Publications

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02 Nov 2016
Working Paper Summaries

The Structure of Board Committees

Keywords: by Kevin D. Chen and Andy Wu

October 2021
Article

Board Design and Governance Failures at Peer Firms

By: Shelby Gai, J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Andy Wu

Our study introduces board committees as a crucial determinant of board actions. We examine how directors who structurally link different board committees—referred to as multi-committee directors (MCDs)—explain why some board actions are merely symbolic while others... View Details

Keywords: Board Committees; Board Monitoring; New Director Nomination; Peer Financial Restatements; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Performance Effectiveness

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Teaching Interest

Compensation Committees

By: Suraj Srinivasan

Executive compensation has become a flashpoint issue for board members, institutional investors, regulators, and the media. Compensation committees are challenged to design compensation programs that not only tie business or corporate strategies to company performance,... View Details

January 2021 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Aptiv PLC Board of Directors (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Aptiv’s board must decide whether a joint venture with an auto maker is the right next step in the company’s efforts to develop and commercialize a production-ready autonomous driving system. While many commentators believed that Aptiv’s self-driving technologies had... View Details

Program

Compensation Committees

Summary Executive compensation has become a flashpoint issue for board members, institutional investors, regulators, and the media. Examining critical market and regulatory issues, this board leadership... View Details

24 Oct 2005
Research & Ideas

Building an IT Governance Committee

someone who fits these criteria, boards may find that many talented CIOs and CTOs drop off the list of potential IT committee members.) The IT expert must have not only a solid grounding in the firm's... View Details

Keywords: by Richard Nolan & Warren McFarlan

01 Feb 2001
News

HBS Alumni Association Board of Directors: President's Report

Shanghai. As we look forward to those upcoming events with anticipation, let me give you a quick status report on the important, ongoing work that our Alumni Board committees are undertaking this year. The... View Details

Keywords: conferences; committees; leadership; alumni; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

October 2010 (Revised October 2011)
Case

Ken Langone: Member, GE Compensation Committee

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Lizzie Gomez

On September 2003, Richard Grasso stepped down as chairman and CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, following weeks of intense public criticism over the size of his $190 million compensation package. As chairman of the committee that oversaw Grasso's payout, Ken Langone... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Executive Compensation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Labor and Management Relations; Wages; Change Management; Energy Industry; New York (city, NY)

July 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Supplement

United Rentals (B)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kathleen Durante

In April 2012, Jenne Britell, the Chairman of the board of directors of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI) was preparing her notes for an upcoming stockholders' meeting. It was a meeting unlike most other meetings she had chaired. Stockholders were about to vote on a... View Details

Keywords: Boards Of Directors; Board Committees; Chairman; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Construction Industry; North America

October 2012 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Jim Johnson's Re-election to the Goldman Sachs Board

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Kelly Baker

The case presents the opposition by a leading institutional investor in Goldman Sachs to the re-election of Jim Johnson to the board of directors of the company. The investor, Sequoia Fund, opposes the re-election citing Jim Johnson's prior track record as the CEO of... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Corporate Governance; Director Elections; Goldman Sachs; Reputation; Institutional Investing; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Accountability; Banking Industry; New York (city, NY)

September 2013
Case

United Rentals (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch, Kathleen Durante and Emily McTague

In December 1997 United Rentals (URI) went public on the NYSE. Ten years later, during the peak of the economic meltdown, the company's performance was in decline. United Rentals had experienced its share of problems in the prior years and was still struggling to... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Board Dynamics; Accounting Fraud; Governance; Board Committees; Merger; Corporate Governance; Construction Industry; United States

June 2009
Case

The Role of the Audit Committee in Risk Oversight

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kaitlyn Simpson

An audit committee chair considers how he can help his committee become more effective given the increasing regulatory demands on audit committees. He also wrestles with the lack of specificity in audit committee duties and whether his committee should take on... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Corporate Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governing and Advisory Boards; Laws and Statutes; Risk Management

February 1996 (Revised June 1996)
Teaching Note

General Mills Board and Strategic Planning and Lukens Inc., The: The Melters' Committee (A) & (B) TN

By: Jay W. Lorsch, Cynthia A. Montgomery and Lisa J. Chadderdon

Teaching Note for (9-491-117), (9-493-070), and (9-493-071). View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Governing and Advisory Boards; Joint Ventures; Sales; Strategy; Managerial Roles; Steel Industry

01 Feb 2001
News

Advisory Boards Help HBS Assess and Attain Its Goals

future. The Alumni Association Board of Directors, the Board of the Directors of the Associates, and the Visiting Committee all assist HBS in ways that bring a valuable... View Details

Keywords: Elena N. Berg; boards; alumni; planning; leadership; advice; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

02 Mar 2010
News

Alumna Appointed to National Fiscal Committee

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services; Finance; Government; Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services; Professional Services

Program

Women on Boards

contributing to corporate governance at the highest level. Details Build your readiness for a board position Explore how different types of corporate boards function Examine the best practices of... View Details

April 1993 (Revised October 1993)
Case

Lukens Inc.: The Melters' Committee (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Discusses the Lukens board's involvement in strategic planning. View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Strategic Planning