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

SSRN

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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

June 2009 (Revised October 2011)
Case

Mina O'Reilly at Logan Airport's TSA

By: Michel Anteby and Erin McFee

Mina O'Reilly, an officer at Logan Airport's Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in Boston, must discipline an employee responsible for a security breach that resulted in a 45-minute terminal closure during peak hours, a potential threat to traveler safety,... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Accountability; Employee Relationship Management; Organizational Culture; Air Transportation; Air Transportation Industry; Boston

November 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Background Note

When Investing and Social Objectives Meet

By: Gregory S. Miller, Vincent Marie Dessain and Anders Sjoman

Introduces students to a group of investors and stakeholders who evaluate firms at least partially on factors other than eventual investment payoff. Focuses on investors who evaluate and attempt to impact firms' ethical, corporate governance, or other "societal"... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Investment; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations

February 1989 (Revised October 1994)
Case

Asahi Breweries Ltd.

By: Malcolm S. Salter

Focuses on competitive repositioning, organizational renewal, and personal leadership. Describes how Asahi Breweries was faced with a major capacity expansion decision after succeeding in increasing market share dramatically in the traditionally stable Japanese beer... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Leadership; Organizational Structure; Product Launch; Management Teams; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Supply Chain Management; Mission and Purpose; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan

20 Feb 2017
News

MBAs in space: rocket science absorbs business school thinking

Is It Time to Let Employees Work from Anywhere?

While working from home (WFH) has become relatively commonplace, a new form of remote work is emerging: working from anywhere (WFA), in which employees can live and work where they choose. Managers often worry about remote employees working less, or multitasking,... View Details

09 May 2024
Research & Ideas

Called Back to the Office? How You Benefit from Ideas You Didn't Know You Were Missing

and disciplinary isolation led Duede to wonder whether the data they had collected could be used to understand the association of geographic and intellectual proximity on intellectual influence. The power of diverse interactions The study suggests that View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

June 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Blue Man Group: Creativity, Life and Surviving an Economic Meltdown

In 2008, Blue Man Group's three co-founders are facing the prospect of losing not just a business but a way of life they have built together. The case follows the story of Chris Wink, Matt Goldman, and Phil Stanton as they pursue their creative passion and build the... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Financial Crisis; Entrepreneurship; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Personal Development and Career; Creativity; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

August 2022
Teaching Plan

Janet Ames (A), (B), (C), (D)

By: Brian Trelstad

Teaching Plan for HBS Case Nos. 320-076, 320-077, 320-078, and 322-051. The series of Janet Ames cases follow a fictional alumna of Harvard Business School into her consulting career in Boston. Over the series of cases, Ames is first offered the opportunity to join... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy; Board; Non-profit Management; Career Changes And Transitions; Evaluation; Personal Development and Career; Opportunities; Decision Choices and Conditions; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Governing and Advisory Boards; Social Enterprise; Social Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Management; United States

03 Oct 2023
Research Event

Build the Life You Want: Arthur Brooks and Oprah Winfrey Share Happiness Tips

were saying, so why did this take you down so? And I said because I just wanted everybody to feel about that movie the way I felt about it. I wanted people to understand that you could be an enslaved person, come through that, and still have love. And the View Details

Keywords: by HBS Staff

Research Summary

The Exercise and Development of Leadership

My research in this stream contributes to three recent trends in leadership scholarship. The first is the resurgence of a perspective less preoccupied with leaders' impact on organizational performance and more with their function as sources and symbols of the... View Details

28 Nov 2018
HBS Seminar

Jon Jachimowicz, Columbia University

May 2017
Case

Promontory, Inc.

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Amy Handlin

Promontory, Inc. is a small, privately owned firm in the promotional products (specialty advertising) industry. After starting the firm two years ago with the intention of pursuing a high-quality/high-price strategy, the CEO is seeking methods of increasing sales... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Marketing Strategy; Customization and Personalization; Business Model; Sales; Advertising Industry

26 Mar 2024
Research & Ideas

How Humans Outshine AI in Adapting to Change

problem—not just treating the patient but making sure the older person is helped to the room and assisted throughout the examination. Approaching this situation successfully requires recognizing the problem has changed and reorienting to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology; Information Technology

22 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

How to Make AI 'Forget' All the Private Data It Shouldn't Have

and then realize after the fact that some of these documents that we used to train ChatGPT contain a lot of racist content or misinformation. A more mundane example would be if during training the year was 2019 and one person was... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology; Information Technology

2020
Book

Teaching by Heart: One Professor's Journey to Inspire

By: Thomas J. DeLong

The best teachers are leaders, and the best leaders are teachers. Teaching by Heart summarizes the author's key insights gained from more than 40 years of teaching and managing. It illustrates how teachers can both lift people up and let them down. It proposes... View Details

Keywords: Teaching; Leadership; Attitudes; Management; Business Education

2017
Working Paper

The Accounting Rookie Job Market: A Practitioner's Guide

By: Ethan Rouen

This paper offers guidance and shares collective wisdom for accounting Ph.D. students who will be entering the academic job market. It is divided into two sections. The first offers subjective advice on the dissertation process—from choosing a topic to surviving the... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Jobs and Positions; Job Search

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January 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Background Note

News in the Digital World: Who Pays?

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Nancy Bartlett

Models to monetizing news in the digital landscape, which is real-time, searchable, sharable, multi-sourced, anytime, and any screen, were emerging in 2010. Could content creators get people to pay for what they watched, read, listened to, and shared online? Were news... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Newspapers; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Online Technology; Journalism and News Industry; Publishing Industry