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Hiring Without Firing
Leadership Magazine ArticleHitting the hiring bull’s-eye is one of an executive’s most important—and most difficult—responsibilities. Ten common mistakes can get in the way, but a pointed and systematic approach can virtually guarantee success. -
Executive Incentives vs. Corporate Growth
Boards Magazine ArticleBonuses and other forms of incentive compensation are an effective motivator of executives to achieve ever higher earnings per share. The drive to produce short-term results, however, often influences management to forgo investment in capital equipment and R&D that would benefit the corporation several years hence even more than improved earnings next year would. The […] -
The Trouble with CFOs
Leadership Magazine ArticleIf the CEO sits in the hot seat, the CFO’s chair is positively smoking. According to analysis conducted by the CFO Executive Board, annual CFO turnover at the largest 162 global companies between 1995 and 2003 was 17%—even higher than for CEOs—and three out of four current Fortune 500 finance officers have been in their […] -
Information Technology and the Board of Directors
Technology & Operations Magazine ArticleEver since the Y2K scare, boards have grown increasingly nervous about corporate dependence on information technology. Since then, computer crashes, denial... -
Board Members: Rocket Fuel or Rocks?
Boards Digital ArticleA good board can be rocket fuel or it can be rocks in an organization’s pockets. Much of success and failure in the boardroom comes down to the way the individuals around the table — be it on a public company board, a small private board, or a non-profit board — do their jobs. So […] -
When the CEO Can't Let Go (Commentary for HBR Case Study)
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleEvery morning, Paul Marsh, the chairman, president, and CEO of Kansas-based Coltrane Farm Equipment & Manufacturing, climbs the six flights of stairs... -
The Key to a Better Board: Team Dynamics
Boards Digital ArticleLessons from new research. -
Should CEOs Be Allowed to Be Chairmen?
Boards Digital ArticleWhen the US pay czar, Kenneth Feinberg, approved the compensation of the top executives at seven troubled financial institutions, he insisted that they all appoint an independent director as the board chair rather than the CEO. Several major investors — the Government Pension Fund of Norway, which manages $400 billion in assets, among them — […] -
News Corp and Questions Boards Need to Ask
Boards Digital ArticleMuch has been written and said regarding News Corp and its activities in the UK, and serious questions have been raised about the leadership and culture of this company. Some of these questions have been directed at the company’s board of directors: did it properly fulfill its independent fiduciary responsibilities in overseeing this global organization? […] -
Assess Your CEO’s Strategic Fit Over Time
Leadership Digital ArticleCompanies change, and so should the way tenure is managed. -
Boards Are Terrible at Their Most Important Job
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleHow directors should manage a new CEO. -
How Managers Become Leaders
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleFew managerial transitions are more difficult than making the move from leading a function to leading an entire enterprise for the first time. The scope... -
The Most Successful CEOs Come from Within
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleThis blog post is part of the HBR Online Forum The CEO's Role in Fixing the System. To achieve sustained growth and profit in today's hyper-competitive... -
Succession and Failure (HBR Case Study and Commentary)
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleNorman Windom, the chairman of Tiverton Media, may not know much about the world of popular music, but he does fancy himself a careful planner and a superb... -
10 Proactive Questions Every Board Member Should Be Asking
Finance & Accounting Digital ArticleDon't wait for a crisis to have tough conversations. -
3 Ways Executives Can Manage Challenging Moments in Their Careers
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleIf you don't have the answers, start asking questions. -
Memo to President-Elect Obama: 7 Moves to Create Momentum
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleDear President-elect Obama, Congratulations. Your election as President represents a nearly ideal opportunity for you to make a successful transition... -
Changing Leaders: The Board’s Role in CEO Succession: A Roundtable with Philip Caldwell, George D. Kennedy, G. G. Michelson, Henry Wendt, and Alfred M. Zeien
Corporate governance Magazine ArticleA Roundtable with Philip Caldwell, George D. Kennedy, G. G. Michelson, Henry Wendt, and Alfred M. Zeien The selection of a CEO is one of the most important decisions a board of directors makes. Not only does a chief executive have an enormous impact on the fortunes of a company, but the very process by […] -
The Successor’s Dilemma
Collaboration and teams Magazine ArticleLeadership transitions go awry with alarming frequency, often the result of an emotionally charged power struggle between the CEO and his would-be heir. Four practices, however, can help successors defuse the crisis—and make it to the top. -
Transferring Power in The Family Business
Change management Magazine ArticleOne of the most agonizing experiences that any business faces is the moving from one generation of top management to the next. The problem is often most acute in family businesses, where the original entrepreneur hangs on as he watches others try to help manage or take over his business, while at the same time, […]
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Farm to School of Park County: A Journey from Program to Nonprofit (A)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details This case series describes the startup of Farm to School of Park County, an emerging nonprofit organization in the US state of Montana. Case (A) describes... -
Lie, Cheat, and Steel: Governance and Scandal at ThyssenKrupp
Global Business Case Study11.95View Details On March 7, 2013, ThyssenKrupp Group CEO Heinrich Hiesinger was shocked to receive a resignation letter from Gerhard Cromme, chairman of the company's... -
Leadership Transitions and Team Building: Leadership Collection (2 Ebooks)
50.00View Details The Leadership Transitions and Team Building Collection includes two important books: "The First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded," by Michael D. Watkins,... -
The Proxy Fight at ADP
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details In July 2017, shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) surged 12% following a report that the activist investor Bill Ackman had acquired a sizable... -
Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (A): The First Month
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Dr. Hans Fritz is 37 years old when he arrives in Bangkok on March 1, 1998 to assume his position as general manager of Novartis Thailand. Novartis is... -
The Management of Berkshire Hathaway
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Berkshire Hathaway is known to many as the investment vehicle of Warren E. Buffett. To some extent, this reputation is well founded, given the investment... -
Playgrounds and Performance: Results Management at KaBOOM! (B)
Strategy & Execution Case Study5.00View Details Supplements the (A) case. -
Albert "Jack" Stanley in Nigeria (A)
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details The international joint venture that successfully bid for $6 billion in contracts to build LNG trains on Nigeria's Bonny Island became entangled in a... -
Greenbriar Growth Partners and Microsurgery Devices
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Greenbriar Growth Partners (GGP), a venture capital firm, has been an investor in Microsurgery Devices (MSD) for four-plus years, and has come into conflict... -
Bennett, Strang & Farris
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details A law firm must decide how to split partnership profits among the partners. Issues of seniority versus performance, performance evaluation, and lack of... -
Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (B)
Leadership & Managing People Case Study5.00View Details The president of one of Martin Marietta's four main operating companies has learned of procurement irregularities in the company he manages. The problems... -
Decoding Steve Jobs: Select Commentary from HBR.org
9.99View Details Observations on Steve Job's legacy - and Apple's leadership future - are only just beginning. In recent years, many leading thinkers have contributed... -
Arbor Health Care Co.
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details A venture-funded start-up runs into trouble when health care reimbursement policies change radically. With the help of its board, the company develops... -
Governance Reform at Research in Motion (RIM) Ltd.
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details The case looks at the board structure of Research in Motion Limited (RIM) since the probe of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and Securities Exchange... -
Viacom, Inc.: Carpe Diem (Condensed)
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Viacom has built a powerful position in the global entertainment industry through skillful and bold acquisitions. Now its expansion is challenged by the... -
Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (A)
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Jeanne Lewis, after six years with Staples, Inc., is promoted to senior vice president of marketing. She is to work for fifteen months alongside her predecessor,... -
Building Community at Terra Nova Consulting
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details This case describes the challenges faced by the president of an engineering and environmental services consulting firm (Terra Nova Consulting) as it seeks... -
The Fall of Enron
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details The case traces the rise of Enron, covering the company's business innovations, personnel management, and risk management processes. It then examines... -
Sy Friedland and JF&CS
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Radically innovative thinker Sy Friedland was a decade or more ahead of the trends when he took the reins of Boston's venerable Jewish Children & Family... -
Farm to School of Park County: A Journey from Program to Nonprofit (B)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study5.00View Details Supplement to case KE1110 This case series describes the startup of Farm to School of Park County, an emerging nonprofit organization in the US state...
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Hiring Without Firing
Leadership Magazine ArticleHitting the hiring bull’s-eye is one of an executive’s most important—and most difficult—responsibilities. Ten common mistakes can get in the way, but a pointed and systematic approach can virtually guarantee success. -
Executive Incentives vs. Corporate Growth
Boards Magazine ArticleBonuses and other forms of incentive compensation are an effective motivator of executives to achieve ever higher earnings per share. The drive to produce short-term results, however, often influences management to forgo investment in capital equipment and R&D that would benefit the corporation several years hence even more than improved earnings next year would. The […] -
Farm to School of Park County: A Journey from Program to Nonprofit (A)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details This case series describes the startup of Farm to School of Park County, an emerging nonprofit organization in the US state of Montana. Case (A) describes... -
The Trouble with CFOs
Leadership Magazine ArticleIf the CEO sits in the hot seat, the CFO’s chair is positively smoking. According to analysis conducted by the CFO Executive Board, annual CFO turnover at the largest 162 global companies between 1995 and 2003 was 17%—even higher than for CEOs—and three out of four current Fortune 500 finance officers have been in their […] -
Lie, Cheat, and Steel: Governance and Scandal at ThyssenKrupp
Global Business Case Study11.95View Details On March 7, 2013, ThyssenKrupp Group CEO Heinrich Hiesinger was shocked to receive a resignation letter from Gerhard Cromme, chairman of the company's... -
Information Technology and the Board of Directors
Technology & Operations Magazine ArticleEver since the Y2K scare, boards have grown increasingly nervous about corporate dependence on information technology. Since then, computer crashes, denial... -
Leadership Transitions and Team Building: Leadership Collection (2 Ebooks)
50.00View Details The Leadership Transitions and Team Building Collection includes two important books: "The First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded," by Michael D. Watkins,... -
Board Members: Rocket Fuel or Rocks?
Boards Digital ArticleA good board can be rocket fuel or it can be rocks in an organization’s pockets. Much of success and failure in the boardroom comes down to the way the individuals around the table — be it on a public company board, a small private board, or a non-profit board — do their jobs. So […] -
When the CEO Can't Let Go (Commentary for HBR Case Study)
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleEvery morning, Paul Marsh, the chairman, president, and CEO of Kansas-based Coltrane Farm Equipment & Manufacturing, climbs the six flights of stairs... -
The Proxy Fight at ADP
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details In July 2017, shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) surged 12% following a report that the activist investor Bill Ackman had acquired a sizable...