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- All HBS Web
(1,708)
- Faculty Publications (499)
- October 16, 2019
- Article
Where ESG Fails
By: Michael E. Porter, George Serafeim and Mark Kramer
We are entering a new stage of understanding of the linkage between investment performance and social impact. Previous approaches, such as socially responsible investing and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) screening, have obscured the opportunities for... View Details
Keywords: ESG; Sustainability; Environment; Social Impact; Impact Investing; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; ESG Reporting; Shared Value; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Investment; Value; Strategy
Porter, Michael E., George Serafeim, and Mark Kramer. "Where ESG Fails." Institutional Investor (October 16, 2019).
- October 14, 2019
- Article
A Guide to the Big Ideas and Debates in Corporate Governance
By: Lynn S. Paine and Suraj Srinivasan
How corporations govern themselves has become a matter of broad public interest in recent decades. Amid this many commentators and experts still disagree on such basic matters as the purpose of the corporation, the role of corporate boards of directors, the rights of... View Details
Keywords: Corporate Governance; Mission and Purpose; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business and Shareholder Relations; Performance; Measurement and Metrics
Paine, Lynn S., and Suraj Srinivasan. "A Guide to the Big Ideas and Debates in Corporate Governance." Harvard Business Review (website) (October 14, 2019).
- October 2019 (Revised February 2025)
- Case
A Conversation with Ellen J. Kullman, Chair & CEO of DuPont, 2009-2015
By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz
Ellen J. Kullman, the retired Chairman and CEO of DuPont, describes how she guided the storied science and technology company through a contentious proxy battle with activist investor Trian Partners, which acquired DuPont shares in 2013 and sought to break up the... View Details
Keywords: Agribusiness; Capital Structure; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Institutional Investing; Leadership; Leadership Style; Management; Transformation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Chemical Industry; United States
Paine, Lynn S., and Will Hurwitz. "A Conversation with Ellen J. Kullman, Chair & CEO of DuPont, 2009-2015." Harvard Business School Case 320-017, October 2019. (Revised February 2025.)
- 2019
- Working Paper
Stewardship Codes and Shareholder Voting on Disputed Ballot Measures
By: Trang T. Nguyen and Charles CY Wang
This study examines the impact of stewardship codes on investor voting behavior in disputed ballot measures-- where ISS's recommendation differs from management's recommendation-- across nine countries. U.S. institutional investors' voting behavior in adopting country... View Details
- September 2019
- Case
JTC: Stronger Together with Shared Ownership
By: Ethan Bernstein and Daniela Beyersdorfer
Nigel Le Quesne, CEO of Jersey-based financial services firm JTC, firmly believed that "shared ownership" was at the heart of his company’s successful track record. The firm had seen its revenues, profits, and number of clients and staff grow steadily throughout its... View Details
Keywords: Ownership; Employee Ownership; Leadership Style; Compensation and Benefits; Organizational Culture; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Going Public; Mission and Purpose; Management Practices and Processes; Human Resources; Financial Services Industry; Channel Islands; Europe; United States
Bernstein, Ethan, and Daniela Beyersdorfer. "JTC: Stronger Together with Shared Ownership." Harvard Business School Case 420-008, September 2019.
- September 2019 (Revised August 2021)
- Case
It's All About Family: Esas Group
By: Christina R. Wing and Alpana Thapar
This case describes how Ali Sabancı and his sister Emine Sabancı Kamışlı, shareholders of Esas Group, one of Turkey’s largest family-owned investment firms, worked to grow and professionalize the business. While their father Şevket Sabancı, played an instrumental role... View Details
Wing, Christina R., and Alpana Thapar. "It's All About Family: Esas Group." Harvard Business School Case 620-010, September 2019. (Revised August 2021.)
- August 2019 (Revised August 2022)
- Case
Baroo (A): Pet Concierge
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Susie L. Ma
Baroo CEO Lindsay Hyde was facing unrest from the board of her pet services startup in August 2017. One board member (and lead investor) was alarmed that Baroo’s growth was slowing while its appetite for funding was accelerating. Hyde wanted to hit the gas and continue... View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Outcome or Result; Failure; Business and Shareholder Relations; Venture Capital; Governing and Advisory Boards; Opportunities; Strategy; Service Industry; United States; Massachusetts
Eisenmann, Thomas R., and Susie L. Ma. "Baroo (A): Pet Concierge." Harvard Business School Case 820-011, August 2019. (Revised August 2022.)
- August 2019 (Revised April 2021)
- Case
Zillow Offers: Winning Online Real Estate 2.0
By: Luis Viceira, Marco Di Maggio and Allison Ciechanover
Founded in 2005, Zillow had become the leading online real estate and home-related marketplace. The brand was recognized as a trusted resource for players in the real estate market, providing information and transparency on home prices. Revenue, which was historically... View Details
Keywords: Real Estate; Corporate Culture; Intermediation; Brokerage; Startup; Evaluating Business Investments; Property; Information Technology; Business Model; Expansion; Business Startups; Real Estate Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States
Viceira, Luis, Marco Di Maggio, and Allison Ciechanover. "Zillow Offers: Winning Online Real Estate 2.0." Harvard Business School Case 220-021, August 2019. (Revised April 2021.)
- August 22, 2019
- Article
CEOs Say Their Aim Is Inclusive Prosperity. Do They Mean It?
By: Lynn S. Paine
Earlier this week, the Business Roundtable issued a statement on corporate purpose. It is noteworthy both for its endorsement of inclusive prosperity as an ideal and for its rejection of maximizing shareholder returns as the sole corporate objective. However, the real... View Details
Paine, Lynn S. "CEOs Say Their Aim Is Inclusive Prosperity. Do They Mean It?" Harvard Business Review (website) (August 22, 2019).
- Article
181 Top CEOs Have Realized Companies Need a Purpose Beyond Profit
By: Claudine Gartenberg and George Serafeim
On August 19, 2019, the Business Roundtable (BR) issued a memo entitled “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation.” The Business Roundtable, one of the most preeminent business lobbies in the United States, includes 192 CEOs of leading U.S. companies from Apple to... View Details
Keywords: Purpose; Corporate Purpose; Stakeholder Management; CEO; Mission and Purpose; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Strategy
Gartenberg, Claudine, and George Serafeim. "181 Top CEOs Have Realized Companies Need a Purpose Beyond Profit." Harvard Business Review (website) (August 20, 2019).
- Editorial
3 Ways Investors Can Pressure Companies to Take Sustainability Seriously
By: Mindy Lubber and George Serafeim
Keywords: Sustainability; Activism; ESG; Shareholder Activism; Investor Behavior; Climate Change; Environment; Diversity; Corporate Governance; Corporate Accountability
Lubber, Mindy, and George Serafeim. "3 Ways Investors Can Pressure Companies to Take Sustainability Seriously." Barron's (June 23, 2019).
- May 2019
- Teaching Note
Tesla, Inc. in 2018
By: Siko Sikochi and Suraj Srinivasan
Teaching Note for HBS No. 119-013. The case facilitates a discussion about corporate governance and its role in achieving sustainable profitability and driving long-term shareholder value. The discussion can focus on such questions as what constitutes good governance,... View Details
- May 17, 2019
- Article
Amazon's Priorities Over the Years, Based on Jeff Bezos's Letters to Shareholders
By: Tricia Gregg and Boris Groysberg
Gregg, Tricia, and Boris Groysberg. "Amazon's Priorities Over the Years, Based on Jeff Bezos's Letters to Shareholders." Harvard Business Review (website) (May 17, 2019).
