Publications

June 2011 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Home Essentials: Building a Global Service Business with Local Operations

By: Lynda M. Applegate, William R. Kerr and David Lane

Chris Exline founded Home Essentials, a furniture rental business targeted toward expatriates, in Singapore but rapidly moved the base of operations to Hong Kong. The company was highly successful in Singapore and Hong Kong and then pursued rapid global expansion.... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Renting or Rental; Corporate Governance; Global Strategy; Failure; Singapore; Hong Kong

30 Nov 2011
Research & Ideas

Only Capitalists Can Save Capitalism

separating corporate leaders from their rank-and-file workers has become a hot-button issue in the upcoming presidential election. And in public opinion polls, business moguls are cushioned from the bottom of the reputation scale only by... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

27 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

How the FBI Reinvented Itself After 9/11

missions. Three, it could have simply rejected the new national security mandate. In reality, it didn’t play out in any of those ways. “Nothing in prior theory led us to expect what we observed—in essence, structural ambidexterity... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

March 2016 (Revised October 2023)
Case

Central European Distribution Corporation: Hostile Takeover, Bankruptcy Makeover

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott

In early 2013, Central European Distribution Corporation (CEDC), a large publicly traded producer and distributer of vodka and spirits in Eastern and Central Europe, has suffered significant declines in its financial performance, is at risk of defaulting on its debt,... View Details

Keywords: Hostile Takeover; Accounting Restatement; Activist Shareholder; Restructuring; Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Statements; Corporate Governance; Investment Activism; Distribution Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Russia; Europe

February 2022
Teaching Plan

Community Solutions

By: Brian Trelstad and Tom Quinn

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 322-021. Community Solutions was an anti-homelessness nonprofit founded in 2011 after protagonist Rosanne Haggerty grew frustrated with the limited impact of traditional housing and outreach strategies. It set an ambitious goal, reached... View Details

Keywords: Homelessness; Social Issues; Housing; Human Needs; Poverty; Welfare; Business and Community Relations; Analytics and Data Science; Business Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

15 May 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 15, 2018

They often functioned, as a result, as part of the problem, rather than part of the solution. In the more recent globalization era, the strategies of Western corporations have moved beyond the practices of the colonial past, but linkages... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

16 Jun 2021
HBS Case

Cruising in Crisis: How Carnival Is Riding Out the COVID-19 Storm

year—and it’s still unclear when many ships will set sail again. "There was a lot at stake, with $20 billion in annual revenues and hundreds of thousands of passengers transported every year." Compounding the challenge of losing customers has been the lack of View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Travel

Web

Employment Data Trends

<1% <1% Other Manufacturing <1% <1% <1% 1% <1% Nonprofit / Government 4% 3% 3% 5% 5% Government 1% 1% <1% 2% 1% Nonprofit 2% 2% 2% 3% 4% Other Financial Services 1% 2% 1% 3% 4% Private Equity 18% 14% 15% 17%... View Details

March 2020 (Revised March 2024)
Case

CIAM: Home-Grown Shareholder Activism in France

By: Charles C.Y. Wang, Tonia Labruyere and Vincent Dessain

The case discusses the strategy of CIAM, a French activist investment firm, involved in a case of a buy-out of minority shareholders in the telecommunications sector. Altice NV, an international telecommunications company based in the Netherlands that owned more than... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Private Equity; Strategy; Valuation; Investment Activism; Financial Services Industry; France

May 2004
Article

Disclosure Practices of Foreign Companies Interacting with U.S. Markets

By: Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu and Suraj Srinivasan

We analyze the disclosure practices of companies as a function of their interaction with the U.S. markets for a group of 794 firms from 24 countries in Asia-Pacific and Europe. Our analysis uses the Transparency and Disclosure scores developed recently by Standard &... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Markets; Investment; Size; Performance; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Corporate Governance; Corporate Disclosure; Trade; United States; Asia; Europe

SSRN

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May 2010
Article

Elections and Discretionary Accruals: Evidence from 2004

By: Karthik Ramanna and Sugata Roychowdhury

We examine the accrual choices of outsourcing firms with links to U.S. congressional candidates during the 2004 elections, when corporate outsourcing was a major campaign issue. We find that politically connected firms with more extensive outsourcing activities have... View Details

Keywords: Political Economy; Accounting Information; Accruals Management; Campaign Contributions; Discretionary Accruals; Election Outcomes; Political Currency; Political Process; Social Issues; Political Elections; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Motivation and Incentives; Earnings Management; Welfare; United States

SSRN

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February 2003 (Revised September 2003)
Case

NanoGene Technologies, Inc.

Describes a company during the start-up phase and focuses on the founders' decisions regarding splitting the equity and compensation. Also considers establishing policies and practices that will set the tone for the company as it grows. Discusses a number of specific... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Business or Company Management; Compensation and Benefits; Selection and Staffing; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Policy; Technology Industry

11 Mar 2008
First Look

First Look: March 11, 2008

financial services that Washington D.C.-based Microfinance International Corporation (MFIC) had been providing for two years to a growing number of "unbanked" Hispanic nationals in the United States and their home countries.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

PortageBay and ESG Analytics

By: Vikram S. Gandhi and Radhika Kak

In 2023, sustainable investors faced several challenges. The first was the lack of access to standardized and vetted environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data, and equally, the interpretation of this data into investment-useful insights. Reducing reliance on... View Details

Keywords: ESG Ratings; Investment Funds; Governance; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact