Publications

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November 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Google and Earnings Guidance

By: Francois Brochet and David Kiron

The case explores Google's communication strategy with Wall Street analysts. In particular, the case focuses on Google's commitment to a no-guidance policy and provides an overview of guidance practice among major U.S. companies. View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Communication Strategy; Capital Markets; Corporate Disclosure; Corporate Governance; Business and Shareholder Relations; United States

October 1995 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Otis Elevator Company (A): China Strategy

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Thomas W. Malnight

Examines the evolution of Otis's joint venture in China, from inception to the political crisis in 1989. Raises the question of whether or not the company should make an additional investment in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square incident. View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Decisions; Investment; Globalization; Government Administration; Business and Government Relations; Strategy; China

February 1990 (Revised July 1990)
Case

Internal Revenue Service: Automated Collection System

By: Nitin Nohria

Describes how the IRS's collection operations changed from a largely manual system (COF) to an automated system (ACS). A central aspect of ACS was the electronic scheduling and maintaining of work. While with ACS the IRS accomplished significant improvements in the... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Finance; Revenue; Information Technology; Taxation; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Human Resources; Public Administration Industry; United States

December 1980 (Revised January 1994)
Case

International Foodstuffs

By: David E. Bell

Describes three fairly routine instances in which considerations of risk exposure in foreign exchange are necessary. The three are a delayed payment for a grain shipment, a foreign subsidiary facing devaluation of its domestic currency, and a foreign acquisition. The... View Details

Keywords: Currency Exchange Rate; Risk and Uncertainty; International Relations; Mergers and Acquisitions; Money; International Finance; Financial Services Industry

July 2015
Exercise

An Activist Approach: Confidential Role Assignment for Castle Rock Management

By: Guhan Subramanian and Kait Szydlowski

A three party, multiple-issue negotiation exercise dealing with a potential merger between two leading department stores, called for by an activist investor hedge fund in a letter to both companies. Company management will now attempt to navigate next moves, which are... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Activist Investors; Takeover Defense; Negotiation Types; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Investment Activism; Retail Industry

February 1991 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Tennessee Controls: The Strategic Ranking Problem

By: Robert L. Simons and Dale Geiger

Tennessee Controls has instituted a new formal asset acquisition process to rank competing proposals. Judy Starnes, the new division manager, is asked to rank three proposals by using techniques to quantify economic returns, risk, as well as the credibility of the... View Details

Keywords: Capital Budgeting; Governance Controls; Management Systems; Strategic Planning; Mathematical Methods; Electronics Industry

February 2009 (Revised August 2012)
Background Note

Note on Socially Responsible Investing

By: Sandra J. Sucher, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Ian McKown Cornell

This note describes Socially Responsible Investing, providing a brief history, description of different socially responsible investing approaches, and overview of selected players and institutions involved in the socially responsible investing field. It has been... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Corporate Governance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability

November 2006
Background Note

U.S. Taxation of Foreign-Source Corporate Income

By: Henry B. Reiling

Identifies several of the problems and policy choices associated with taxing foreign-source income. Examples are given of the practical after-tax effects of the major alternatives. Foreign tax credit and "tax haven" based business activities receive special attention.... View Details

Keywords: Earnings Management; Credit; Policy; Taxation; Problems and Challenges; United States

24 Apr 2014
News

Balance work on your business and in your community

Marlin Miller, Jr. (MBA 1956), cofounder and director of Norwich Ventures, on balancing working on your business and working for your community. (Published April 2014) View Details

September 1997 (Revised October 1997)
Case

French Pension System, The: On the Verge of Retirement?

By: David A. Moss, Anne Dias and Bertrand O. Stephann

Surveys the French pension system, its particular institutional characteristics, and some of the critical challenges and opportunities facing French reformers. Like almost every other industrialized country, France has a large pay-as-you-go public pension system that... View Details

Keywords: Retirement; Compensation and Benefits; Capital Markets; Economic Growth; Labor; Problems and Challenges; Opportunities; Welfare; Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Public Administration Industry; France

October 2020
Case

TowerBrook: ESG in Action (A)

By: Victoria Ivashina, Brian Trelstad and Meaghan Conway

This case is the first of a two-part series that follows Ramez Sousou and his team at TowerBrook Capital Partners as they face a challenging investment decision in February of 2013. Since its founding, TowerBrook has prided itself on its purpose-driven investing... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Finance; Private Equity; Corporate Governance; Value Creation; Investment; Decision Making

February 2006
Article

Writing the Rules of Global Finance: France, Europe, and Capital Liberalization

By: Rawi Abdelal

Keywords: International Finance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Capital; France; Europe

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23 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 23

and responding to adverse drug reactions suggests that only government regulators are in a position to integrate case report and statistical analysis. Despite the appeal of fragmented post-market drug safety studies, centralization may be... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

26 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: Jan. 26

The Irrational Economist: Making Decisions in a Dangerous World, edited by Erwann Michel-Kerjan and Paul Slovic, 151-160. New York: Public Affairs Books, 2010 Abstract Particularly since the 1960s, the federal government has played a... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Web

Managing and Innovating in Financial Services - Course Catalog

HBS Course Catalog Managing and Innovating in Financial Services Course Number 1509 Professor David Scharfstein Spring; Q3Q4; 3.0 credits 28 Sessions Exam Financial services firms play a critically important role in the global economy. They View Details

01 Sep 2012
News

What’s the Big Idea?

and governance dimensions. Critics of the One Report concept maintain that it destroys shareholder value by diverting attention from short-term profit maximization. But Eccles and two colleagues found just the opposite. In a recent paper... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons;Julia Hanna;Roger Thompson; Corporate Services; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Management

June 2020
Teaching Note

Generation Investment Management

By: Vikram S. Gandhi and Sarah Mehta

This teaching note provides guidance for teaching the case “Generation Investment Management” (820-033), which looks at the challenges facing a sustainable investment firm. View Details