INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre

Case Study (New!)

Crisis at HBL
by Stanislav Shekshnia
Published: 6 February 2023
The board of HBL, a privately-owned media holding, is to hold an emergency meeting to discuss a leadership crisis that emerged when the CEO was unexpectedly admitted to hospital and subsequently submitted his resignation.

Case Study

Crisis at MIAM Group
by Ludo Van der Heyden, Stanislav Shekshnia, Elin Williams
Published: 22 Apr 2022
You are a member of the board of directors at MIAM Group, a public multinational food company headquartered in Europe. After an eventful year – involving a global pandemic, a decline in performance and a campaign by activist investors – matters have come to a head. You are about to hold an emergency board meeting.

Case Study

Emmanuel Faber at Danone: Man on a Mission (A), (B) and (C)
By Stanislav Shekshnia, Ludo Van der Heyden, Elin Williams
Published: 24 Jan 2022

The case illustrates the importance of actively chairing a business board and example of how activist investors can derail a leader.

Book 

The Changing C-Suite: Executive Power in Transformation
by José Luis Alvarez and Silviya Svejenova

The new book examines the changing corporate power structures. By exploring the emergence and evolution of these CXO positions, José Luis Alvarez and Silviya Svejenova examine the evolving ways in which power at the apex of complex organizations is structured through roles and relationships, in anticipation of and in response to diverse contingencies and interests.

Case Study

The Royal Dutch Rowing Federation (KNRB) (A): Corporate Governance for Competitive Performance of Dutch Rowing
Van der Heyden, L.; Massara, F. (2021)
Published: 8 Sep 2021

The case series presents the governance and leadership challenges and opportunities the Royal Dutch Rowing Federation (Koninklijke Nederlandse Roei Bond, or KNRB for short), which is a not-for-profit top sports federation.

Case Study

Initial Coin Offerings and Digitalization of Assets: Returns and Risks of Token Investing
By Massimo Massa, Jean Wee
Published: 28 May 2021

The case focuses on the financing of blockchain and its pros and cons. The use of security tokens, initial coin offerings (ICOs) and related issues in terms of financing costs, liquidity and governance are analysed.

Book (New!)

Leading a Board: Chairs’ Practices Across Europe 2nd ed. 2021 Edition
by Stanislav Shekshnia and, Veronika Zagieva (Editor)

In this second edition, 18 experts from 14 European countries interviewed more than 300 chairs, CEOs, directors and shareholders to detect and compare specific practices and instruments that chairs use to deal with various challenges. Researchers also assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work of chairs and the boards they lead. 

Book

No Rules Rules - Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention
by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer

The new book dives deep into unorthodox culture behind Netflix, one of the world's most innovative and imaginative companies.

Working Paper

Leading in Wicked Times: A Radical Shift to Inquiry, Humility, and Fairness (2020/34/DSC/TOM)
by Karelaia N., Van der Heyden L. (2020).  2020/34/DSC/TOM

Humanity is facing an increasing number of wicked problems, including the current COVID pandemics. Resolving wicked problems calls for a very different set of virtues than those traditionally associated with leadership. These virtues include both confidence and humility, decisiveness and fairness, empathy and courage. We discuss the leadership behaviors required at different stages of making decisions in the face of wicked problems and illustrate using examples of Jacinda Ardern, Angela Merkel, Gretchen Whitmer, Charlie Baker, and Mario Cuomo, amongst others.

Journal Article

Last to Come and Last to Go? On the Complex Role of Gender and Ethnicity in the Reputational Penalties for Directors Linked to Corporate Fraud
Academy of Management Journal, 63(3), (pp881-902).
Naumovska I., Wernicke G., Zajac E. J. (2020).

Journal Article

Dancing With Activists
Journal of Financial Economics, 137(1), (pp1-41).
Bebchuk L. A., Brav A., Jiang W., Keusch T. (2020)

Working Paper

EU Banking in the COVID-19 Crisis: Time for a “New Deal” (2020/25/FIN/TOM)
by Nathanial P., Van der Heyden L. (2020).

The current COVID-19 sanitary and economic crisis requires a “New Deal” between EU governments and EU banks: EU banks agree to partner with governments in enabling the effective transmission of the government’s vital financial support to the real economy in exchange for a transformation of the EU banking sector.

Working Paper

Crisis Management: Framework and Principles with Applications to CoVid-19 (2020/17/FIN/TOM)
by Nathanial P., Van der Heyden L. (2020).

This article tries to sum up lessons all facing any crisis should be aware of. The authors use the CoVid-19 crisis to illustrate these lessons and put them in a context that concerns us all today.

ICGC Report

The Market for Corporate Directors 2019
by Jose Luis Alvarez and Francois-Lucien Vulliermet, 18 December 2019

With this 2019 Report on Directors Job Market, the INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre looked into the call for board renewal and the development of full time professional directors.

Journal Article

Women Don’t Mean Business? Gender Penalty in Board Composition
Organization Science 30(6):1270-1288 (2019) 
By Isabelle Solal, Kaisa Snellman

New Research Shows The More Women On A Company’s Board, The More Market Value Is Lost

Case Study

Governance of the Tata Group: In Pursuit of Profitability, Philanthropy and Power
by Massimo Massa, Ludo Van der Heyden, Kaikhushru (Kai) Taraporevala
Published: 31 May 2019

This case describes the Tata Group’s governance and the role it played in overseeing 150 years of growth of the Tata empire of companies. It illustrates how a business is affected and shaped by its governance, whether by family owners, and family or charitable trusts.

Best Paper Award

2019 Prix Académique de la Recherche en Management, Finalist 
Syntec Conseil
"De-globalization: Theories, predictions, and Opportunities for International Business Research"

Book

Leading a Board - Chairs’ Practices Across Europe
by S.Shekshnia, V.Zagieva (2019), Palgrave Macmillan

This book represents the first cross-country study of the work of board chairs in Europe. It includes unique data collected through interviews with almost 200 experienced board chairs and their key stakeholders – board members, CEOs and shareholders.

Digital Article 

How Board Members Really Feel About ESG, from Deniers to True Believers
Harvard Business Review, 19 April 2019
by N. Craig Smith and Ron Soonieus

Digital Article

Corporate Boards Are Pessimistic About Trade Between the U.S. and China
Harvard Business Review, 29 March 2019
Michael WITT

Survey Report

Leadership in Corporate Sustainability—European Report 2018
Board Agenda, Mazars and INSEAD Corporate Governance Centre
PRYER Trevor, CEREY Anthony, SMITH Craig and SOONIEUS Ron 

Award

2018 Best Paper Award Strategy as Practice
Academy of Management  
"Shaping Top Managers' Moods: Board Emotion Regulation in the Strategy-Formulation Process”
VUORI T., HUY Q.

Award

2018 CGIO Best Paper in International Corporate Governance Finalist
International Management
Academy of Management
"I Did It My Way: An International Analysis of Deviation from Corporate Governance Norms”
WITT M. A.

Award

“Ringtone” by INSEAD’s Yves Doz and Keeley Wilson wins prestigious Academy of Management’s 2018 George R. Terry Book Award

At the award ceremony, which took place at the Academy of Management’s Annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on 12 August, the judging committee commented on “the depth of the case study, the scholarly argument and the insightful account explaining the rise and fall of Nokia”.

Book

Athletic CEOs: Leadership in Turbulent Times
Cambridge: Anthem Press (January 2018)
SHEKSHNIA S., ZAGIEVA V., ULANOVSKY A.