Publications

December 1998 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Guangdong Nowada Group, The

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Anthony St. George

In late 1998, 38-year-old He Boquan, CEO of the Guangdong Nowada Group, a health beverage producer, needs to decide how to fund his company's growth and ambition to become China's number one domestic health beverage producer by 2002. A consultants study revealed that... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Capital; Foreign Direct Investment; Growth and Development; Leadership Style; Management Skills; Negotiation Offer; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; China

22 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution

Nordstrom and Apple illustrate some unorthodox performance measurement choices that provide the pathway to superior results. 4. What Strategic Boundaries Have You Set? Every strategy brings with it the risk that an individual's actions... View Details

Keywords: by Robert Simons

November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Drilling South: Petrobras Evaluates Pecom

By: Mihir A. Desai and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

The Brazilian oil company, Petrobras, is evaluating the acquisition of an Argentine oil company, the Perez Companc Group (Pecom). The acquisition would increase Petrobras' oil reserves and expand its interests outside Brazil, a significant step for the largest company... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Crisis; Non-Renewable Energy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Corporate Governance; Risk Management; Emerging Markets; State Ownership; Performance Evaluation; Risk and Uncertainty; Valuation; Energy Industry; Argentina; Brazil

Robert Simons is a Baker Foundation Professor at Harvard Business School. For over 35 years, Simons has taught accounting, management control, and strategy execution courses in both the Harvard MBA and Executive Education Programs. For 2024/25, he is teaching a... View Details

Web

Leadership Initiative - Leadership

digital and analytics-enabled businesses. He is the founder of digital transformation advisory New Media Insight, and also serves as the Chief Product Officer of RANE, overseeing a suite of digitally delivered risk intelligence platforms... View Details

05 Dec 2016
Research & Ideas

How To Deceive Others With Truthful Statements (It's Called 'Paltering,' And It's Risky)

according to a new paper, Artful Paltering: The Risks and Rewards of Using Truthful Statements to Mislead Others. “It’s interesting to see the difference between the person who is deceiving and the person being deceived,” says co-author... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

17 Jan 2007
Op-Ed

Learning from Private-Equity Boards

to a per diem fee of slightly over $4,500. This is one-fifth the per day equivalent of the average CEO, and nearly one-tenth that for CEOs of companies over $10 billion in revenues. My guess is that, given the increasing level of work required and personal View Details

Keywords: by Malcolm Salter; Financial Services

January 2013 (Revised August 2013)
Case

First Solar: CFRA's Accounting Quality Concerns

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Ian McKown Cornell

The case relates to accounting quality analysis conducted by the leading research firm Center for Financial Research and Analysis (CFRA) on companies in the solar industry with a focus on First Solar Inc. In 2009, CFRA was concerned that First Solar, like much of the... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Accounting Quality; Financial Accounting; Financial Statement Analysis; Accounting Fraud; Accounting Red Flags; Accounting Scandal; Risk and Uncertainty; Quality; Earnings Management; Valuation; Crime and Corruption; Financial Statements; Energy Sources; Green Technology Industry; Accounting Industry; Energy Industry

27 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Asian and American Leadership Styles: How Are They Unique?

instead. The comment came to Lincoln's ears. Lincoln promoted the general to the top command in the army anyway and told him, "I am appointing you to command despite, not because, of what you said. Bring us victories, and I'll risk... View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

16 Nov 2021
HBS Case

How a Company Made Employees So Miserable, They Killed Themselves

have deeply downsized their staffs. “There’s a lot that happened in the situation that should sound alarm bells for others,” Montgomery says. “The cases point to risks that can arise when firms facing severe competitive threats adopt a... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

May 2013
Teaching Plan

High Wire Act: Credit Suisse and Contingent Capital

By: Clayton Rose and David Lane

Late in 2010, Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan and his team considered whether or not to issue contingent capital, which Swiss regulators would require by 2019. They faced a number of substantial issues, including: Would contingent capital actually work as conceptualized... View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Capital Markets; Financial Crisis; Decision Choices and Conditions; Leadership; International Finance; Financial Liquidity; Risk and Uncertainty; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Switzerland

29 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

Is There a Method to Musk’s Madness on Twitter?

SpaceX and Tesla and his other businesses. While it isn’t quite building electric cars or going to Mars, the situation that Musk is stepping into at Twitter is challenging and might call for a leader who is willing to take some risks here... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Technology

02 Mar 2007
What Do You Think?

What Is the Government’s Role in US Health Care?

from government. Suggestions of causes of the current challenge of rapidly rising costs in relation to quality of outcomes, at least by the imperfect measure of life expectancy, included waste in the system (Julie Maire, Edward Hare, and Jack Flanagan) as well as fraud... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Health

02 Apr 2024
Research & Ideas

Employees Out Sick? Inside One Company's Creative Approach to Staying Productive

Absenteeism is so pervasive in Latin America and Asia that 10 percent of a business’ workers might not show up on any given day. This risk can create tremendous uncertainty, especially for businesses running on low margins, says Jorge... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Fashion

February 2003 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Mobile Energy Services Company

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia

When Al "Chainsaw" Dunlap became CEO of the Scott Paper Co., the company owned a large, vertically integrated production facility in Mobile, Alabama. Dunlap sold part of the production facility, a cogeneration power plant (later known as Mobile Energy Services Co.), to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Risk and Uncertainty; Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Investment; Projects; Vertical Integration; Energy Sources; Bonds; Ownership; Restructuring; Energy Industry; Alabama

Find at Harvard

Web

Online Business Courses & Certifications | HBS Online

Reinhardt & Michael Toffel Prepare yourself and your organization for the business risks and opportunities created by climate change. 5 weeks, 5-6 hrs/week Pay by July 24 $1,850 Certificate Sustainable Business Strategy Professor Rebecca... View Details

September 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Acumen Fund: Measurement in Impact Investing (A)

By: Alnoor Ebrahim and V. Kasturi Rangan

Acumen Fund is a global venture capital firm with a dual purpose: it looks for a return on its investments, and it also seeks entrepreneurial solutions to global poverty. This case examines Acumen's new projects in Kenya. The organization's investment committee and its... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Investment Return; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Risk Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Social Enterprise; Financial Services Industry; Kenya

March 2006
Module Note

Valuing Cross-Border Investments

By: Mihir A. Desai and Kathleen Luchs

Describes a core module in the International Finance course at Harvard Business School. The module explores how valuation differs in an international context and introduces students to the major issues in cross-border valuations: how to value investments in currencies... View Details

Keywords: International Accounting; Currency Exchange Rate; Investment; Framework; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Body of Literature; Risk Management; Projects; Valuation