Publications

Teaching Note for HBS Case 122-022. View Details

Article

When the Local Newspaper Leaves Town: The Effects of Local Newspaper Closures on Corporate Misconduct

By: Jonas Heese, Gerardo Pérez Cavazos and Caspar David Peter

We examine whether the local press is an effective monitor of corporate misconduct. Specifically, we study the effects of local newspaper closures on violations by local facilities of publicly listed firms. After a local newspaper closure, local facilities increase... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Misconduct; Local Newspapers; Media Coverage; Firm Monitoring; Newspapers

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July 2022 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Call of Fiduciary Duty: Microsoft Acquires Activision Blizzard

By: Jonas Heese, Joseph Pacelli and James Barnett

In January 2022, Microsoft announces its acquisition of the video game company Activision Blizzard, in a deal valued at $68.7 billion, which would make Microsoft the world’s third largest video game company. The deal came as Activision Blizzard faced gender pay... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Goodwill Accounting; Analysis; Decision Making; Talent and Talent Management; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Ethics; Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Mergers and Acquisitions; Lawsuits and Litigation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Video Game Industry; North America; California

April 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Conflicts of Interest at Uptown Bank

In 2013, two employees debated whether to blow the whistle on their employer, Bell Bank, after completing an internal review that revealed undisclosed conflicts of interest. Bell Bank’s Asset Management business disproportionately invested clients’ money in Bell Bank’s... View Details

April 2022
Supplement

MicroStrategy: Accounting for Cryptocurrency (B)

By: Jonas Heese and Annelena Lobb

In early 2022, the technology firm MicroStrategy unveiled a series of letters with the SEC that questioned its accounting practices around its holdings of Bitcoin. Since 2020, the firm had shifted its strategy to include not just selling software but buying and holding... View Details

Keywords: Cryptocurrency; Bitcoin; Holding Structures; SEC; Accounting; Finance; Financial Strategy; Technology Industry

February 2022
Teaching Note

Introducing EVA at ISS: A Better Way to Evaluate CEO Performance and Compensation?

By: Jonas Heese and Charles C.Y. Wang

February 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Supplement

ISS EVA Instructor Template

By: Jonas Heese and Charles C.Y. Wang

February 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Supplement

ISS EVA Student Template

By: Jonas Heese and Charles C.Y. Wang

January 31, 2022
Other Article

Does Industry Employment of Active Regulators Weaken Oversight?

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January 2022 (Revised September 2023)
Teaching Note

MicroStrategy: Accounting for Cryptocurrency

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 121-066. View Details

January 2022 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Introducing EVA at ISS: A Better Way to Evaluate CEO Performance and Compensation?

By: Jonas Heese, Charles C.Y. Wang and James Weber

In early 2019, Anthony Campagna, the global director of fundamental research at ISS EVA, a unit of the proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), was preparing to release ISS's analyses of public company performance and CEO compensation ahead of Say... View Details

Keywords: Jobs and Positions; Compensation and Benefits; Performance; Performance Productivity; Measurement and Metrics; Analytics and Data Science; Value; Business or Company Management; Performance Evaluation; Business and Shareholder Relations

January 2022
Teaching Note

Whistleblowing at Veolia: A Technology Solution

By: Aiyesha Dey and Jonas Heese

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 122-050. View Details

January 2022
Teaching Note

'Why I Blew the Whistle': Mauro Botta v. PwC

By: Aiyesha Dey and Jonas Heese

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 122-005. View Details

Keywords: Whistleblower; Whistleblowing; Corporate Accountability; Governance; Retaliation Costs

December 2021
Case

Whistleblowing at Veolia: A Technology Solution

By: Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese, Christian Godwin and James Weber

In 2019, Bruno Masson, the vice chairman of Veolia’s Ethics Committee, was preparing for a meeting on a rollout plan for a new whistleblowing system to more countries. Veolia, a global supplier of water, waste, and energy services, had recently gone through several... View Details

Keywords: Whistleblowing; Corporate Misconduct; Corporate Governance; Ethics; Crime and Corruption; Values and Beliefs; Trust; Employee Relationship Management; Utilities Industry

December 2021
Article

Cash-for-Information Whistleblower Programs: Effects on Whistleblowing and Consequences for Whistleblowers

By: Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese and Gerardo Pérez Cavazos

We study the effect of financial incentives on whistleblowing and the consequences for whistleblowers under the cash-for-information program of the False Claims Act (FCA). Exploiting appeals-court decisions that increase financial incentives for whistleblowing, we find... View Details

Keywords: Whistleblowers; Cash-for-information Whistleblower Programs; False Claims Act; Corporate Misconduct; Consequences For Whistleblowers; Crime and Corruption; Information; Cost