Publications

June 2008
Journal Article

Strategic Alliances: Bridges Between 'Islands of Conscious Power'

By: George P. Baker, Robert Gibbons and Kevin J. Murphy

Strategic alliances range from unstructured collaborations, through consortia and joint ventures that superimpose new governance structures on existing firms, to transactions that restructure firm boundaries and asset ownership. In this paper, we draw on detailed... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Alliances; Strategy; Theory

June 1998 (Revised July 1998)
Teaching Note

Teradyne: Managing Strategic Change, The Aurora Project, Managing Disruptive Change, and Corporate Management of Disruptive Change TN

By: Joseph L. Bower

Teaching Note for (9-397-113), (9-397-112), (9-397-114), and (9-398-121). View Details

Keywords: Change Management

January 2016 (Revised February 2016)
Case

Citizens United and Corporate Speech

By: David Moss and Marc Campasano

The story of Citizens United began in late 2007, as leading members of the Republican and Democratic parties were preparing for the 2008 presidential primaries. Democrats expected a three-way contest in their party between Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, Senator (and... View Details

Keywords: Rights; Internet and the Web; Political Elections; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business and Government Relations

TeachingInterests

Making Corporate Boards More Effective

By: Guhan Subramanian

While your corporate board may have broadly defined legal duties, its role in evaluating management, providing strategic oversight, and dealing with the complexity of today's regulatory environment has never been more tested—or more... View Details

Article

Toward a Corporate Culture of Health: Results of a National Survey

By: Michael Anne Kyle, Lumumba Seegars, John M. Benson, Robert J. Blendon, Robert S. Huckman and Sara J. Singer

Context: The private sector has a large potential role in advancing health and well-being, but attention to corporate practices around health tends to focus on a narrow range of issues and on large businesses. Systematically describing private sector engagement in... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Health; Social Determinants Of Health; Health Policy; Public Health; Organizations; Health; Policy; Surveys

1995
Chapter

Incentive Problems in Financial Contracting: Impacts on Corporate Financing, Investment, and Risk Management Policies

By: K. Froot

Keywords: Catastrophe Risk; Corporate Finance; Cost Of Capital; Banking And Insurance; Asset Pricing; Hedging; Banking; Decision Choice And Uncertainty; Financial Markets; Insurance; Policy; Risk Management; Natural Disasters; Insurance Industry

August 2015 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Shareholder Activists and Corporate Strategy

By: David Collis and Ashley Hartman

By 2015, there had been an upsurge in activist shareholders arguing for radical changes in companies' corporate strategies. Personalities like Carl Icahn, Bill Ackman, and Daniel Loeb were feared and loathed in some quarters, celebrated in others. With nearly $120... View Details

Keywords: Scope; Activist Investors; Spin-offs; Synergy; Diversification; Consolidation; Hedge Fund; Corporate Strategy

Article

Strategic Disclosure: The Case of Business School Rankings

By: Michael Luca and Jonathan Smith

We empirically analyze disclosure decisions made by 240 MBA programs about which rankings to display on their websites. We present three main findings. First, consistent with theories of countersignaling, top schools are least likely to disclose their rankings, whereas... View Details

Keywords: Voluntary Disclosure; Shrouded Attributes; Information Unraveling; Rankings; Higher Education; Corporate Disclosure; Rank and Position

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05 Oct 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Doing What the Parents Want? The Effect of the Local Information Environment on the Investment Decisions of Multinational Corporations

Keywords: by Nemit O. Shroff, Rodrigo S. Verdi & Gwen Yu

September 1996
Case

Automatic Data Processing: The EFS Decision (Abridged)

By: Robert L. Simons

The managing director of one of ADP's divisions must recommend whether to divest, harvest, or grow the division. Recent performance has been excellent and the near-term outlook for profitability is very promising. Despite some strategic concerns, the strong financial... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Success; Performance Expectations; Strategic Planning; Strategy

October 2005
Case

Intel Corporation 2005

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

Buoyed by strong recent sales growth but humbled by failed strategic bets and other missteps, Intel in 2005 initiated a major reorganization. Under its new CEO, Paul Otellini, the company shifted toward a "platform" model, inspired by the success of its Centrino... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Alignment; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Semiconductor Industry

TeachingInterests

Designing and Executing Corporate Revitalization

By: Ranjay Gulati

Given today's turbulent environment, business leaders are seeking a new path to success for their companies. But while many firms talk about transforming themselves around current trends such as digitization and remote work, most struggle when it comes to... View Details

March 2006 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision

Five years after the launch of the Frederick Douglass Charter School, the school's performance is under review by the state board of education as part of a decision about whether to renew the school's charter for a school as well as the implications of a... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Accountability; Urban Development; Education; Business Startups; Education Industry; United States

04 Sep 2013
What Do You Think?

How Relevant is Long-Range Strategic Planning?

Summing Up How Can Strategic Planning be Adapted to Changing Needs? Strategic planning concepts and the notion of long-range planning will continue to be integral parts of responsible management. But they... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Sep 2016
News

Making Progress on Strategic Priorities

The Harvard Business School Campaign has played a critical role in advancing the School’s mission through the “Five I” strategic priorities. Selected highlights of new activities made possible by generous support from alumni and friends... View Details

Awards

So! What Award

By: Amy C. Edmondson

Winner of the 2017 So!WHAT Award for the most outstanding article from five years earlier for “CEO Relational Leadership and Strategic Decision Quality in Top Management Teams: The Role of Team Trust and Learning from Failure” (Strategic Organization,... View Details

2007
Chapter

Behavioral Corporate Finance: A Survey

By: Malcolm Baker, Richard Ruback and Jeffrey Wurgler

Research in behavioral corporate finance takes two distinct approaches. The first emphasizes that investors are less than fully rational. It views managerial financing and investment decisions as rational responses to securities market mispricing. The second approach... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Prejudice and Bias; Debt Securities; Financial Management; Price; Theory; Investment; Problems and Challenges; Behavioral Finance; Corporate Finance

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June 2007 (Revised July 2007)
Case

USG Corporation (A)

Deals with CEO Bill Foote's decision of how to deal with USG's exposure to asbestos liability. USG was the largest building materials company in the United States, with 14,000 employees and gross revenues of $3.8 billion. Although USG used asbestos in a small subset of... View Details

Keywords: Legal Liability; Construction Industry