Publications

December 1996
Case

Case of the Colored Post-It Notes

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin, Michael C. Jensen and Karen Wruck

An example of how policies about budgeting and resource decisions are commonly misallocated is presented. View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Policy; Resource Allocation

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24 Apr 2014
News

Online learning brings business basics to a wider audience

Professor and Chair of the MBA Elective Curriculum V.G. Narayanan explains the potential impact of three accounting courses he is developing for the School's new online learning platform, HBX. (Published April 2014) View Details

February 2024 (Revised February 2024)
Case

CLSA: Integrating ESG in Stock Valuation

By: Shirley Lu, Aaron Yoon and Billy Chan

In 2023, a senior financial analyst at the Hong Kong-based stock brokerage firm CLSA was surprised to see that, based on his calculations, the financial impact from climate risks on a major Indian cement manufacturing company’s projected earnings could be massive.... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Corporate Governance; Analysis; Stocks; Valuation; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Services Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Hong Kong; China; India; Asia

June 18, 2014
Blog Post

How to Kill Quarterly Earnings Guidance

By: Gabriel Karageorgiou, Daniela Saltzman and George Serafeim

Keywords: Forecast; Short-termism; Sustainability; Earnings Management; Competitive Advantage

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Article

The Innovation of Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Steven R. Anderson

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Activity Based Costing and Management

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February 2017 (Revised June 2017)
Supplement

ExxonMobil: Business as Usual? (B)

By: George Serafeim, Shiva Rajgopal and David Freiberg

The case presents ExxonMobil's response to growing pressure to disclose how climate change will impact their business. This includes multiple asset impairments and losing a proxy vote to shareholders to increase climate change related reporting. Supplements the (B)... View Details

Keywords: Oil ＆ Gas; Oil Prices; Oil Companies; Asset Impairment; Predictive Analytics; Sustainability; Environmental Impact; Innovation; Disclosure; Accounting; Valuation; Energy Sources; Ethics; Corporate Disclosure; Governance Compliance; Climate Change; Financial Reporting; Energy Industry; United States

August 2016
Case

VMD Medical Imaging Center

By: Susanna Gallani and Eva Labro

VMD Medical Imaging Center, a local independent provider of medical imaging services, is facing some important challenges. Despite efficiency improvements and cost cutting initiatives carried out over the past few years, their profitability is shrinking; their prices... View Details

Keywords: Costing; Death Spiral; Transfer Pricing; Activity Based Costing and Management; Competitive Strategy; Medical Specialties; Health Industry

November 1997
Case

Colly Cotton Ltd.

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Tom Clay

Colly Farm is an entrepreneurial cotton farm complex that has to compete on a world market. In going public it has to satisfy the market that it can remain profitable in volatile times. View Details

Keywords: Earnings Management; Entrepreneurship; Going Public; Balance and Stability

01 Jun 2012
News

Made in the USA

that today accounts for more than 70 percent of Riverdale’s sales. When Knott launched Riverdale in 1980, virtually all US and foreign lobster traps were made from wood. Today, nearly 90 percent are Aquamesh traps, which are far more... View Details

Keywords: Blagg, Deborah; cheese; lobster fishing; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises

05 Sep 2000
What Do You Think?

Whither the Information Economy?

'75)Mercer Management Consulting As if that wasn't enough, he asserted that information, in part because of these characteristics, is diffusive and hard to contain, especially that containing high proprietary value. Any number of people... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

October 1991 (Revised September 1998)
Case

Maxwell Appliance Controls

By: Robert S. Kaplan

A profitable manufacturing division of a large company is looking for new ways to identify sources of productivity improvements. Led by its senior finance officer, an activity-based cost system is developed to identify activities performed for its highly varied product... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Management Teams; Quality; Performance Improvement; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Production; Manufacturing Industry

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November 2023 (Revised June 2025)
Case

Aviva plc: Examining Net Zero

By: Peter Tufano, Brian Trelstad and Matteo Gasparini

The board of Aviva Plc, one of the world’s largest insurers, must review its climate risk exposures and evaluate next steps. Risk experts at the firm have conducted a robust set of analyses prepared for its regulator, the Bank of England, simulating how various climate... View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Climate Change; Insurance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Risk Management; Adaptation; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry; Europe; United Kingdom

April 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Supply Chain Partners: Virginia Mason and Owens & Minor (A) (Abridged)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

Owens & Minor (O&M) performed lean inventory services for Virginia Mason (VM) as its Alpha Vendor, but the outdated industry pricing model created perverse incentives and could not capture O&M's costs. Together, O&M and VM created an activity-based pricing model: Total... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Partners and Partnerships; Activity Based Costing and Management; Business Model; Non-Governmental Organizations; Nonprofit Organizations; Motivation and Incentives; Asset Pricing; Cost Accounting; Fair Value Accounting; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry