Publications

2013
Working Paper

Span of Control and Span of Attention

By: Oriana Bandiera, Andrea Prat, Raffaella Sadun and Julie Wulf

Using novel data on CEO time use, we document the relationship between the size and composition of the executive team and the attention of the CEO. We combine information about CEO span of control for a sample of 65 companies with detailed data on how CEOs allocate... View Details

Keywords: Conferences; Analytics and Data Science; Leadership Style; Management Style; Managerial Roles; Time Management; Planning

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May 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Case

The Crisis at Tyco - A Director's Perspective

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Aldo Sesia

In 2002, Wendy Lane had been a member of the board of directors at Tyco International a little more than a year when the company's CEO Dennis Kozlowski and other top executives were accused of fraud, which ultimately led to resignations, imprisonments, lawsuits, and... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Reputation; Governing and Advisory Boards; Crisis Management; Accounting Audits; Problems and Challenges; Risk Management; Finance; Managerial Roles; Lawsuits and Litigation; Service Industry; United States

March 2016 (Revised January 2023)
Teaching Note

Carla Ann Harris at Morgan Stanley

By: Lakshmi Ramarajan

This case follows Carla Ann Harris, an African-American executive on Wall Street, from her childhood to the eve of her 20th year at Morgan Stanley. In addition to her professional identity as an investment banker, Harris is also an accomplished gospel singer, an... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Identity; Personal Development and Career; Success; Values and Beliefs; Social Entrepreneurship; Financial Services Industry

Working Paper Summaries

How do Private Equity Fees Vary Across Public Pensions?

Keywords: by Juliane Begenau and Emil Siriwardane; Financial Services

28 Jan 2015
Research & Ideas

Ground Game, Air Wars, and Other Marketing Lessons From Presidential Elections

various types of people? Candidates have been investing heavily in both mass advertising and personal selling. For the 2012 election, for instance, the Democratic and Republican candidates, together with... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

12 Dec 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 12, 2017

a bid to save the planet. The narrative then reaches back to each person’s childhood and shows the individual growing—step by step—into the person he or she will ultimately become. Significantly, as we follow each leader’s... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Reinventing Yourself: Identity and Transformation in Professional Careers

Professor Herminia Ibarra is working on a book about people who change careers. The book explains why, when, and how people find themselves at a crossroads in their career and how they develp the skills they need to make their way successfully to a new professional... View Details

April 1993
Case

Sumiko Ito

By: David A. Thomas

Describes the life and career of the first Japanese female investment banker at Nomura Securities, Sumiko Ito, who later became a partner at Alex Brown, a U.S. investment bank. Organized around the major life events and career transitions Ms. Ito experienced. Set in... View Details

Keywords: Investment Banking; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Diversity; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Japan; England; United States

28 Sep 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Architectural Innovation and Dynamic Competition: The Smaller “Footprint” Strategy

Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin & Kim B. Clark; Computer

29 Apr 2019
Research & Ideas

Is the Digital Age Making Us Petty?

amount,” Kim says. “But that kind of precision can be very off-putting, and we wanted to find out why.” The study results consistently showed that when people view their partner as engaging in petty behavior, they are less satisfied with the relationship, like the... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

June 2008
Article

How Are Preferences Revealed?

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

Revealed preferences are tastes that rationalize an economic agent's observed actions. Normative preferences represent the agent's actual interests. It sometimes makes sense to assume that revealed preferences are identical to normative preferences. But there are many... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Attitudes; Microeconomics

February 2018
Case

Aetna and the Transformation of Health Care

By: Rebecca M. Henderson, Russell Eisenstat and Matthew Preble

Mark Bertolini, chairman and CEO of the health insurer Aetna, faces a number of questions as he seeks to transform Aetna from a classic insurance company into a business that will engage much more deeply with its members around their personal health goals. His strategy... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Transformation; Behavior; Leading Change; Strategy; Insurance Industry; Health Industry; United States; Connecticut

25 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 25, 2018

Taxation and Innovation in the 20th Century By: Akcigit, Ufuk, John Grigsby, Tom Nicholas, and Stefanie Stantcheva Abstract—This paper studies the effect of corporate and personal taxes on innovation in the United States over the 20th... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

2020
Working Paper

Accounting for Product Impact in the Consumer Finance Industry

By: George Serafeim and Katie Trinh

We apply the product impact measurement framework of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative (IWAI) in two competitor credit card providers within the consumer finance industry. We design a monetization methodology that allows us to calculate monetary impact estimates... View Details

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July 2018
Teaching Plan

Joan Bavaria and Multi-Dimensional Capitalism

By: Geoffrey Jones and Valeria Giacomin

This Teaching Plan accompanies the case HBS No. 317-028, “Joan Bavaria and Multi-Dimensional Capitalism.” It provides guidelines for class discussion, as well as a board plan. The case traces the origins of sustainable finance and investor activism through the career... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Investment; Social Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career

June 2016
Supplement

FANUC Corporation: Reassessing the Firm's Governance and Financial Policies Spreadsheet Supplement

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Akiko Kanno

In February 2015, Daniel Loeb (a US-based activist investor) announced his firm had a large investment in FANUC Corporation, a leading producer of industrial robots and software for machine tools. Loeb was demanding that the Japanese firm change its financial and... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Valuation; Investment Funds; Policy; Corporate Governance; Macroeconomics; Investment Activism; Change Management; Financial Strategy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Japan; United States

October 2008 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Lawrence Trinh: Venturing to Vietnam

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Rachel Gordon

Should Lawrence Trinh pursue his aspiration of working in Vietnam—and if so, what set of principles and practices should he adopt if he encounters corruption? These are questions that reverberate for many students who wish to work in emerging markets and other contexts... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Ethics; Investment; Leadership Development; Emerging Markets; Personal Development and Career; Welfare; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

September 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Case

AngelList

By: Ramana Nanda and Liz Kind

In early 2010, Naval Ravikant and Babak Nivi posted a list of angel investors on the Venture Hacks blog as a resource for founders looking for funding prior to seeking venture capital. The list quickly evolved into AngelList, a separate matchmaking platform for... View Details

Keywords: Angel Investors; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurial Finance; Finance; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Financial Services Industry; United States