, The

By: Jay W. Lorsch, Rakesh Khurana and Sonya Sanchez

Provides a history of the board of directors of the Coca-Cola Co. through 2003. Describes the evolution in the board's membership, practices, and structure and the role it played in the company's governance. Questions are raised about the relationship between the board... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Food and Beverage Industry

Educators

12 Jul 2022
News

International Foundation for Valuing Impacts Holds Inaugural Board Meeting

February 1996
Case

Eastman Chemical Company: Building a Board from Scratch

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Samanta Graff

Eastman Chemical Co. spun off from Kodak in 1993. The CEO of Eastman, Earnest Deavenport did not want the new company's board any members of the Kodak board to include, so he initiated a deliberate and thorough process to build an entirely new board that he hoped would... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Management Teams; Selection and Staffing; Chemical Industry

Educators

01 Sep 2005
News

Cooper Elected Alumni Board President

Peter J. Cooper (MBA ’75) is the new president of the HBS Alumni Association Board of Directors. President and CEO of Scienta Health Inc., in Toronto, Cooper is the first international president of the Alumni View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Health, Social Assistance

26 Oct 2011
News

Boards are Key to Fixing the System

2008
Working Paper

Hiring Cheerleaders: Board Appointments of 'Independent' Directors

By: Lauren Cohen, Andrea Frazzini and Christopher J. Malloy

We test the hypothesis that firms appoint independent directors who are overly sympathetic to management, while still technically independent according to regulatory definitions. We explore a subset of independent directors for whom we have detailed, micro-level data... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governing and Advisory Boards; Managerial Roles; Prejudice and Bias

Read Now

01 Mar 2013
News

Breyer Elected to Harvard Board

Jim Breyer (MBA 1987), a leading venture capitalist known for his expertise in innovative technology and media, has been elected to join the President and the Harvard Corporation as of July 1. Breyer is a partner at Accel Partners, a venture capital firm with offices... View Details

Keywords: Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Finance

March 1980 (Revised May 1980)
Case

Management Succession and Board Membership

By: Richard G. Hamermesh

Keywords: Management Succession; Governing and Advisory Boards

October 2018
Supplement

Zenefits Board of Directors (C)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Business Model; Corporate Accountability; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Leadership; Risk Management; Venture Capital; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States; California

01 Dec 1998
News

New HBS Alumni Board Members

The second in a series of profiles of the twelve new members of the HBSAA Board of Directors. Since 1987, H. Perry Driggs, Jr. (MBA '61), has been president of Great Lakes Capital Corporation in Farmington Hills, Michigan. He serves as a... View Details

Web

Diversity on Boards - Alumni

Careers Diversity on Boards Careers Diversity on Boards Back to Diversity on Boards Featured Content HBS Women on Boards Library: A curated... View Details

October 2018
Supplement

Zenefits Board of Directors (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Business Model; Corporate Accountability; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Leadership; Risk Management; Venture Capital; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States; California

28 Feb 2023
News

The Board Chair-Executive Director Relationship

01 Feb 1999
News

New HBS Alumni Board Members

The final in a series of profiles of the twelve new members of the HBSAA Board of Directors. Since 1994, New York native Thomas G. Mendell (MBA '74) has been a partner in the principal investments area at The Beacon Group, LLC, in New... View Details

September–October 2012
Article

Toward a New Culture for Corporate Boards

By: Robert C. Pozen

A decade of business scandals and regulatory reforms find corporate America... facing fresh scandals and calls for more reforms. Robert Pozen, former chair of MFS Investment, noted director, and Harvard Business School faculty member, wonders if we have been fixing the... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Ethics; Change; United States