Publications

24 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 24

definition of profit by changing accounting rules. On one level, this corporate behavior embodies the capitalist spirit articulated by Milton Friedman: "The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits." But the View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Aug 2013
First Look

First Look: August 6

behavior are reduced (Study 5). Our results have important implications for models of ethical decision making, moral behavior, and self-regulatory theory. Publisher's link: http://www.francescagino.com August 2013 Journal of Finance The... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

14 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

Growing CEOs from the Inside

suggestions, and eventually a choice. But the board can't do the job. Q: Are there times when an insider is not the best choice for CEO? A: Absolutely. It may be essential to go outside when there are ethical lapses that seem embedded in... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Employment

07 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

The Case for Combating Climate Change with Nuclear Power and Fracking

If you ask any given environmentalist to identify the biggest threat to the planet, you may expect to hear about man-made climate change, consumerism, or overpopulation. But if you ask Harvard Business School's Joseph B. Lassiter, he'll toss in another: single-issue... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Energy; Utilities

03 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 3, 2009

sophisticated safeguards such as an independent ethics committee and a "whistle blower" system for employees concerned with the company's practices. In less than two decades, Sydney IVF grew from just four employees to over 200,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Aug 2004
What Do You Think?

For Greater Transparency, Is Section 404 an Effective Response?

guarding it accordingly." Others agreed, but suggested that Section 404 could serve a useful purpose. Mike Flanagan commented that "Section 404 is a good first step ... (but) ... does fall short... If ethics and professionalism... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

March 2021 (Revised June 2022)
Case

James Bryant Conant: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Shirley Sun

This case traces the rise of James Conant from a working-class neighborhood in Boston to president of Harvard University. The case describes how Conant, as a young man interested in chemistry and physics, embarks on studies to build his academic credentials and the... View Details

Keywords: Education; Science; Higher Education; Mission and Purpose; Research; Values and Beliefs; Personal Characteristics; Work-Life Balance; Personal Development and Career; Education Industry; Boston

December 1993 (Revised November 2009)
Case

Manville Corporation Fiber Glass Group (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Sarah Gant

Manville Corp.'s senior managers must decide how to respond to a new scientific study suggesting that fiberglass, the source of 75% of the company's profits, may be another asbestos and must act under conditions of great uncertainty. In particular, when should a... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Ethics; Health Disorders; Risk Management; Marketing Communications; Product; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Safety; Consumer Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry

August 1992 (Revised December 1994)
Case

Sexual Harassment, Free Speech or ...?

By: Lynn S. Paine

Presents two brief vignettes about female employees who object to gender discrimination in their work environment. In one case, the manager of a convenience store removes "adult" magazines from the store's shelves because she sees them as damaging to women. In the... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Working Conditions; Law; Behavior; Managerial Roles; Crime and Corruption; Groups and Teams; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Gender

January 2025
Case

Reimagining the Employee Experience at the LEGO Group

By: Amy Edmondson, Mark Mortensen and Elisabeth Powell

In 2024, the LEGO Group faced a decision about the future of LEGO’s Benefits Experience Strategy and the “Best of Both” remote/hybrid work policy. With over 28,500 employees spanning global hubs, retail stores, and manufacturing plants, LEGO leaders had to consider... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Employee Relationship Management; Values and Beliefs; Organizational Culture; Alignment; Compensation and Benefits; Europe

January 2021
Case

Toyota and Its Labor Union in Argentina (A)

By: Jorge Tamayo, Erik Snowberg and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago

In 2011, Daniel Herrero, CEO of Toyota Argentina (TASA) since 2010, was about to meet with the Secretary-General of the union representing automotive industry workers in the country. The company produced vehicles in Argentina since 1997 at their plant at Zárate, and,... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing Performance; Bargaining; Production; Performance; Labor Unions; Labor and Management Relations; Fairness; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Auto Industry; Argentina

October 2017 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Medicetra Medtech Company, Inc.

By: Doug J. Chung

Medicetra MedTech Company is a dental equipment distributor, and senior management is deciding whether to implement a new incentive compensation program for the sales force. For many years, Medicetra had paid salespeople only a fixed salary. Although the current plan... View Details

Keywords: Sales Compensation; Sales Force Retention; Employee Fairness; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Retention; Fairness; Performance Improvement

August 2011
Supplement

Raj Datta, Former Chief Knowledge Officer of MindTree, In-Class Comments, April 1, 2011

By: David A. Garvin

MindTree is a mid-sized Indian IT services company known for its knowledge management practices, its collaborative communities, and its strong culture and values. The CEO has set a goal of becoming a $1 billion company by 2014; to reach that goal, employees must create... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Management; Social and Collaborative Networks; Innovation and Invention; Organizational Culture; Learning; Values and Beliefs; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry; India

2011
Other Unpublished Work

Medium and Message: The Role of the Media in Establishing Institutional Logics

By: Mukti Khaire and Erika Richardson

Research on industry institutional logics has provided insights into the factors that influence organizational behavior and actions. However, we still lack a detailed understanding of how industry logics emerge from societal-level values, get disseminated, and become... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Values and Beliefs; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Media; Organizations; Behavior; Societal Protocols; Fashion Industry; India

December 2010
Article

Management and the Financial Crisis (We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us...)

By: William A. Sahlman

The financial crisis of 2008-2009 has revealed that our broad model of corporate governance is broken, independent of the shortcomings in the regulatory system. Managers and boards of directors in scores of systemically important firms failed to protect employees,... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Human Capital; Ethics; Policy; Corporate Governance; Financial Crisis; Finance; Business and Shareholder Relations

Find at Harvard

March 2002 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Astel Manufacturing Company

By: Joseph L. Bower

The FBI indicates that three purchasing agents are suspected recipients of bribes. After an inconclusive investigation, the agents leave. The superiors are unsure what to do. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Problems and Challenges; Decision Choices and Conditions; Government and Politics; Resignation and Termination

September 2000
Case

MBA In Jeopardy (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Gagan Gupta and Phani K. Nagarjuna

The Community Standards Panel of Harvard Business School must determine whether two students have violated the school's community standards, and if so, what sanction would be appropriate. Concerns allegations of plagiarism. In a second-year elective course, two... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Business Education; Learning; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Education Industry

February 1994 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Manville Corp. Fiber Glass Group (C)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Sarah Gant

Manville Corp.'s senior managers are surprised when Japanese government officials advise them not to go forward with their plan to add a cancer warning label to diatomaceous earth (DE) products sold in Japan. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has ruled... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Ethics; Conflict of Interests; Health; Safety; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Policy; Japan