Publications

August 2017 (Revised December 2017)
Case

Accounting for Nuclear Power Provisions at RWE

By: Paul Healy and Jonas Heese

In early 2016, RWE, a utility that operates nuclear power plants in Germany, came under scrutiny from regulators and the media over the adequacy of its provisions for costs of decommissioning and dismantling (D&D) its nuclear power plants. Accounting standards required... View Details

Keywords: Liabilities; Provisions For Long-term Obligations; Discounting; Accounting; Energy Generation; Energy Industry; Germany

29 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

A Manager’s Moral Obligation to Preserve Capitalism

entitled, but also obligated to do that. Not so fast, say Henderson and Ramanna. They argue managers have another interest, not just to serve as agents for their shareholders, but also to serve as agents... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

July 2005
Article

The Consequences of Labor Market Flexibility: Panel Evidence Based on Survey Data

By: Rafael Di Tella and Robert MacCulloch

We introduce a new data set on hiring and firing restrictions for 21 OECD countries for the period 1984 –1990. The data are based on surveys of business people in the countries covered, so the indices we use are subjective in nature. Controlling for country and time... View Details

Keywords: Job Security Provisions; Subjective Data; Unemployment; Employment; Labor; Markets; Data and Data Sets

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2024
Working Paper

Economic Budgeting for Endowment-Dependent Universities

By: John Y. Campbell, Jeremy C. Stein and Alex A. Wu

To understand their financial position, universities need to understand the long-term implications of their operating revenues and costs in relation to the financial assets they have available. Standard budgeting procedures that focus on one or two years at a time and... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Cash Flow; Cost; Revenue; Education Industry

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2006
Article

Voluntary Codes of Conduct for Multinational Corporations: Coordinating Duties of Rescue and Justice

By: Nien-he Hsieh

This paper examines the extent to which the voluntary adoption of codes of conduct by multinational corporations (MNCs) renders MNCs accountable for the performance of actions specified in a code of conduct. In particular, the paper examines the ways in which codes of... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures

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May 2017 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Battle for the Soul of Capitalism: Unilever and the Kraft Heinz Takeover Bid (A)

By: William W. George and Amram Migdal

This case describes Kraft Heinz Company’s (KHC) February 2017 unsolicited $143 billion takeover offer to acquire Unilever. The offer was made to Unilever CEO Paul Polman by KHC chairman Alexandre Behring, who was also co-founder and CEO of Brazilian-based 3G Capital... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Value Creation; Decision Choices and Conditions

01 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

How To Make Restructuring Work for Your Company

the plan. 12 Despite how much sense these provisions would seem to make, however, in practice they are relatively uncommon. The reasons for this are not yet fully understood. 13 Getting The Highest Price... View Details

Keywords: by Stuart C. Gilson

14 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

Time that Government Reopens for Business

other segments of the economy such as defense contractors. Since the shutdown follows on the heels of the sequester, it's a second whammy for them. If you are a defense contractor, you've probably seen a lot of disruption in your View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

September 2012 (Revised February 2013)
Case

micro Home Solutions: A Social Housing Initiative in India

By: William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

mHS is a social enterprise for the provision of affordable housing in India. After India's microfinance industry collapses, mHS needs to reposition itself for continued operations and long-term growth. View Details

Keywords: India; Loans; Development; Micro Finance; Entrepreneurship; Housing; Social Enterprise; Poverty; India

02 Aug 2004
What Do You Think?

For Greater Transparency, Is Section 404 an Effective Response?

certify (upon penalty of legal action against them for failure to do so) the quality of internal control structures and procedures. You can imagine how this provision has captured the attention of CEOs... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Aug 2008
What Do You Think?

Has the Time Come for “Stretch” in Management?

the long-term vision and short-term realities of the need for performance. Mike Flanagan asked, "Why have goals that are strived for in 10 years when the CEO and others... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

14 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

The New Measures for Improving Nonprofit Performance

For-profit businesses have a common goal: create value for owners or shareholders by creating value for customers. It's a focus that must seem enviably straightforward from the perspective of nonprofit... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

September 2014 (Revised March 2016)
Case

Mayo Clinic: The 2020 Initiative

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Robert S. Huckman and Jenny Lesser

Describes the challenges facing Dr. John Noseworthy, President and CEO, in implementing a long-term strategy for the growth of the Mayo Clinic—a leading academic medical center with a reputation for excellence in tertiary and quaternary health care. The case highlights... View Details

Keywords: Health; Health Care Industry; Health Care Policy; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; United States

01 Oct 1996
News

The Drive for Excellence: An Interview with Jim Henderson

president and served for one year on the School's faculty. There's a lot of talk these days about corporate responsibility. What are a company's obligations to its stakeholders? A company's stakeholders... View Details

28 May 2012
Research & Ideas

A Pragmatic Alternative for Creating a Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy

says, executives whose companies extract resources will feel an obligation to return the favor, whether it's a furniture company that plants trees to offset its extraction of lumber or a bottling plant that initiates a water conservation... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

September 2016
Article

The Effect of Target Difficulty on Target Completion: The Case of Reducing Carbon Emissions

By: Ioannis Ioannou, Shelley Xin Li and George Serafeim

Targets are an integral component of management control systems and play a significant role in achieving desirable performance outcomes. We focus on a key environmental performance objective—reduction of carbon emissions—as a setting in which to examine how target... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Target-setting; Management Accounting; Management Accounting And Control Systems; Control Systems; Sustainable Development; Environment; Goals and Objectives; Climate Change; Management Systems; Accounting; Environmental Sustainability

26 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 26, 2019

to long-term goals. We integrate our statistical results with qualitative information from interviews, which highlighted the importance of reinforcing the organizational goals’ message and providing support View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

May 2023
Article

Decarbonizing Health Care: Engaging Leaders in Change

By: Vivian S. Lee, Kathy Gerwig, Emily Hough, Kedar Mate, Robert Biggio and Robert S. Kaplan

Health care leaders are often surprised to learn that their operations contribute significantly to a warming climate. In addition to their roles as responders to and victims of extreme weather events, health care organizations have an obligation to reduce... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Decarbonization; Carbon Emissions; Net-zero Emissions; Climate Change; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry