Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(118,360)
- Faculty Publications (466)
- 2017
- Working Paper
Self-Employment Dynamics and the Returns to Entrepreneurship
By: Eleanor W. Dillon and Christopher T. Stanton
Small business owners and others in self-employment have the option to transition to paid work. If there is initial uncertainty about entrepreneurial earnings, this option increases the expected lifetime value of self-employment relative to pay in a single year. This... View Details
- September 2016
- Case
Designing Performance Metrics at GoDaddy
By: C. Fritz Foley and Michael Lemm
Scott Wagner has recently joined GoDaddy, a leading provider of cloud-based software and services that helped individuals and small businesses establish a web presence, in the dual role of chief operating officer and chief financial officer. One of his first tasks is... View Details
- Article
The Scandal Effect
By: Boris Groysberg, Eric Lin, George Serafeim and Robin Abrahams
Executives with scandal-tainted companies on their résumés pay a penalty on the job market, even if they clearly had nothing to do with the trouble. Because the scandal effect is lasting, a company you left long ago could have an impact on your current and future job... View Details
- July 2016
- Case
'Golden Leash' Pay for Directors at The Dow Chemical Company
By: Ian Gow, Suraj Srinivasan and Neeraj Goyal
In November 2014, The Dow Chemical Company was faced with the prospect of a proxy battle with prominent hedge fund and activist investor Third Point Management. The activist had criticized Dow’s recent performance and advocated that the company split itself to maximize... View Details
- June 2016
- Case
Controversy over Executive Remuneration at BP
By: V.G. Narayanan and Ashley Hartman
In March 2016, BP disclosed that its chief executive officer, Bob Dudley, would receive a $19.6 million compensation package, a 20% increase in total compensation over the previous year. BP justified the amount, emphasizing that the company delivered strong results... View Details
Keywords: Executive Compensation
- February 2016
- Case
Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (A)
By: John Beshears, Patrick Rooney and Jenny Sanford
The pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) sector processes prescription drug claims on behalf of companies that offer a prescription drug benefit to their employees. This case follows Bob Nease, Chief Scientist at Express Scripts, as he considers methods to promote home... View Details
Keywords: Pharmaceuticals; Prescription Drugs; Pharmacy Benefit Manager; PBM; Healthcare; Behavioral Economics; Choice Architecture; Active Choice; Service Delivery; Decision Choices and Conditions; Health Care and Treatment; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Compensation and Benefits; Pharmaceutical Industry
- February 2016 (Revised March 2022)
- Case
Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B)
By: John Beshears, Patrick Rooney and Jenny Sanford
The pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) sector processes prescription drug claims on behalf of companies that offer a prescription drug benefit to their employees. This case follows Bob Nease, Chief Scientist at Express Scripts, as he considers methods to promote home... View Details
- 2016
- Article
Do External Labor Market Job Switches Affect the Gender Compensation Gap?
By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and Eric Lin
This paper investigates how external mobility influences the gender compensation gap for job switching executives. Using proprietary data for 2,034 executive placements from a global search firm, we find job switching narrows the gender gap by 45%, from 11% to 6%. We... View Details
- 2016
- Article
Scandal and Stigma: Does Corporate Misconduct Affect the Future Compensation of Bystander Managers?
By: Boris Groysberg, Eric Lin and George Serafeim
This paper explores whether a firm’s misconduct can affect the compensation of former managers who were neither at the firm at the time of misdeeds nor involved in the scandal. Results suggest that stigma may influence compensation of former managers, even in cases... View Details
- December 2015
- Background Note
Incentive Systems
By: Brian J. Hall
This note serves as a supplement to any course on incentive design within organizations. The note focuses on the principal difficulties in designing incentive systems, including the tradeoff between objective and subjective performance metrics, how to design incentive... View Details
- Article
The Baby Benefits Club
By: Debora L. Spar
This past summer several prominent firms seemed to be competing for the title of America's most family-friendly company. In August, Netflix announced plans to offer new mothers and fathers "unlimited leave". Microsoft countered quickly, promising to increase its own... View Details
- 2016
- Working Paper
Through the Grapevine: Network Effects on the Design of Executive Compensation Contracts
By: Susanna Gallani
Effective design of executive compensation contracts involves choosing and weighting performance measures, as well as defining the mix between fixed and incentive-based pay components, with a view to fostering talent retention and goal congruence. The variability in... View Details
- 2015
- Working Paper
Incentives versus Reciprocity: Insights from a Field Experiment
By: Doug J. Chung and Das Narayandas
We conduct a field experiment in which we vary the sales force compensation scheme at an Asian enterprise that sells consumer durable goods. With variation generated by the experimental treatments, we model sales force performance to identify the effectiveness of... View Details
- April 2015 (Revised October 2017)
- Teaching Note
Buffett's Bid for Media General's Newspapers
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Annelena Lobb
On May 12, 2012, BH Media Group, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, announced an offer to buy Media General's (MEG) newspaper division for $142 million in cash and provide debt financing to the struggling firm. Reactions from investors and industry... View Details
Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Bankruptcy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Strategy; Risk Management; Executive Compensation; Cash Flow; Business Exit or Shutdown; Media; Advertising; Restructuring; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Publishing Industry; United States
- October 2014
- Case
Honeywell and the Great Recession (A)
By: Sandra J. Sucher and Susan J. Winterberg
CEO Dave Cote spent six years turning around an ailing Honeywell and in 2008 Cote and his team face a new challenge: how to respond to the Great Recession. Cote does not want to give up the gains he made in transforming and unifying Honeywell. With a fall-off in... View Details
- October 2014
- Supplement
Honeywell and the Great Recession: The Economic Recovery (B)
By: Sandra J. Sucher and Susan J. Winterberg
Five years after the Great Recession, Honeywell's CEO Dave Cote and his executive team reflect on the choices they made to manage costs and earnings forecasts during that uncertain time. They discuss which cost cutting measures they decided to take and their personal... View Details
- Fall 2014
- Article
Seesaws and Social Security Benefits Indexing
The price indexation of Social Security benefit payments has emerged in recent years as a flashpoint of debate in the United States. I characterize the direct effects that changes in that price index would have on retirees who differ in their initial wealth at... View Details
- August 2014 (Revised March 2016)
- Case
Thomas Cook Group on the Brink (A)
By: Benjamin C. Esty, Stuart C. Gilson and Aldo Sesia
Harriett Green, the newly appointed CEO of Thomas Cook Group, faces a daunting set of business and financial challenges at the 171-year old UK travel services company. The company has lost almost £600 million in the last three quarters; has seen its stock price fall... View Details
Keywords: Turnaround; Corporate Restructuring; Change Leadership; Female Ceo; Change Management; Communication Strategy; Borrowing and Debt; Cash Flow; Cost Management; Financial Liquidity; Financial Management; Executive Compensation; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Value Creation; Travel Industry; United Kingdom
- July–August 2014
- Article
Obamacare Rules Pose Challenges for S Corp Owners
By: Josh Baron, Steve Salley and Judith L. Walsh
The article offers information financial impacts of tax by the U.S. Affordable Care Act (ACA) applied in January 2013 on family business shareholders and owners of S Corp. It discusses suggestions in tax planning to equalize tax burden including establishing family... View Details
- June 2014 (Revised January 2017)
- Case
YAAS's Service Center
By: Brian Hall and Sara del Nido
This case is about a compensation change at an automotive service company in the Middle East. The case allows investigation and analysis of many issues related to compensation design and human resource management, and even change management. The focus of the case is... View Details