Publications

07 Nov 2007
Op-Ed

How Marketing Hype Hurt Boeing and Apple

and brand-building can boost stock prices by raising customer and investor expectations. But the penalties for not delivering on marketing promises are fast becoming as significant as not meeting quarterly... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Aerospace; Consumer Products

March 1994 (Revised December 2014)
Case

Humana, Inc.: Managing in a Changing Industry

By: Stuart Gilson

Intensifying competition and change in the U.S. health care industry force a large integrated health-care provider to reassess its strategy of operating both hospitals and health insurance plans (HMOs). In an attempt to increase its stock price and operating... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Restructuring; Change Management; Financial Management; Health Industry

September 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Icahn Enterprises: Ponzi Scheme or Sound Investment

By: Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese and James Weber

Icahn Enterprises, a publicly traded limited partnership founded and operated by famed activist investor Carl Icahn, had earned above market returns for over a decade. Between 2018 and early 2023, it had a compound annual return of 31%. Icahn invested in undervalued... View Details

Keywords: Stock Shares; Investment Return; Business Model; Valuation; Financial Services Industry

August 1985
Case

CML Group, Inc.: Going Public (C)

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of some issues confronting management of CML Group. They have decided to go public, have selected an underwriting team, and must make final decisions about the size, composition and pricing of the issue. Because stock prices have fallen since the... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Going Public; Problems and Challenges; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry

May 2014 (Revised April 2016)
Case

Three-Year Planning at Li & Fung Limited

By: Paul M. Healy and Keith Chi-ho Wong

Having been able to follow its own "three-year plan" on course constantly, Li & Fung Limited fell short of meeting its stretch earnings target for the first time in almost two decades, leading to a double-digit drop in stock price overnight. Questions were raised on... View Details

Keywords: Li ＆ Fung; Financial Planning; Accounting; Financial Reporting; Distribution Industry; Service Industry; Hong Kong; China

05 Jun 2015
News

How Banking Analysts’ Biases Benefit Everyone Except Investors

Research Summary

The Role of Financial and Information Intermediaries in the Capital Markets

Hutton's research investigates the role of financial analysts and short sellers in the pricing of equity securities. Recently, Hutton examines (with Patricia Dechow and Richard Sloan) the role of sell-side analysts' earnings forecasts in the pricing of common equity... View Details

01 Jun 2012
News

How a Short-Term Strategy Can Backfire

01 Jan 2014
News

Building a Game-Changing Talent Strategy

30 Apr 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Earnings Quality and Ownership Structure: The Role of Private Equity Sponsors

Keywords: by Sharon P. Katz; Financial Services

15 Feb 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Expectations of Returns and Expected Returns

Keywords: by Robin Greenwood & Andrei Shleifer; Financial Services

January 2017
Teaching Note

SOHO China: Transformation in Progress

By: Charles F. Wu and Alexander W. Schultz

In 2016 against the backdrop of a challenging Chinese macroeconomic environment, SOHO China, the largest owner and developer of Class-A real estate in Beijing and Shanghai, was struggling to convince analysts of the merits of their new “build-to-hold” strategy. Founded... View Details

Keywords: Merchant Builder; Real Estate Development; Public Markets; China; Shared Office Space; Growth and Development Strategy; Property; Construction; Stocks; Financial Markets; Marketing Strategy; Real Estate Industry; Construction Industry; China

2007
Other Unpublished Work

Round Numbers and Security Returns

By: Edward Johnson, Nicole Bastian Johnson and Devin M. Shanthikumar

We document consistent differences in daily stock returns related to round numbers. In particular, we examine returns following previous day closing prices that are just above or just below round number benchmarks. We find, for both one-digit, two-digit and three-digit... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Investment Return; Price; Market Transactions

March 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Case

Relational Investors and Home Depot (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kaitlyn Simpson

In 2006, amidst shareholder upset over CEO Robert Nardelli's compensation and Home Depot's declining stock price, Relational Investors decided to further investigate the situation. As experts in turning around underperforming and undervalued companies, Relational's... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Financial Management; Investment; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Ownership Stake; Business and Shareholder Relations; Corporate Strategy

January 2023
Case

Gerald Weiss (2023)

By: Brian J. Hall, Carleen Madigan, Andrew Wasynczuk and Caroline Witten

Gerald Weiss left Wall Street for the promise of a CFO position at a well-established corporation. He was given a 10-year options package with a guaranteed floor of $12 million and unlimited upside. To ensure the entire package would be worth at least $12 million after... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Resignation and Termination; Executive Compensation; Organizational Culture; Agreements and Arrangements; Stock Options; Conflict and Resolution; New York (city, NY)

April 22, 2021
Article

Shareholders Are Pressing for Climate Risk Disclosures. That's Good for Everyone

By: Caroline Flammer, Michael W. Toffel and Kala Viswanathan

Does shareholder activism induce firms to voluntarily disclose climate change risks? And how do markets respond to these disclosures? New research finds that the extent of climate-risk disclosure increases by approximately 4.6% for each environment-related proposal... View Details

Keywords: Reporting; Transparency; Activism; Shareholder Activism; Shareholder Engagement; Climate Change; Corporate Disclosure; Investment Activism; Business and Shareholder Relations

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January 2020
Case

Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd.

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In 2019, Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. (Lead) was the largest supplier of lithium-ion rechargeable battery manufacturing equipment in the world. Based in Wuxi, China, the company generated RMB 3.9 billion ($557 million) in revenues in 2018, up from RMB 175... View Details

Keywords: Lithium-ion Batteries; Electric Vehicles; Government Subsidies; Industry Dynamics; Markets; Change; Strategy; Decision Making; Manufacturing Industry; China

June 2006
Case

Vignette: Bombay Tyre Manufacturing Ltd.

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Presents a U.S.-based investor who had taken a minority position in a publicly owned manufacturer in India. The company's controller is not performing and the stock price is suffering because of delayed and disappointing results. Removing the controller, however, is... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Equity; Foreign Direct Investment; Financial Management; Investment Activism; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy