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November 2015 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Cisco Systems: In Search of the Next CEO

By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah L. Abbott, Olivia Hull and J. Yo-Jud Cheng

It’s August 2014 and John Chambers is expected to announce his retirement after 17 years as CEO of global technology giant Cisco Systems. Under Chambers’s leadership, Cisco has grown from $2.2 billion in annual revenues and under 4,000 employees to revenues of $46... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Succession Planning; CEO Succession; Managing Change; Person-organization Fit; Management Succession; Transition; Talent and Talent Management; Change Management; Retirement; Innovation Leadership; Recruitment; Corporate Governance; Experience and Expertise; Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States; San Jose; California

March 2022 (Revised November 2022)
Case

When Should CEOs Speak Out Publicly? The 2021 Georgia Voting Law

By: William W. George, Hubert Joly and Amram Migdal

This case describes the March 2021 passage of a voting and elections law in the U.S. state of Georgia and reactions by corporations and corporate leaders to the law. Included are a brief history of voting rights in the United States and Georgia and an overview of the... View Details

June 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Case

The Perfect CEO

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

A venture capitalist must decide among three highly qualified candidates to be CEO of a start-up software company. Each has unique strengths and weaknesses and will take the company in very different directions. Whom should he recommend to the board? View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Competency and Skills; Leadership Style

September 2022
Case

Blake Sports: Evolution of the CEO and the Executive Team

By: Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly Baden

Cameron (Cam) Barker, CEO and Founder of Blake Sports Apparel, sat in his office at his company’s headquarters in Birmingham, England, feeling stunned and disappointed. Only a few minutes prior, he had wrapped up a meeting with CFO James Ryan, a highly-respected star... View Details

Keywords: Leadership And Managing People; Leadership Skills; Team Dynamics; Team Effectiveness; Team Leadership; Team Management; Leadership Style; Leadership; Management; Management Skills; Management Style; Talent and Talent Management; Groups and Teams; United Kingdom

29 May 2006
Research & Ideas

Why CEOs Are Not Plug-and-Play

"Is talent management portable?" That's the question asked and answered in a recent Harvard Business Review article discussing issues surrounding how top managers can transfer their skill sets to a new company. The... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Andrew N. McLean & Nitin Nohria; Employment

28 Mar 2017
Working Paper Summaries

CEO Behavior and Firm Performance

Keywords: by Oriana Bandiera, Stephen Hansen, Andrea Pratt, and Raffaella Sadun

June 14, 2023
Article

How New CEOs Establish Legitimacy

By: Nitin Nohria

CEOs are given the authority to lead by the rules of corporate governance. They gain additional influence and credibility by demonstrating competence. CEOs who achieve legitimacy have a higher level of trust and influence. This legitimacy will be gained by consistently... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Leadership Style; Power and Influence; Trust; Competency and Skills

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12 May 2021
Book

The Hard Truth About Being a CEO

a leadership guide to navigating a role that Fubini says is unlike any other, which leaves many new CEOs and leaders struggling to find their footing. “People strive for a long time to develop functional View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

June 2020
Supplement

Shellye Archambeau: Becoming a CEO (B)

By: Tsedal Neeley and Briana Richardson

With the economy in a freefall, MetricStream is losing customers, hemorrhaging cash and struggling to make payroll. Several board members are threatening to quit. Others are pressing to sell the company even at dismally low valuations. It’s 2008 and lightning has... View Details

Keywords: Race; Gender; Leadership Style; Risk and Uncertainty; Change; Prejudice and Bias; Decision Making; Personal Development and Career; Technology Industry; California

June 2020 (Revised September 2020)
Case

Shellye Archambeau: Becoming a CEO (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley and John Masko

With the economy in a freefall, MetricStream is losing customers, hemorrhaging cash and struggling to make payroll. Several board members are threatening to quit. Others are pressing to sell the company even at dismally low valuations. It’s 2008 and lightning has... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Race; Gender; Leadership Style; Risk and Uncertainty; Change; Prejudice and Bias; Decision Making; Personal Development and Career; Technology Industry; California

12 Mar 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Managing the Family Business: Firing the CEO

hesitant. Yet sometimes, this is necessary. But when? You should fire your CEO under two of these three conditions: (1) there is a weak and unfixable fit between the CEO's skills and the needs of the... View Details

12 Feb 2016
Op-Ed

The Real Jobs Tragedy in the US: We've Lost the Skills

of jobs over the past few decades. And while trade deals undoubtedly play a role in the global topography of jobs, today many American jobs may hang in the balance based upon a completely different factor: the availability of skilled... View Details

Keywords: by Joe Fuller and Matt Sigelman; Manufacturing; Electronics

August 2016
Supplement

CEO Succession at Cisco (C): Chuck Robbins' First 100 Days

By: Boris Groysberg, J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Annelena Lobb

Supplements the (A) case (417-031). This case supplement describes new CEO Chuck Robbins’ earliest days after being announced as Cisco’s new chief executive. During this time, Robbins focused on building a leadership team featuring people with complementary skills... View Details

Keywords: Management Succession; Technology Industry

May 1994 (Revised October 1994)
Case

Motorola Corp.: The View from the CEO Office

By: Shoshana Zuboff and Janis Lee Gogan

Motorola, a leader in semiconductors and telecommunications, embarked on an ambitious program of renewal beginning in the early 1980s, leading to dramatic improvements in the company's quality, cycle time, and growth. Much of this progress was attributed to a major... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Leading Change; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Managerial Roles; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Telecommunications Industry

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03 May 2021
What Do You Think?

Where Does CEO Activism Go From Here?

(Image credit: iStockphoto/adamkaz) CEO activism entered a new chapter with the decision by more than 200 leaders of large corporations last month to publicly declare their support for voting rights for Americans and, by extension, their... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

March 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Supplement

STRIVR (B): Moving into the Enterprise

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson

STRIVR, a company focused on virtual reality training, has decided to shift focus from sports to enterprise customers. The change in strategy requires the CEO to solve a number of issues. The company initally offered training for hard skills, but clients have been... View Details

Keywords: Strivr; Virtual Reality; Soft Skills; Hard Skills; VR; Applications and Software; Market Entry and Exit; Business Strategy; Training; Sports; Technology Industry; Education Industry; United States

18 Dec 2019
Book

6 Skills That Wise Companies Harness for World-Changing Innovation

social media editor for Harvard Business School Working Knowledge. [Image: iStockphoto] Related Reading For Better Ideas, Bring the Right People to the Brainstorm What Machine Learning Teaches Us about CEO Leadership Style What’s Really... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

01 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

How Much Time Should CEOs Devote to Customers?

the current economic downturn, companies need marketing skills more than ever. But while every corporate mission statement pays lip service to respecting customer needs, actual customer expertise is typically a mile wide and an inch deep.... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Supplement

GE's Talent Machine: The Making of a CEO

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

CEO Jeff Immelt, ex-CEO Jack Welch, and HR Chief Bill Conaty discuss how GE has made talent development a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Immelt describes GE's deeply embedded philosophy around its people and how it has allowed the company to add value... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Talent and Talent Management; Human Resources; Business or Company Management; Performance Capacity; Performance Effectiveness; Competitive Advantage; System; Value