- 16 May 2019
- Panel Discussion
Under Pressure: Directors in an Era of Shareholder Primacy
By: Lynn S. Paine
- 2021
- Working Paper
rTSR: Properties, Determinants, and Consequences of Benchmark Choice
By: Paul Ma, Jee-Eun Shin and Charles C.Y. Wang
We develop a measurement-error framework for assessing the quality of relative-performance metrics designed to filter out the systematic component of performance and analyze relative total shareholder return (rTSR)—the predominant metric market participants use to... View Details
Keywords: Relative TSR; Relative Performance Evaluation; Systematic Risk; Board Of Directors; Compensation Consultants; Style Effects; Executive Compensation; Performance Evaluation; Corporate Governance
Ma, Paul, Jee-Eun Shin, and Charles C.Y. Wang. "rTSR: Properties, Determinants, and Consequences of Benchmark Choice." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-112, April 2019. (Revised May 2021.)
- April 2019 (Revised December 2021)
- Case
Sears: The Demise of an American Icon
By: Kristin Mugford and Sarah L. Abbott
In 2019, ESL Investments’ $5.2 billion offer to purchase Sears Holdings out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, was accepted, despite opposition from the company's unsecured creditors and other parties. ESL, which was led by Eddie Lampert, had acquired a stake in Sears following... View Details
Keywords: Bankruptcy; Reorganization; Bonds; Restructuring; Business Divisions; Transformation; Fairness; Borrowing and Debt; Credit; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Corporate Governance; Motivation and Incentives; Retail Industry; United States
Mugford, Kristin, and Sarah L. Abbott. "Sears: The Demise of an American Icon." Harvard Business School Case 219-106, April 2019. (Revised December 2021.)
- 2019
- Working Paper
Rehabilitating Corporate Purpose
In this paper, I address how the ascendance of the theory of shareholder value maximization into the central consciousness of public corporations and its canonization as the only legitimate expression of corporate purpose has contributed to both a widening breach... View Details
Keywords: Capitalism; Justice; Corporate Purpose; Shareholder Value Maximization; Ethical Reciprocity; Economic Systems; Business Ventures; Mission and Purpose; Ethics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact
Salter, Malcolm S. "Rehabilitating Corporate Purpose." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-104, April 2019.
- Article
Short-Termism and Capital Flows
By: Jesse M. Fried and Charles C.Y. Wang
During 2007–2016, S&P 500 firms distributed to shareholders $7 trillion via buybacks and dividends, over 96% of their aggregate net income, prompting claims that "short-termism" is impairing firms' ability to invest and innovate. We show that, when taking into account... View Details
Keywords: Short-termism; Quarterly Capitalism; Share Buybacks; Open Market Repurchases; Dividends; Equity Issuances; Seasoned Equity Offerings; Equity Compensastion; Acquisitions; Payout Policy; Capital Flows; Capital Distribution; Working Capital; Business and Shareholder Relations; Acquisition
Fried, Jesse M., and Charles C.Y. Wang. "Short-Termism and Capital Flows." Review of Corporate Finance Studies 8, no. 1 (March 2019): 207–233.
- February 2019 (Revised November 2023)
- Case
Rent-a-Center/Vintage Capital
By: Guhan Subramanian and Caeden Brynie
Christopher Korst, General Counsel for Rent-A-Center (RAC), looked at the time. It was late in the evening on December 17, 2018, yet no notice of extension had come from Vintage Capital. In June, Vintage had agreed to buy RAC for $15 per share in cash, amounting to... View Details
Subramanian, Guhan, and Caeden Brynie. "Rent-a-Center/Vintage Capital." Harvard Business School Case 919-031, February 2019. (Revised November 2023.)
- 2020
- Working Paper
Are ISS Recommendations Informative? Evidence from Assessments of Compensation Practices
By: Ana Albuquerque, Mary Ellen Carter and Susanna Gallani
Using detailed information from the largest proxy advisor in the U.S., Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), we examine whether proxy advisors’ assessments of firms’ compensation practices are able to identify poor compensation practices as measured by subsequent... View Details
Keywords: Proxy Advisors; CEO Compensation; Say-on-Pay; Institutional Shareholder Voting; Executive Compensation; Performance
Albuquerque, Ana, Mary Ellen Carter, and Susanna Gallani. "Are ISS Recommendations Informative? Evidence from Assessments of Compensation Practices." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-085, February 2019. (Revised March 2020.)