Executive compensation

Analysis of college coach compensation shows how hard it is to align pay with performance.

A look at what the research says.

Leaders’ pay should be tied to corporate mission, not strategy.

It’s also the case in societies with more tolerance for inequality.

Since 1960 the U.S. economy has moved from largely financing the exploitation of natural resources to making the most of talent. The rewards to executives...

Employees notice hypocrisy.

Given the growing sensitivity to widening income inequality in many developed economies, it is no wonder that criticism of soaring executive pay has intensified. Attempts to slow the rapid ascent of executive compensation have made little headway in North America, Western Europe, and Australia. Some reform measures — such as mandatory disclosure of pay arrangements […]

According to a study of 1,741 executives, showcasing merit can move the needle when it comes to compensation.

Big banks have become too complex for boards to govern them effectively, writes a former top executive at Bank of America and Citigroup. Directors need...

The exponential growth in executive compensation over the last thirty years, as compared to slow growth in average worker pay, has been at the center of debates about the financial crisis and its aftermath. But these debates have, so far, had little political impact. A recent UK report from The High Pay Commission sets out […]

It’s a little wonky – but it’s really not that hard.

Though corporate profits are high, and the stock market is booming, most Americans are not sharing in the economic recovery. While the top 0.1% of income...

The gap between CEO compensation and that of the average worker continues to grow at an astounding rate. According to the Institute for Policy Studies, CEO compensation in the United States was approximately 40 times greater than that of the average worker in 1960 and is now over 400 times greater (a much larger gap […]

Portland's new compensation rule is keying off the wrong measure.

Stephen Davis is the coauthor of The New Capitalists: How Citizen Investors Are Reshaping the Corporate Agenda. There is a cutting edge to corporate leadership, but you won’t find it at Blockbuster. Here is a board of directors that knew going into its 2007 annual meeting that share-owners were at a boiling point — over […]

This post is in three parts. Parts I and II were originally posted on May 5, and they are titled, respectively, The Ideal and The Deal. Part III, which appears here for the first time, is titled The Real. The extreme income gap between chief executive officers and nearly everyone else has a corrosive effect. […]

It worked for quality control in the 1980s.

The music director of the nonprofit New York Philharmonic had a $2.2 million compensation package for the 2006-2007 season. The nonprofit Chicago Symphony Orchestra paid their man $1.9 million, and the nonprofit Boston Symphony Orchestra shelled out $1.5 million. A Chicago Tribune article on the subject quotes a consultant saying that “a music director is […]

A loose consensus has formed around the idea that basing CEO pay on, say, five years of stock returns would eliminate some of the reckless decision making that led to the Great Recession. But I suspect that even if you could build a compensation plan that focuses on long-term shareholder value, you’d solve only part […]

It’s about communicating a long-term, ambitious vision to shareholders.

By many measures the largest health-club chain in the United States in the early 2000s, in 2014 Bally Total Fitness sold most of its remaining fitness...

CEO Dave Cote spent six years turning around an ailing Honeywell and in 2008 Cote and his team face a new challenge: how to respond to the Great Recession....

A new Dallas-based health and beauty spa aims to use a highly distinctive human resource system as the foundation of its competitive strategy. By encouraging...

Harriett Green, the newly appointed CEO of Thomas Cook Group, faces a daunting set of business and financial challenges at the 171-year old UK travel...

The credit crisis of 2008 placed compensation practices at publicly traded firms in the United States under scrutiny. This case examines perceived excessive...

Faced with falling share prices and the critical eye of the media focused on Jack Welch's retirement plan, newly appointed CEO Jeff Immelt had the challenge...

This case explores the considerations of an executive compensation analyst as he finalizes a report to the compensation and benefits committee of Charter...

In March 2016, BP disclosed that its Chief Executive Officer, Bob Dudley, would receive a $19.6 million compensation package, a 20% increase in total...

Keep shareholders happy and manage for the long term. Earning a board seat is a rite of passage. But directors must juggle many responsibilities, from...

This case describes a compensation negotiation between a global HR director and a candidate for a high-level executive position. The situation becomes...

This case examines Gap Inc. as a trailblazer in gender pay equality with a focus on investing in gender equity in leadership. Since Gap Inc. made history...

Chase Russell grew up surrounded by his family's car wash business but had no desire to take it over. While in college, this perspective shifted suddenly...

Supplement to HBS Case 319-046. The case describes the events that took place in the run-up to the 2018 Annual General Meeting, the voting outcome, key...

In the summer of 2010, Vail Resorts was considering replacing the ski lift serving Vail's famous Sun Up and Sun Down Bowls. The new high-speed chairlift...

A potential investor in General Motors is gathering information about investment in General Motor's stock. The investigation leads the investor to review...

Within 3 minutes of releasing its Q4 and year-end earnings, Regina Broadband's stock was down by over 25%. The company's CEO and CFO realized they needed...

In 2018, the acknowledged saviour of Nissan and the creator of the 19-year-old cross-shareholding Renault-Nissan alliance was accused by the Tokyo Prosecutors...

Managers introduce a new performance evaluation system based on sales growth and return-on-investment (ROI). A branch manager wonders whether his new...

Teaching note for case 116063.

Analysis of college coach compensation shows how hard it is to align pay with performance.

Teaching note for case 318108.

By many measures the largest health-club chain in the United States in the early 2000s, in 2014 Bally Total Fitness sold most of its remaining fitness...

A look at what the research says.

Teaching Note to (807-151), (807-152), (807-153), and (807-112).

CEO Dave Cote spent six years turning around an ailing Honeywell and in 2008 Cote and his team face a new challenge: how to respond to the Great Recession....

Leaders’ pay should be tied to corporate mission, not strategy.