Publications

22 Jun 2018
News

Harvard Business School Welcomes Dwyane Wade As Executive Fellow

2025
Working Paper

Corporate Actions as Moral Issues

By: Zwetelina Iliewa, Elisabeth Kempf and Oliver Spalt

We examine nonpecuniary preferences across a broad set of corporate actions using a representative sample of the U.S. population. Our core findings, based on large-scale online surveys, are that (i) self-reported nonpecuniary concerns are large both for stock market... View Details

Keywords: Public Opinion; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Moral Sensibility

2023
Working Paper

The Limits of Algorithmic Measures of Race in Studies of Outcome Disparities

By: David S. Scharfstein and Sergey Chernenko

We show that the use of algorithms to predict race has significant limitations in measuring and understanding the sources of racial disparities in finance, economics, and other contexts. First, we derive theoretically the direction and magnitude of measurement bias in... View Details

Keywords: Racial Disparity; Paycheck Protection Program; Measurement Error; AI and Machine Learning; Race; Measurement and Metrics; Equality and Inequality; Prejudice and Bias; Forecasting and Prediction; Outcome or Result

SSRN

23 Jun 2022
News

The C-Suite Skills That Matter Most

Greater Good

Marketing has a greater purpose, and marketers, a higher calling, than simply selling more widgets, according to John Quelch and Katherine Jocz. In Greater Good, the authors contend that marketing performs an essential societal function--and... View Details

2018
Working Paper

Full Substitutability

By: John William Hatfield, Scott Duke Kominers, Alexandru Nichifor, Michael Ostrovsky and Alexander Westkamp

Various forms of substitutability are essential for establishing the existence of equilibria and other useful properties in diverse settings such as matching, auctions, and exchange economies with indivisible goods. We extend earlier models’ definitions of... View Details

Keywords: Substitutability; Mathematical Methods; Auctions; Market Design

SSRN

November 2005 (Revised August 2007)
Case

ConAgra Foods: The Next Chapter

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Mary L. Shelman

In 2005, CEO Bruce Rohde has almost completed the integration of ConAgra Foods' collection of 90 independent operating companies into a focused, value-added firm and was beginning to think about his successor. ConAgra had become the second largest food company and No.... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Corporate Strategy; Leading Change; Management Succession; Strategic Planning; Brands and Branding; Food; Agribusiness; Product Marketing; Management Teams; Transformation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

01 Aug 2023
What Do You Think?

As Leaders, Why Do We Continue to Reward A, While Hoping for B?

column How Are Middle Managers Falling Down Most Often on Employee Inclusion? Middle managers are not devoting the thought and effort that employee inclusion requires. But who’s responsible, middle managers... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

August 2019 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Family Matters: Governance at the Zamil Group

By: Christina R. Wing, Suraj Srinivasan and Esel Çekin

This case focuses on a large Saudi Arabian industrial conglomerate and family business Zamil Group’s corporate and family governance journey. The 12 sons of the founder led and grew the group successfully after taking over from their father in 1961. The secret to their... View Details

Keywords: Middle East; Family Ownership; Family-owned Business; Saudi Arabia; Family Business; Governance; Organizational Structure; Values and Beliefs; Steel Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Middle East; Saudi Arabia; Bahrain

November 2019
Article

Full Substitutability

By: John William Hatfield, Scott Duke Kominers, Alexandru Nichifor, Michael Ostrovsky and Alexander Westkamp

Various forms of substitutability are essential for establishing the existence of equilibria and other useful properties in diverse settings such as matching, auctions, and exchange economies with indivisible goods. We extend earlier models’ definitions of... View Details

Keywords: Substitutability; Mathematical Methods; Auctions; Market Design

Research Summary

When Should Control Be Shared?

The right to participate in control is one of the primary instruments for protecting stakeholder interests in a firm. A basic question is how control should be allocated across a firm's various stakeholders, including investors, employees, customers, and suppliers.... View Details

Program

Leading in the Digital Era

leadership approach, behaviors, and capabilities to enable your organization to become digitally mature Lead and build a culture of collaboration, empowerment, and View Details

September 2009 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Western Union: Our World, Our Family®

By: Christopher Marquis

In 2006, Western Union spun-off from its former parent, First Data Corporation, and began the process of defining itself as a stand-alone organization. Part of that effort was the creation of a strategic corporate social responsibility program called Our World, Our... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Programs; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Alignment; Value

April 2012 (Revised June 2014)
Case

Capitalizing for the Future: HSBC in 2010

By: Anette Mikes and Dominique Hamel

Following the financial crisis of 2007/2008, HSBC CEO Michael Geoghegan saw a fundamental change in global opportunities and risks. With increasing regulation and fierce competition between banks, the Western hemisphere was going to be a tougher place to do business.... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Competitive Strategy; Control Systems; Finance; Financial Crisis; Banks and Banking; Emerging Markets; Risk Management; Business Strategy; Banking Industry

June 2019 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Building a Meritocracy at Alghanim Industries

By: Paul M. Healy, Susanna Gallani and Esel Çekin

Building on his father’s legacy, Omar Alghanim (MBA 2002) had been working on strengthening a performance-driven culture based on meritocracy in the family business, Alghanim Industries. The task had been particularly challenging because of traditional Middle East... View Details

Keywords: Meritocracy; Social Norms; Family Business; Organizational Culture; Performance; Diversity; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Middle East; Kuwait

December 2022 (Revised May 2024)
Background Note

Brief Note on Staggered Boards

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

This background note discusses the evolution, use, and prevalence of staggered boards. By comparison with unitary boards whose members are all elected annually for one-year terms, staggered boards are divided into subsets of directors, with one subset up for election... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business History; Trends; Decision Choices and Conditions; United States

15 Sep 2021
News

Answer to U.S. Labor Shortage? ‘Hidden’ Workforce

02 Nov 2016
HBS Seminar

Antoinette Schoar, MIT Sloan School of Management

2020
Working Paper

Draw Near to Go Far: The Role of Convergence in Capitalizing on Exploration

By: Carolyn Fu

Organizations are often advised to engage heavily in exploration in order to succeed – to cast a wide net for diverse solutions that are superior to what they currently exploit. However, what is the organization to do when the fruits of its exploration are inconsistent... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Learning; Knowledge Acquisition; Decision Choices and Conditions