Publications

June 2004 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Salem Telephone Company

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Julie Hertenstein

A computer subsidiary appears to be unprofitable. Managers must determine whether it is actually unprofitable and consider whether changes in prices or promotion might improve profitability. Allows clear separation of variable costs from fixed costs. A rewritten... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Business Earnings; Cost vs Benefits; Cost Management; Profit; Telecommunications Industry

May 2016 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Supply Chain Finance at Procter & Gamble

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and David Lane

In April 2013, Procter & Gamble (P&G), the world’s largest consumer packaged goods (CPG) company, announced that it would extend its payment terms to suppliers by 30 days. At the same time, P&G announced a new supply chain financing (SCF) program giving suppliers the... View Details

18 Sep 2024
HBS Seminar

Ivuoma (Ivy) Onyeador, Northwestern Kellogg

June 2024
Case

Caesars Entertainment: Governance on the Road to Bankruptcy

By: Kristin Mugford

Caesars Entertainment was a large casino operator in the United States that had been purchased in a 2008 leveraged buyout by Apollo and TPG. In January 2015, Caesars Entertainment Operating Company (CEOC), its largest subsidiary, filed for Chapter 11. This set up a... View Details

Keywords: Gaming; Chapter 11; Fraudulent Conveyance; Apollo; TPG; Bankruptcy; Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Private Equity; Financial Management; Lawsuits and Litigation; Negotiation; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Borrowing and Debt; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Las Vegas

2009
Working Paper

Systemic Risk and the Refinancing Ratchet Effect

By: Amir E. Khandani, Andrew W. Lo and Robert C. Merton

The confluence of three trends in the U.S. residential housing market—rising home prices, declining interest rates, and near-frictionless refinancing opportunities—led to vastly increased systemic risk in the financial system. Individually, each of these trends is... View Details

Keywords: Housing; Mortgages; Risk and Uncertainty; Value; Mathematical Methods; Real Estate Industry; United States

2014
Working Paper

SOX after Ten Years: A Multidisciplinary Review

By: John C. Coates and Suraj Srinivasan

We review and assess research findings from 120 papers in accounting, finance, and law to evaluate the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We describe significant developments in how the Act was implemented and find that despite severe criticism, the Act and institutions... View Details

Keywords: Laws and Statutes

SSRN

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Article

SOX after Ten Years: A Multidisciplinary Review

By: Suraj Srinivasan and John C. Coates IV

We review and assess research findings from 120+ papers in accounting, finance, and law to evaluate the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We describe significant developments in how the Act was implemented and find that despite severe criticism, the Act and... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Laws and Statutes; United States

SSRN

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January 2011 (Revised December 2017)
Case

Tombstones

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and David Lane

This case consists primarily of excerpts from term sheets and prospectuses for six securities offerings made by US companies during 2009-2010, just after the financial crisis and recession of 2008-09. There are three issues of senior unsecured notes, one floating rate... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Equity; Debt Securities; Bonds; Motivation and Incentives; United States

23 Oct 2012
First Look

First Look: October 23

Equity Investing Authors:Lily H. Fang, Victoria Ivashina, and Josh Lerner Abstract Bank-affiliated private equity (PE) groups account for 30% of all PE investments. These... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2023
Supplement

David Beckham (B): Signing Lionel Messi to Inter Miami CF

By: Anita Elberse and David Moreno Vicente

In June 2023, David Beckham, co-owner of Major League Soccer team Inter Miami CF, is hoping to find a way to bring Lionel Messi, widely regarded as one of the best players the world of soccer has ever seen, to his team. But Messi—a seven-time winner of the Ballon d’Or... View Details

Keywords: Soccer; Football; Superstars; General Management; Sports; Negotiation Offer; Competitive Strategy; Compensation and Benefits; Entertainment; Media; Marketing; Sports Industry; Miami

Research Summary

Debt Maturity: Is Long-Term Debt Optimal? (with Fabio Kanczuk)

By: Laura Alfaro

We model and calibrate the arguments in favor and against short-term and long-term debt. These arguments broadly include: maturity-term premium, tax smoothing, rolling over risk and the cost from defaulting. We use a dynamic equilibrium model with tax distortion,... View Details

March 2006 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Manchester Bidwell Corporation (A)

By: James L. Heskett

The head of Manchester Bidwell Corp. ponders what it will take to replicate its social services in 100 cities across North America and internationally--an effort that ultimately would cost several hundred million dollars. View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Social Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Growth Management; Welfare; North and Central America

18 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

The Essentials for Enlightened Experimentation

experiments are most effective when time matters most, cost is not an overriding factor, and developers expect to learn little that would guide them in planning the next round of experiments. Fail Early And... View Details

Keywords: by Stefan Thomke

2009
Working Paper

Modeling a Paradigm Shift: From Producer Innovation to User and Open Collaborative Innovation

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Eric von Hippel

In this paper we assess the economic viability of innovation by producers relative to two increasingly important alternative models: innovations by single user individuals or firms, and open collaborative innovation projects. We analyze the design costs and... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Policy; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Independent Innovation and Invention; Intellectual Property; Rights; Welfare

Read Now

22 Mar 2022
Cold Call Podcast

How Etsy Found Its Purpose and Crafted a Turnaround

Keywords: Re: Ranjay Gulati; Technology; Retail

Wall Street Research: Past, Present, and Future

Wall Street Research: Past, Present, and Future provides a timely account of the dramatic evolution of Wall Street research, examining its rise, fall, and reemergence. Despite regulatory, technological, and global forces that have transformed equity... View Details

December 2022
Case

Mission Produce in 2022

By: Forest Reinhardt, Jose B. Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

Founded by CEO Steve Barnard in 1983, California-based Mission Produce was a leading supplier of Hass avocados with a global sourcing, marketing, and distribution network and $892 million in 2021 sales. Barnard had been influential in the global avocado trade’s... View Details

Keywords: Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; California; Peru; Guatemala; Colombia; Mexico; Chile

August 1998
Case

General Motors Corp. (B), The : Financial Policies

By: Peter Tufano

The second in a four-part series, the case details the financial policies and practices at General Motors from 1990 to 1996. This part describes the stated financial policies of the firm, including its approach to capital structure, liability structure, equity... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Finance; Auto Industry; United States

March 2007 (Revised May 2012)
Case

PRG-Schultz International

By: Paul W. Marshall and James Weber

PRG-Schultz will run out of cash within a couple of months unless the new CEO can reduce costs and restructure the company's debt. PRG was the dominant market leader in the audit recovery industry. The industry consisted of firms which employed accounting professionals... View Details

Keywords: History; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Restructuring; Cost Management; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Borrowing and Debt; Accounting Audits; Accounting Industry