Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(1,642)
- Faculty Publications (232)
- 2007
- Working Paper
The Impact of Shareholder Activism on Financial Reporting and Compensation: The Case of Employee Stock Options Expensing
By: Fabrizio Ferri and Tatiana Sandino
In this paper we examine the economic consequences of over 150 shareholder proposals to expense employee stock options (ESO) submitted during the proxy seasons of 2003 and 2004–the first case where the SEC has allowed an accounting matter to be subject to an advisory... View Details
- February 2007 (Revised March 2007)
- Case
UBS and Climate Change--Warming Up to Global Action?
By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Forest L. Reinhardt and Elizabeth Raabe
Marco Suter, Executive Vice-Chairman, UBS Board of Directors, carefully studied the chart on his desk. It showed the public commitment of major financial institutions to help mitigate global warming. Evidently, UBS lagged behind its competitors. The graph was part of a... View Details
- November 2006 (Revised March 2008)
- Case
Kendall Square Research Corporation
Kendall Square Research was a small competitor in the supercomputer industry. Sales grew rapidly in 1992 and early 1993 and the company sold stock to the public for the first time. Analysts forecast higher earnings for 1993, then the company's revenue recognition... View Details
- August 2006 (Revised August 2007)
- Case
Revenue Recognition Problems in the Communications Equipment Industry
By: Paul M. Healy and Arjuna J Costa
Designed to explore recognition issues in the context of a potential market downturn. In late 2000, Lucent Technologies reports multiple revisions to its recent financial results due to revenue recognition problems, leading to a dramatic decline in its stock price.... View Details
- August 2006 (Revised September 2008)
- Case
Duane Morris: Balancing Growth and Culture at a Law Firm
By: Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams
After nearly 100 years as a mid-size regional law firm, Duane Morris entered a period of spectacular growth led by CEO Sheldon Bonovitz. Originally founded by Quakers, the firm had a distinct organizational culture featuring a number of unique or unusual business... View Details
- July 2006 (Revised March 2008)
- Case
Changan Automobile Co., Ltd.
By: Dennis Campbell and Donglin Xia
Chairman Yin Jiaxu must communicate that the company's extraordinary reported performance in 2002 reflects Changan's unique strategy within the competitive dynamics of China's automobile industry. Changan's 2002 annual report demonstrated an extraordinary level of... View Details
- February 2005 (Revised March 2006)
- Case
PCAOB, The (A)
By: Lynn S. Paine and Kim Bettcher
Members of the Public Co. Accounting Oversight Board--a private-sector, nonprofit body created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002--must determine the form and content of a new auditing standard on internal control that will fulfill the requirements of Section 404 of the... View Details
- February 2005
- Article
Managing the Ecosystem
By: Marco Iansiti
The days of the corporate lone wolf are over. In our increasingly interconnected world, standing alone is no longer a viable business model. Instead, smart companies rely heavily on networks of partners, suppliers, and customers to achieve market success and sustain... View Details
- September 2004
- Case
Valhalla Partners Due Diligence
By: William A. Sahlman and Dan Heath
The Valhalla Partners venture capitial firm introduced a new approach to the due-diligence process. An internal due-diligence report analyzes Telco Exchange, a startup company in the IT software space. An extended excerpt examines the trade-offs involved in the new... View Details
- June 2004 (Revised November 2004)
- Case
Restoring Trust at WorldCom
By: Jay W. Lorsch and Ashley Robertson
Examines the changes in corporate governance at WorldCom/MCI as proposed by the company's court-appointed corporate monitor, Richard Breeden. Following the largest bankruptcy ever and the downfall of the company, Breeden wrote "Restoring Trust," a report comprised of... View Details
- April 2004 (Revised September 2007)
- Case
Accounting Fraud at WorldCom
By: Robert S. Kaplan and David Kiron
The principal players in WorldCom's accounting fraud included CFO Scott Sullivan, the General Accounting and Internal Audit departments, external auditor Arthur Andersen, and the board of directors. The case provides sufficient detail to allow for a full discussion of... View Details
- March 2004 (Revised July 2004)
- Case
Sarbanes-Oxley Act, The
By: Lynn S. Paine and James Weber
Describes the evolution and passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 from the perspective of the senior counsel on capital markets for the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services. View Details
- January 2004 (Revised February 2005)
- Case
Timberland and Community Involvement (Abridged Version)
By: James E. Austin and James Quinn
When Jeffrey Swartz became the third generation in his family to lead the Timberland Co., he made community involvement an integral part of the company's strategy. Under Swartz's leadership, Timberland formed a close partnership with City Year, the national corps of... View Details
- January 2004
- Case
Bob Holgrom and the Buyout of the Carlson Division
By: Thomas R. Piper
The head of the Carlson Division stands to benefit substantially in financial terms if a private equity firm wins the bid for the division. The division is in the early stages of a performance turnaround, with only three quarters of profit improvement and no audited... View Details
- December 2003 (Revised February 2004)
- Case
Scott Lawson's Dilemma
By: Thomas R. Piper
The head of SysCom's test equipment division is concerned about how to answer employee and customer questions concerning the possible sale or liquidation of the division. The consequences of alternative approaches (full transparency vs. strong optimism and reassurance)... View Details
- November 2003 (Revised August 2005)
- Case
First Commonwealth Financial Corporation
By: Robert S. Kaplan
First Commonwealth Financial Corp., a financial institution in central and southwestern Pennsylvania, implemented the Balanced Scorecard for describing and implementing its new customer-focused strategy. Its founder and chairman decided that the Balanced Scorecard also... View Details
- February 2003
- Other Article
The Emergence and Sustainability of Abnormal Profits
By: Michael E. Porter and Anita M. McGahan
In this paper, we examine the emergence and the sustainability of abnormal profits among businesses that were part of U.S. public corporations between 1981 and 1994 and that reported financial results for at least six years. Our results reveal strong asymmetries... View Details
- July 2002 (Revised March 2005)
- Case
Kendall Square Research Corporation (A) (Abridged)
By: William J. Bruns Jr. and F. Warren McFarlan
Kendall Square Research was a small competitor in the supercomputer industry. Sales grew rapidly in 1992 and early 1993, and the company sold stock to the public for the first time. Analysts forecasted higher earnings for 1993, then the company's revenue recognition... View Details