Publications

21 Sep 2009
Research & Ideas

Excessive Executive Pay: What’s the Solution?

clubby groups that are widely criticized as the handpicked "captives" of self-serving management. With White House support, congressional leaders are intent on shifting the balance of power in the boardroom away from management. Senator Chuck Schumer's (D-NY)... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson

July 2020 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Mr. Five Percent: Calouste Gulbenkian and the Origins of Global Oil

By: Geoffrey Jones and Yazeed Al-Rashed

This case describes the business career of Calouste Gulbenkian, a skilled intermediary who was able to secure 5 percent of a vast oil concession covering much of the Middle East that was signed in 1928. Gulbenkian was an ethnic Armenian born in the Ottoman Empire,... View Details

Keywords: Oil; Globalization; Energy Sources; History; Biography; Energy Industry; Turkey; Central Asia; Middle East

July 2003 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Branding Citigroup's Consumer Business

By: Rohit Deshpande and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In Spring 1998, Citicorp and Travelers merged to create a financial powerhouse that united the bank with Travelers' consumer finance and brokerage businesses, including Salomon Smith Barney and Primerica. It was the first U.S. financial services company to combine... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Relationship Management; Decisions; Asset Management; Investment Banking; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Relationships; Business and Shareholder Relations; Banking Industry; United States

June 2011 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Exchange-Traded Funds at Vanguard (A)

By: Robert C. Pozen and Steven Vickers

Vanguard Group management, led by CEO John Brennan, was considering whether to launch exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in early 2000. ETFs, first created in the early 1990s, combined aspects of traditional mutual funds and closed-end funds. The US ETF industry had reached... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Managerial Roles; Growth and Development Strategy; Experience and Expertise; Market Entry and Exit; Network Effects; Profit; Business and Shareholder Relations; Product Launch; Asset Management; Distribution Channels; Ownership; Financial Services Industry; United States

12 Oct 2011
First Look

First Look: October 12

shareholders as well as other interested stakeholders with rather elaborate information on the company's operations and strategic activities during the preceding fiscal year. However, in the last two decades and in addition to these... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Zillow Offers: Winning Online Real Estate 2.0

By: Luis Viceira, Marco Di Maggio and Allison Ciechanover

Founded in 2005, Zillow had become the leading online real estate and home-related marketplace. The brand was recognized as a trusted resource for players in the real estate market, providing information and transparency on home prices. Revenue, which was historically... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Corporate Culture; Intermediation; Brokerage; Startup; Evaluating Business Investments; Property; Information Technology; Business Model; Expansion; Business Startups; Real Estate Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

Web

Faculty & Advisors | MBA

Alexion Pharmaceuticals from 2017-2019. At Biogen, Paul oversaw rapid growth in the company as it expanded it's products and pipeline. During his tenure as CFO, Biogen grew total return to shareholders at a 20% compound annual growth rate... View Details

05 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

The Middle Manager of the Future: More Coaching, Less Commanding

to connect groups with disparate skills—like engineering, sales, and market analysis—at key points in a project. Extensive analysis of job postings Zhang bases his conclusions on a unique linguistic analysis of more than 34 million online job postings for managerial... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

05 Aug 2014
First Look

First Look: August 5

behavior is in fostering collaborations and translations between science and technology and encouraging riskier projects rather than purely increasing patenting. Download working paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2197876 The State of Small... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2021
Case

Financial Reporting at Mattel

By: Aiyesha Dey, Trung Nguyen, Marshal Herrmann and Julia Kelley

In September 2020, Diana Ferguson was nearing her first Audit Committee meeting as the newly appointed Audit Committee chair of Mattel, Inc. Mattel was just recovering from an accounting scandal which had revealed the company’s poor internal controls and weak board... View Details

09 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 9

hypothesize that shareholder actions and regulatory threats are likely to prime firms to adopt practices consistent with the aims of a broader social movement. We find empirical evidence of direct and spillover effects. In the domain of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Jul 2023
Research & Ideas

Money Isn’t Everything: The Dos and Don’ts of Motivating Employees

because the payout incentives are tied to leading only your company’s sector. “It’s paying for real performance, which is the thing the shareholders want,” Hall says. Do: Remember that cash isn’t always king Non-monetary rewards can be... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

02 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

10 Trends to Watch in 2024

The lightning-fast ascent of generative AI isn’t the only sea change on the horizon for businesses in the new year. The global economy is in flux as war, climate change, trade issues, and infrastructure problems demand attention. Many companies continue to struggle to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

Web

Live from Klarman Hall - Alumni

Administration Video Recording (login required) What's Next for the United States and the World? 10:40–11:40 a.m. EST Speaker: Rawi Abdelal , Herbert F. Johnson Professor of International Management Video Recording Women & Money 1:30–2:15... View Details

December 2014
Case

Groupon: A New CEO Takes Charge

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Arnold B. Peinado

On August 7, 2013, Eric Lefkofsky, the chairman and largest shareholder of Groupon was named CEO, replacing founder Andrew Mason, who had run the company since its inception in 2009. When Groupon had its initial public offering (IPO) in November 2011, the company's... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Disruptive Technologies; Growth Strategy; Customer Relations; Service Management; International Business; Business Models; Strategy Execution; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; United States

14 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 14

and society at large. To do that, it has to increase shareholder value while at the same time improving the firm's performance on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) dimensions. This article outlines a process that can be used to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2004
Case

Aventis SA (A): Planning for a Merger

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Eight executives at Hoechst and Rhone-Poulenc must make four crucial decisions on the eve of merging their companies to become Aventis--what would become the world's third largest pharmaceutical firm. In addition to formulating a vision and strategy, the two firms must... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Mergers and Acquisitions; Horizontal Integration; Organizational Design; Organizational Culture; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States