Boards - Publications - Faculty & Research

Bed Bath & Beyond: The New Strategy Drive Shareholder Value

This case analyzes the creation, loss, and attempted re-creation of competitive advantage. At one time, Bed Bath & Beyond was one of the most successful specialty retailers in the United States-it's growth and profit margins far exceeded rates at peer... View Details

February 2009 (Revised March 2009)
Case

AFSCME vs. Mozilo...and "Say on Pay" for All! (A)

By: Fabrizio Ferri and James Weber

Union seeks to protect its pension funds through shareholder activism focused on corporate governance and executive compensation. The case uses Countrywide Financial as an example. Richard Ferlauto, director of pensions and benefits policy at the AFSCME, the largest... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Mortgages; Investment Activism; Investment Funds; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Labor Unions; Business and Shareholder Relations; United States

Citation

Find at Harvard

02 Feb 2016
First Look

February 2, 2016

service. Rubicon had made great progress since introducing its service. They had signed up large multi-national customers and had a number of large potential contracts in the negotiation phase. The team needed more capital to build out the network and technology... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Impact Investing | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

on use und... No One Left Behind (A) By: Lynn S. Paine, Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard, Max Hancock and David Lane March 2025 (Revised March 2025) | Faculty Research In September 2021, the board of directors for the nonprofit No One Left... View Details

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Volunteer - Alumni

Volunteer Alumni support the School and the global alumni community by volunteering in a wide range of important roles, from reunion planning to fundraising to writing Class Notes. Alumni Board members on campus for their annual spring... View Details

07 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Fail—and How Their Founders Can Bounce Back

entrepreneurs whose companies are succeeding. Ghosh says boards of successful companies often seek out the founders and CEOs of failed companies because they value experience over a clean slate. After all, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, and Desh... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

24 Oct 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Startup or Established Company? Which Is Best for You?

wicked smart, lucky or both! More likely they also have surrounded themselves with strong, experienced leaders, investors and/or board members. You can learn a lot from joining a company like this, but they are very, very rare! When... View Details

Keywords: by Julia B. Austin

Profile

Mark Giragosian

care firm focused on artificial intelligence-powered diagnostic products. He is also working with a mentor on continuing his career in health care investing after graduation. In the meantime, he continues to maintain his connections to the dance world by serving on the... View Details

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About - Entrepreneurship

led by faculty co-chairs Julia Austin and Shikhar Ghosh. Advisory Board A talented group of faculty and alumni form a supportive and insightful advisory board. In The News 04 Jun 2025 The Action Catalyst Think Big, Buy Small, with Richard... View Details

16 Feb 2023
HBS Case

ESG Activists Met the Moment at ExxonMobil, But Did They Succeed?

The impact-investment hedge fund Engine No. 1 made a big splash in May 2021 when it managed to get three nominees elected to the ExxonMobil board of directors. It was an open effort to prod the oil giant toward renewable energy and test whether activist investing could... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Financial Services

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Cold Calling - Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning

Teaching by the Case Method Cold Calling Preparing to Teach Leading in the Classroom Pre-Class Arrival Diversity and Inclusion Openings Cold Calling Questioning, Listening & Responding Transitions Closings Timing Participation Engagement View Details

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Skydeck - Alumni

his journey from Depression-era Nebraska to a 2020 Nobel Prize Leading to Salvation 2022 Alumni Achievement Award recipient Bob Ryan (MBA 1970) had just stepped off his last board when he was called on for a different sort of service:... View Details

12 May 2021
Book

The Hard Truth About Being a CEO

as a speaker representing the company, or helping you find an advisory or board position. “Or it could be more informal, by giving you recognition in a speech in front of your peers, or in an all-staff email. Those are the little things... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

James E. Austin

Dr. Austin holds the Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus at the Harvard Business School. Previously he held the John G. McLean Professorship and the Richard P. Chapman Professorship. He has been a member of the Harvard... View Details

Keywords: agribusiness

16 Jun 2008
Research & Ideas

Seven Tips for Managing Price Increases

the board but only on items selected as your inflation-busters. For cash poor consumers, these promotions should hit the key price points on small pack sizes. For cash rich consumers, encourage multi-unit purchases ahead of the inevitable... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

Portrait Project

Anika Ayyar

those moments. At 13, I moved across the country to attend boarding school and struggled to find my voice. Everything changed one evening when I called my grandparents; as I began to tell them stories about my new life, the words,... View Details

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HBS - The year in Review

C. “Tosh” Barron MBA 1972 Former President, Engineering Systems; Former President, Office Products Division, Xerox Corporation Salman A. Khan MBA 2003 Founder and CEO, Khan Academy Naina Lal Kidwai MBA 1982 Former Executive Director, View Details

20 Mar 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Sell Side School Ties

Keywords: by Lauren H. Cohen, Andrea Frazzini & Christopher J. Malloy; Financial Services

Research Summary

Social Entrepreneurship

By: James L. Heskett

This project is centered around an analysis of data and experiences of 31 executive directors of not-for-profit organizations who completed the Denali Initiative on social entrepreneurship, of which I was volunteer faculty chairperson, between 1999 and 2002. The... View Details

Research Summary

Strategy, Governance and Valuation

By: Krishna G. Palepu

Professor Palepu's current research focuses on strategy and governance. In the area of strategy, his recent focus has been on the globalization of emerging markets, particularly India and China, and the resulting opportunities and challenges for western multinationals... View Details

Publications