Publications

01 Sep 2010
News

Reinventing the Annual Report

"That's the report. Now, would anyone like to carp?" © James Stevenson/The New Yorker Collection/ www.cartoonbank.com I am always interested in reading what the companies I own stock in have to say about themselves in their ritualistic annual reports filled with View Details

Keywords: Robert G. Eccles

August 2011
Teaching Note

Subprime Crisis and Fair-Value Accounting (TN)

By: Paul Healy, Krishna G. Palepu and George Serafeim

Teaching Note for 109-031. View Details

Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; Mortgages; Standards; Financial Crisis

August 2010
Supplement

Batson International, S.A. (C)

By: David F. Hawkins

Senior management must sign a management letter. An internal audit reveals a number of questionable accounting practices (B case). How should senior management respond? View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Managerial Roles; Standards; United States

Web

HBS - From The Dean

2022 Annual Report From The Dean Key Metrics Financials PDF Downloads From The Dean When people ask me about the impact of the global pandemic on Harvard Business School (HBS), I tell them that it has been... View Details

September 2008 (Revised September 2011)
Background Note

Note: Credit Rating Agencies

By: William E. Fruhan

The note examines the role of credit rating agencies in capital markets, with emphasis on the role of these agencies in the recent credit crisis and recommendations for change. View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Capital Markets; Credit; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Standards

28 Apr 2020
Blog Post

A Crash Course in Saving a Family Business

brother, Jacob, immigrated to Queens in 2000. They later established Bean&Bean, located in Manhattan near the Wall Street subway station, right before the financial crisis hit in 2008. The family eventually grew the company to four... View Details

September 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Supplement

Acumen Fund: Measurement in Impact Investing (B)

By: Alnoor Ebrahim and V. Kasturi Rangan

As Acumen Fund, a global venture philanthropy firm, moves forward with an investment portfolio exceeding $22 million, it runs into two critical measurement problems. First, how should it track the performance of each investment when its interest is not just the bottom... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment Portfolio; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Standards; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Evaluation; Social Enterprise; Competition; Financial Services Industry; Kenya

28 Jun 2011
First Look

First Look: June 28

externally hired CEOs increase the likelihood of providing guidance. Complicated Firms Authors:Lauren Cohen and Dong Lou Publication:Journal of Financial Economics (forthcoming) Abstract We exploit a novel setting in which the same piece... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Nov 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, November 20, 2018

forthcoming Review of Financial Studies Private Equity and Financial Fragility During the Crisis By: Bernstein, Shai, Josh Lerner, and Filippo Mezzanotti Abstract—Do private equity firms contribute to View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

September 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Silic (A): Choosing Cost or Fair Value on Adoption of IFRS

By: David F. Hawkins, Vincent Marie Dessain and Andrew Barron

A French real estate firm must choose to report its primary asset (investment property) using either cost or fair-value accounting methods upon adoption of international accounting standards (IAS) in 2005. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Fair Value Accounting; Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Investment; Standards; Real Estate Industry; France

December 1999 (Revised April 2012)
Background Note

Earnings Per Share

By: David F. Hawkins

Discusses accounting rules for earnings per share measurement. The U.S. approach is described in detail and non-U.S. practices are briefly covered. A rewritten version of an earlier note. View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Stock Shares; Profit; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Measurement and Metrics; United States

03 Dec 2018
Research & Ideas

How Companies Can Increase Market Rewards for Sustainability Efforts

flavijus For the first time, a link has been drawn between public sentiment about a company’s sustainability practices and how that company is valued in the market. The results are important both for investors searching for under-valued, socially responsible companies,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

01 Dec 2010
News

Eight Join HBS Faculty

Management. After completing his doctorate, Serafeim accepted a teaching position at HBS, one of eight newcomers to join the faculty. Serafeim, an assistant professor in the Accounting & Management Unit, teaches the first-year course View Details

January 2011 (Revised July 2011)
Case

Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (A)

By: David F. Hawkins

The IASB and FASB propose new contingency loss recognition, measurement, and disclosure rules (A case). The B and C cases apply these proposals to British Petroleum's Mexican Gulf oil spill and Union Carbide's Bhophal gas discharge. View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Trade; International Finance; Standards; Strength and Weakness; Natural Disasters; Crisis Management; Governance Controls; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Energy Industry; India

20 Oct 2010
Research & Ideas

HBS Workshop Encourages Corporate Reporting on Environmental and Social Sustainability

financial and accounting professionals, regulators, corporate executives, educators, fund managers and environmental sustainability advocates around the topic, according to the organizer, HBS professor Robert G. Eccles. Eccles, a pioneer... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Accounting

November 2010 (Revised December 2011)
Supplement

Oriflame S.A. (C)

By: David F. Hawkins and Karol Misztal

Notes from Oriflame's 2009 annual report relevant to the assessment of the monetary impact of Oriflame's FX risk management actions. View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; International Accounting; Currency Exchange Rate; Annual Reports; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Risk Management; Standards; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry