Publications

SSRN

November 1990 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Mile High Cycles

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

Introduces the concept of cost variances. Looking at a bicycle manufacturer with one product and three departments, the case presents budgeted and actual data for material, labor, and overhead. View Details

Keywords: Cost; Business Divisions; Accounting; Bicycle Industry

July 1989 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Kanthal (A)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Multinational company needs an improved cost system to determine the profitability of individual customer orders. Its strategy is to have significant sales and profitability growth without adding additional administrative and support people. The new cost system... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Earnings Management; Cost Management; Financial Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Business or Company Management; Customer Relationship Management; Sales; Business Strategy; Profit; Electronics Industry

19 Aug 2022
Blog Post

Climate Stories Episode #8: The Role of Solar and Wind Farming (and Other Tools) in the United States’ Clean Energy Future

difficult it is to align on transmission planning and cost allocation rules with so many competing resources, state policies, and economic interests at play. It leads to... View Details

18 Aug 2014
Research & Ideas

Have a Better Idea To Improve Health Care?

these innovations exist. (The remaining imperatives: Make value the central objective; promote novel approaches to process improvement; make consumerism really work; and decentralize approaches to problem solving.) "Health care, in terms... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

19 Jul 2016
News

Why there are so many conspiracy theories about the Turkish coup

02 Jun 2021
News

What Corporate Boards Can Learn from Boeing’s Mistakes

July 2021 (Revised July 2022)
Case

Brigham & Women's Hospital: Using Patient Reported Outcomes to Improve Breast Cancer Care

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Navraj S. Nagra and Syed S. Shehab

Dr. Andrea Pusic, breast cancer reconstruction surgeon, wants to extend outcomes measurement beyond traditional surgical metrics of infections, complications, and survival rates. The case describes her development of a new mobile phone app, which collects patients’... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Outcome or Result; Cost Management; Activity Based Costing and Management; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Health Testing and Trials; Surveys; Health Industry; Boston

December 1994
Case

AB SKA (Sweden)

By: David F. Hawkins, V.G. Narayanan and Robert L. Simons

A senior manager faces three accounting and control decisions related to a new R&D project: to expense or capitalize, how to implement management control over the R&D function, and how to use activity-based cost drivers for product costing. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Management Practices and Processes; Cost Management; Activity Based Costing and Management; Research and Development; Sweden

September 2007
Article

(Noisy) Communication

By: Bharat Anand and Ron Shachar

Communication is central to many settings in marketing and economics. A focal attribute of communication is miscommunication. We model this key characteristic as a noise in the messages communicated, so that the sender of a message is uncertain about its perception by... View Details

Keywords: Communication Intention and Meaning; Interpersonal Communication; Cost vs Benefits; Marketing Communications; Performance Improvement; Mathematical Methods

Read Now

January–February 2020
Article

Consumer Reactions to Drip Pricing

By: Shelle Santana, Steven Dallas and Vicki Morwitz

This research examines how drip pricing—a strategy whereby a firm advertises only part of a product’s price upfront and then reveals additional mandatory or optional fees/surcharges as the consumer proceeds through the buying process—affects consumer choice and... View Details

Keywords: Drip Pricing; Pricing; Consumer Protection; Hidden Fees; Price; Consumer Behavior; Perception

January 2007
Exercise

Multifactor Models

By: Malcolm P. Baker

Students evaluate the performance of four mutual funds and compute the cost of capital for two companies using fixed benchmarks, the CAPM, and a multifactor model of returns. View Details

Keywords: Cost of Capital; Performance Evaluation; Business Model; Investment Funds; Investment Return; Motivation and Incentives; Markets

September 2019 (Revised December 2023)
Case

Accounting Fraud at Tesco Stores (A)

By: Jonas Heese, Suraj Srinivasan and Julia Kelley

This case describes the accounting fraud at Tesco Stores Limited (TSL), which was discovered by a senior accountant in TSL’s finance department. The accountant was concerned about TSL’s handling of commercial income, which, according to the accountant, overstated... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Crime and Corruption; Organizational Culture; Corporate Accountability

August 2006 (Revised November 2007)
Background Note

A Framework for Pursuing Diversity in the Workplace

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Michael Brookshire

Assesses the costs and benefits of pursuing diversity and pinpoints the primary barriers to creating diverse workplaces. It also proposes some options for advancing diversity in an organization. View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Diversity

Research Summary

The Economics of Enterprise IT

By: Shane M. Greenstein

Why do some organizations adopt new information systems while others do not? Why do some face high costs while others do not? Professor Greenstein has been pursuing this stream of research throughout his career, analyzing the factors shaping the costs of acquiring... View Details

04 Aug 2009
First Look

First Look: August 4

Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-005.pdf The Effect of Labor on Profitability: The Role of Quality (revised) Author:Zeynep Ton Abstract Determining staffing levels is an important decision in retail operations. While the View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 1990
Case

Micro Devices Division

The company has excess capacity. The case explores the various issues surrounding accounting for the cost of capacity. Several definitions of capacity can be discussed and accounted for. View Details

Keywords: Cost; Accounting; Performance Capacity

November 2014 (Revised May 2017)
Teaching Note

Fresno's Social Impact Bond for Asthma

By: John A. Quelch

The case desccribes a social impact bond (SIB) to fund home-based remediation programs designed to reduce asthma attacks among Fresno residents (especially children) and thereby save on health care costs (ambulance callouts, emergency room visits etc.). The case... View Details

Keywords: Programs; Social Issues; Investment Return; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; California

April 2021 (Revised August 2024)
Case

The Turnaround at Ford Motor Company

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Olivia Jung

This case describes the corporate turnaround of the Ford Motor Company under the charismatic leadership of Alan Mulally. Ford was in deep trouble in the early 2000s as its prices and debt ratings plummeted and employee morale suffered. In 2006, the company anticipated... View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Transformation; Restructuring; Organizational Culture; Leading Change; Performance Improvement; Auto Industry; North America