Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(2,577)
- Faculty Publications (466)
- February 2020
- Case
Rotoplas: Bringing More and Better Water
By: John D. Macomber and Carla Larangeira
Private companies were being turned to for potable water in the world’s megacities due to impacts of climate change including droughts and flooding. Mexico City had endured several water-related crises, with its population suffering from floods, droughts, water... View Details
- February 2020 (Revised June 2020)
- Case
Shaping the Governance Debate at ISS
By: Suraj Srinivasan, Jonah S. Goldberg and Calvin O. Liou
ISS is the world’s largest provider of corporate governance research, data, analytics, and voting services. The case uses the effort of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to impose an array of new regulations that would severely restrict the functioning of... View Details
- January 2020 (Revised July 2020)
- Case
BlackRock: Linking Purpose to Profit
By: Aiyesha Dey
The case revolves around the actions that Barbara Novick, co-founder and Vice-Chair of Blackrock, and Michelle Edkins, Global Head of Investment Stewardship, would need to take in response to the controversial CEO letters from Laurence (Larry) Fink, Chairman and CEO of... View Details
Keywords: Boards Of Directors; Institutional Investors; Disclosure; Transparency; Corporate Purpose; Corporate Profits; ESG; ESG Disclosure Metrics; Corporate Sustainability; Engagement Strategy Of Institutions; Stewardship Role Of Institutions; BlackRock; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Institutional Investing; Accounting; Corporate Disclosure; Mission and Purpose; Profit; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Diversity; Corporate Accountability; Financial Services Industry; United States
- January 2020
- Case
Sunset Limited or Full Speed Ahead? Amtrak Talks to Congress
By: John D. Macomber
Richard Anderson took the helm of Amtrak in 2017 after leading a successful turnaround at Delta Airlines. Amtrak is a US state owned enterprise with about $3.5 bn in annual revenue (and a large operating loss) that is responsible for substantial segments of passenger... View Details
- December 2019 (Revised March 2021)
- Case
Carroll Family Farms
By: Forest Reinhardt, Christian Godwin and James Weber
The Carroll Family, U.S. pig and grain farmers, needed to decide what to plant, whether to purchase land, emphasize pigs or grain, or other investments.
Seven family members across three generations owned and operated Carroll Family Farms (CFF). In... View Details
Seven family members across three generations owned and operated Carroll Family Farms (CFF). In... View Details
- December 2019 (Revised December 2022)
- Case
TXU (A): Powering the Largest Leveraged Buyout in History
By: Trevor Fetter, Erik Snowberg and Rebecca M. Henderson
This case is designed to support a lively discussion about the relative merits of shareholder vs. stakeholder perspectives in the context of a company that provides a vital public service that has important environmental implications. The 2007 purchase of TXU, the... View Details
Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Transformation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Environmental Sustainability; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Energy Generation; Non-Renewable Energy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Utilities Industry; Energy Industry; Texas
- Article
Mandate Outcomes Reporting
By: Robert S. Kaplan and Michael E. Porter
Currently, few health care providers measure and report their patient outcomes, which leads to several problems. Attempts to introduce price transparency without outcomes transparency could trigger a “race to the bottom.” Should Medicare coverage be expanded to... View Details
- 2021
- Working Paper
Shareholder Activism and Firms' Voluntary Disclosure of Climate Change Risks
By: Caroline Flammer, Michael W. Toffel and Kala Viswanathan
This paper examines whether—in the absence of mandated disclosure requirements—shareholder activism can elicit greater disclosure of firms’ exposure to climate change risks. We find that environmental shareholder activism increases the voluntary disclosure of climate... View Details
Keywords: Shareholder Activism; Climate Risk; Corporate Accountability; Climate Change; Corporate Disclosure; Corporate Governance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Shareholder Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Natural Environment; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Services Industry; United States
- October 2019 (Revised January 2020)
- Case
Fixing Facebook: Fake News, Privacy, and Platform Governance
By: David Yoffie and Daniel Fisher
Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook based on the idea that connecting people was a fundamentally good thing—and a way to turn a handsome profit. But from the beginning, Facebook received criticism both for how it handled user privacy and how it curated user-generated... View Details
- September 2019
- Case
Dementia Discovery Fund
By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Kathy Giusti and Sarah Gulick
The case is set in March 2019, and tells the story of the founding of the Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF). The idea for the fund began in 2015, when then-Prime Minister David Cameron spoke about the importance of making breakthroughs in dementia research, and pledged... View Details
- September 2019 (Revised February 2022)
- Case
Glenn Defense Marine Asia (A)
By: Susanna Gallani, Anja Anliker, Luke Hodges and Amram Migdal
This case describes the growth of Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA) under the leadership of Leonard Glenn Francis. GDMA provided ship husbanding and logistical support services to the United States Navy when Navy ships visited various ports in Southeast Asia. The case... View Details
Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Growth and Maturation; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Governance; Corporate Accountability; Governance Controls; Government and Politics; Law; Contracts; Lawfulness; Operations; Service Industry; Service Industry; Asia; Southeast Asia; Malaysia; Singapore
- September 2019 (Revised February 2022)
- Supplement
Glenn Defense Marine Asia (B)
By: Susanna Gallani, Anja Anliker, Luke Hodges and Amram Migdal
This case describes the growth of Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA) under the leadership of Leonard Glenn Francis. GDMA provided ship husbanding and logistical support services to the United States Navy when Navy ships visited various ports in Southeast Asia. The case... View Details
Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Growth and Maturation; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Governance; Corporate Accountability; Governance Controls; Government and Politics; Law; Contracts; Lawfulness; Operations; Service Industry; Service Industry; Asia; Southeast Asia; Malaysia; Singapore
- September 2019
- Article
Bankruptcy Spillovers
By: Shai Bernstein, Emanuele Colonnelli, Xavier Giroud and Benjamin Iverson
How do different bankruptcy approaches affect the local economy? Using U.S. Census microdata, we explore the spillover effects of reorganization and liquidation on geographically proximate firms. We exploit the random assignment of bankruptcy judges as a source of... View Details
- September 2019
- Article
The Persistence of Broadband User Behavior: Implications for Universal Service and Competition Policy
By: Andre Boik, Shane Greenstein and Jeffrey Prince
In several markets, firms compete not for consumer expenditure but consumer attention. We examine user priorities over the allocation of their time, and interpret that behavior in light of salient tensions in policy discussions over universal service, data caps, and... View Details
- 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
- July 2019
- Case
Piramal Foundation: The Business of Philanthropy
By: Vikram Gandhi and Mahima Rao-Kachroo
The Piramal Foundation was launched by diversfied Indian conglomerate, the Piramal Group, to improve the healthcare services and quality of education of India’s economically and socially disadvantaged. The foundation operates under three verticals—‘Piramal Foundation... View Details
- June 2019
- Case
Fangda Partners: A Step Ahead
By: Ashish Nanda and Lisa Rohrer
Elite Chinese law firm Fangda Partners has steered Alibaba and other Chinese and international clients through the complex legal, corporate, and regulatory challenges associated with executing international transactions. “Fangda has traveled a long distance in a short... View Details
- June 2019
- Article
Fraud Allegations and Government Contracting
By: Jonas Heese and Gerardo Pérez Cavazos
This paper examines whether fraud allegations affect firms’ contracting with the government. Using a dataset of whistleblower allegations brought under the False Claims Act against firms accused of defrauding the government, we find that federal agencies do not reduce... View Details
- May 2019
- Case
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: 'One CMHC' and Version 3.0
By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott
When Evan Siddall was appointed CEO of Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation (CMHC) five years earlier, he had embarked on a major organizational restructuring. Now he is spearheading another round of changes. CMHC has adopted an ambition vision and five year strategic... View Details
Keywords: Government Organizations; Culture; Organizational Change And Transformation; Human Resource Practices; Future Of Work; Change Management; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Government Administration; Restructuring; Leadership; Human Resources; Talent and Talent Management; Diversity; Work-Life Balance; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Canada
- 2019
- Working Paper
Biometric Monitoring, Service Delivery and Misreporting: Evidence from Healthcare in India
By: Thomas Bossuroy, Clara Delavallade and Vincent Pons
Developing countries increasingly use biometric identification technology in hopes of improving the reliability of administrative information and delivering social services more efficiently. This paper exploits the random placement of biometric tracking devices in... View Details