2014
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The Hobby Lobby Decision: How Business Got Here
October 16 | Sarah Green Carmichael, Opinion Columnist and Editor, Bloomberg | Comments (0)Monday’s Hobby Lobby decision by the United States Supreme Court marks the first time the government has recognized that some for-profit corporations have religious rights. Usually, Supreme Court decisions clarify matters; but in this case, the ruling has thrown commentators into a confused frenzy.
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How to Hire a CEO You Won’t Want to Fire
October 16 | Dionne Hosten, Principal, ghSMART | Reshmi Paul, Ph.D., Leader, CEO Succession Practice, ghSMART | Comments (0)A lot of CEOs are being shown the door. These companies are in trouble, and their boards must select new CEOs under highly charged circumstances. At least some of them are bound to make the mistake we’ve seen so many times: pushing ahead with a sense of urgency around their new CEO selection.
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There Are Risks in Having the CEO’s Pals on the Board
October 16 | HBR The Daily Stat | Comments (0)Ties of friendship between corporate directors and CEOs can compromise firms’ integrity, but public disclosure of the ties can make the problem worse. In a study of 56 board members, 46% of those who were asked said they’d be willing to substantially cut R&D if it meant triggering a hefty bonus for the chief executive.
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The Hobby Lobby Decision Could Affect a Majority of U.S. Workers
October 14 | Walter Frick, Editor, Harvard Business Review | Comments (0)The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that the government cannot force “closely held” corporations to offer insurance coverage that provides birth control to employees, a stipulation of the Affordable Care Act passed by Congress in 2010.
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4 Ways to Decrease Conflict Within Global Teams
October 09 | Pamela Hinds, Associate Professor, Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University | Comments (0)Working on a team scattered across the globe can be challenging. Sometimes, without the subtle cues you get working face-to-face, you don’t even know a conflict is brewing until it blows up. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
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What’s Your Cultural Story? Using Your Own Story To Improve Your Communication Skills
October 09 | David Lange, Senior Fellow, Human Capital, The Conference Board | Comments (0)In one of my previous posts, I reflected on the power of storytelling, and how the use of the right story can help describe the important values, beliefs and attitudes of a culture. What is perhaps more difficult and less accessible for most of us is our own cultural story, and how to tell it.
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The Cost of Combining the CEO and Chairman Roles
October 01 | Andrea Ovans, Senior Associate Editor, Harvard Business Review | Comments (0)Will Netflix’s shareholders be sorry that they voted to let Reed Hastings carry on as both CEO and chairman? most people assume the right answer is to keep the two roles separate, in the interests of diversity of thinking and proper CEO oversight.
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CEOs Sometimes Need Outside Help
September 26 | Brook Manville, Co-Author, Judgment Calls | Comments (0)We know we want leaders who are smart, decisive, transformative, and possessed of a singular vision. But there’s an often-overlooked factor that can make the difference between success and failure: a leader’s ability to go far outside the organization to get help in solving problems.
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CEO Pay Is Rising, But So Is CEO Impact
September 25 | Walter Frick, Editor, Harvard Business Review | Comments (0)It’s no secret that executive compensation has risen much faster in recent decades than wages. But a new report from the Economic Policy Institute points to another trend: CEO pay is rising even relative to compensation for the top 0.1% of U.S. earners.