Publications
Publications
Show Results For
-
All HBS Web
(1,686)
- Faculty Publications (43)
Page 1 of
43
Results
→
- March 2021
- Case
Seeding and Selling Asana
By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Susie Ma and Amram Migdal
In December 2019, Oliver Jay, Asana’s Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), was reconsidering his go-to-market (GTM) strategy. Asana was cloud-based work management software that enabled users to break up projects into discrete tasks that could be assigned, scheduled, and...
View Details
Keywords:
SaaS;
Customer Journey;
Business Model;
Business Organization;
Change Management;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Growth Management;
Marketing Channels;
Marketing Strategy;
Product Marketing;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Organizational Design;
Organizational Structure;
Technology Platform;
Online Technology;
Technology Industry;
United States
- August 2020
- Case
This Old House of Worship: St. Anthony Shrine (A)
By: Ryan Raffaelli
This multimedia case asks students to consider how leaders of non-profit organizations manage difficult financial, operational, and cultural turnarounds. Since its founding in 1947, St. Anthony Shrine had been a central partner in serving the Downtown Boston community....
View Details
- December 2019 (Revised May 2021)
- Case
The Dutch East India Company in 1612 (A)
By: Lynn S. Paine and Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci
The Dutch East India Company’s board of directors must decide what to do about an impending legal requirement to liquidate the company’s assets and return to shareholders their capital and any profits earned during a ten-year lock-up period. The charter granted to the...
View Details
- 2016
- Working Paper
The Structure of Board Committees
By: Kevin D. Chen and Andy Wu
We document and analyze board committee structures utilizing a novel dataset containing full board committee membership for over 6,000 firms. Board committees provide benefits (specialization, efficiency, and accountability benefits) and costs (information...
View Details
- August 2016
- Article
Independent Directors' Dissent on Boards: Evidence from Listed Companies in China
By: Juan Ma and Tarun Khanna
In this paper, we examine the circumstances under which so-called "independent" directors voice their independent views on public boards in a sample of Chinese firms. First, we ask why independent directors dissent, i.e. how they justify such dissent to public...
View Details
- July 2016 (Revised January 2019)
- Case
Cyber Breach at Target
By: Suraj Srinivasan, Lynn S. Paine and Neeraj Goyal
In November and December of 2013, Target Corporation suffered one of the largest cyber breaches to date. The breach that occurred during the busy holiday shopping season resulted in personal and credit card information of approximately 110 million Target customers...
View Details
- 2019
- Working Paper
Transforming the Federal Bureau of Investigation: Outcome and Process Framing
This twelve-year qualitative study examines how Director Robert Mueller and his senior team profoundly transformed the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Drawing on 138 interviews within the FBI and Mueller’s...
View Details
- November 2014
- Article
The Impact of Corporate Sustainability on Organizational Processes and Performance
By: Robert G. Eccles, Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim
We investigate the effect of corporate sustainability on organizational processes and performance. Using a matched sample of 180 U.S. companies, we find that corporations that voluntarily adopted sustainability policies by 1993—termed as High Sustainability...
View Details
Keywords:
Sustainability;
Sustainability Management;
Sustainability Research;
Sustainability Reporting;
Sustainability Targets;
Corporate Social Responsibility;
Corporate Accountability;
Reporting;
Corporate Governance;
Investor Clientele;
Investor Communication;
Stock Market;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Environmental Sustainability;
Performance;
United States
- February 2014
- Article
Accountability of Independent Directors—Evidence from Firms Subject to Securities Litigation
By: Francois Brochet and Suraj Srinivasan
We examine which independent directors are held accountable when investors sue firms for financial- and disclosure-related fraud. Investors can name independent directors as defendants in lawsuits, and they can vote against their re-election to express displeasure over...
View Details
- 2016
- Working Paper
Consequences to Directors of Shareholder Activism
By: Ian D. Gow, Sa-Pyung Sean Shin and Suraj Srinivasan
Using a comprehensive sample for 2004–2012, we examine the impact of shareholder activist campaigns on the careers of directors of targeted firms. We find that activism is associated with directors being almost twice as likely to leave—and performance-sensitivity of...
View Details
- 2013
- Working Paper
Accountability of Independent Directors—Evidence from Firms Subject to Securities Litigation
By: Francois Brochet and Suraj Srinivasan
We examine which independent directors are held accountable when investors sue firms for financial and disclosure related fraud. Investors can name independent directors as defendants in lawsuits, and they can vote against their re-election to express displeasure over...
View Details
- June 2013
- Case
Hess Corporation
By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kathleen Durante
On January 29, 2013, Elliott Management, a hedge fund run by Paul E. Singer, which owned 4.5% of Hess Corporation stock, put forward a slate of five independent directors it wanted elected to improve the company's performance. Elliott argued that Hess lacked focus and...
View Details
- January 2013
- Case
Luotang Power: Variances Explained
By: Robert Simons and Craig Chapman
The general manager of Luotang Power, a coal-fired power plant located in central China, reviews annual results before a meeting with the board of directors. He thought the company performed well during the year and both plant availability and fuel economy had improved...
View Details
- September 2012 (Revised July 2014)
- Case
Blackstone's Investment in Intelenet
By: Josh Lerner, Sandeep Bapat and Rachna Tahilyani
Three years had passed since Blackstone's investment in Intelenet Global Services, their third largest investment in India. Great progress had been made, but now a new challenge loomed. Globank, a large global bank, was Intelenet's largest customer. Intelenet's...
View Details
- 2012
- Chapter
The Confederacy of Heterogeneous Software Organizations and Heterogeneous Developers: Field Experimental Evidence on Sorting and Worker Effort
By: Kevin J. Boudreau and Karim R. Lakhani
Software development occurs in a patchwork or "confederacy" of different types of institutions (universities, small start-ups, multinational enterprises, government agencies, etc.) utilizing varied work approaches. Here we speculate on one possible explanation for this...
View Details
- November 29, 2011
- Article
The Role of The Board in Creating a Sustainable Strategy
By: Robert G. Eccles, Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim
While conceptually elegant, the belief that a corporation's role is to maximize value for shareholders is under increasing challenge as society's expectations for companies change. An equally elegant new concept that takes account of these dual pressures has yet to...
View Details
Keywords:
Value Creation;
Business and Stakeholder Relations;
Corporate Strategy;
Business and Shareholder Relations;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Performance Expectations;
Governing and Advisory Boards;
Management Practices and Processes;
Decisions;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Cost vs Benefits;
Information
- June 2011
- Case
Trouble in Islandia; Computer Associates 2001 - 2004
By: Jay W. Lorsch and Melissa Barton
The Board of Directors of Computer Associates deals with pressure from the U.S. Department of Justice as its members try to gain better insight into the accounting practices of the company's top management team.
View Details
- April 2011 (Revised December 2013)
- Case
Boardroom Change in Norway
By: Jay W. Lorsch and Melissa Barton
In 2003, the Norwegian Parliament amended the Public Limited Companies Act in order to achieve greater representation of women on corporate boards. According to the amendment, all state-owned companies and public limited companies were required to have at least 40%...
View Details
- April 2011
- Case
Kay Sunderland: Making the Grade at Attain Learning
By: Linda A. Hill and Heather Beckham
Kay Sunderland is an account director at Attain Learning Inc., a business training solutions company. In January 2011, one of Attain's most important clients, Juan Nunez of Gramen Equipment Company, contacts Sunderland with a request: Nunez would like Attain content...
View Details
Keywords:
Communication;
Interpersonal Relations;
Personal Strategy ＆ Style;
Creativity;
Conflict;
Interdepartmental Relations;
Talent Management;
Management Style;
Interpersonal Communication;
Talent and Talent Management;
Relationships;
Conflict and Resolution;
Communication Strategy;
Power and Influence;
Service Industry
- March 2011 (Revised December 2019)
- Case
Wealth Management Crisis at UBS (A)
By: Paul M. Healy, George Serafeim and David Lane
The case describes the challenges that UBS faced as a result of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation for tax fraud, that claimed that UBS had helped some 52,000 U.S. residents hide billions of dollars in untaxed assets in secret Swiss accounts between...
View Details
Keywords:
Fraud;
Regulatory Enforcement;
Reputation Incentives;
Crony Capitalism;
Tax Havens;
Legitimacy;
Multinational;
Strategic Change;
Incentives;
Transparency;
Financial Services;
Taxation;
Crime and Corruption;
Global Range;
Asset Management;
Ethics;
Problems and Challenges;
Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms;
Corporate Governance;
Financial Services Industry;
United States;
Switzerland