Publications

April 2016 (Revised May 2016)
Case

Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais, Partners In Health in Haiti

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Bipin Mistry and Karla Bertrand

The case describes the application of Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC) at a new tertiary hospital, operated by Partners in Health in Mirebelais, Haiti. A project team mapped the clinical processes for use in estimating the direct costs of personnel,... View Details

Keywords: Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Activity Based Costing and Management; Cost Accounting; Developing Countries and Economies; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Haiti

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

March 1995 (Revised April 1997)
Case

Co-operative Bank, The

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Srikant M. Datar

A British bank with strong roots in the cooperative movement encounters declining profitability in an increasingly competitive and deregulated financial services industry. It attempts to grow by broadening its customer base and increasing the range of products and... View Details

Keywords: Product; Competition; Expansion; Cost Management; Activity Based Costing and Management; Profit; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

Keywords: Alumni New Venture Contest; Support Activities for Transportation; Support Activities for Transportation; Support Activities for Transportation; Support Activities for Transportation; Support Activities for Transportation; Support Activities for Transportation

30 Oct 2018
News

Paths of Victory

Reflecting HBS’s standing as the top school for entrepreneurs (according to the most-recent PitchBook rankings), the annual HBS New Venture Competition has helped Harvard Business School students and alumni launch dozens of new enterprises. Sponsored by the Arthur Rock... View Details

September 1989 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Depreciation at Delta and Pan Am

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

Depreciation policies of Delta Air Lines and Pan Am Corp. are compared and contrasted against a summary of operating data from each airline. Questions with the case require projection of future depreciation on a new aircraft using the policies of each company. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Management Systems; Economic Growth; Policy; Cost; Financial Strategy; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Activity Based Costing and Management; Air Transportation Industry

December 2000 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Machinery International (B)

By: David F. Hawkins

An assistant is asked to prepare illustrative derivative and hedge accounting examples for the audit committee. Students are required to complete the examples. Teaching Purpose: Introduces students to the basics of derivative and hedge accounting. View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Machinery and Machining; Activity Based Costing and Management; Currency; Cost Management; Financial Statements; Construction Industry; Accounting Industry; United States

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

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Article

Investors as Stewards of the Commons?

By: George Serafeim

Over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in the number of initiatives seeking to mobilize investor voice towards positive social impact. In this paper, I provide a framework outlining the role of investors as stewards of the commons. While... View Details

Keywords: Collaboration; Industry Self-regulation; Sustainability; ESG; Capital Markets; Investor Behavior; Investment Activism; Social Issues; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Cooperation

SSRN

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January 2016 (Revised January 2019)
Supplement

The Allergan Board Under Fire (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Suraj Srinivasan, John C. Coates and David Lane

In 2014, the Allergan Inc. board of directors received a surprise takeover offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals in alliance with hedge fund activist Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management. In the unprecedented arrangement between an acquirer and a hedge fund... View Details

October 2010
Teaching Note

Target Corporation: Ackman versus the Board (TN)

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Suraj Srinivasan

Teaching Note for 109010. View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Governing and Advisory Boards; Conflict and Resolution; Voting; Investment Activism

April 1995 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Pillsbury: Customer Driven Reengineering

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Pillsbury is transforming itself from an integrated producer of flour and bakery products to a value-added supplier of premium branded products. After initial successes applying activity-based costing to manufacturing operations, two senior executives decide to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Production; Cost Management; Activity Based Costing and Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Food and Beverage Industry

01 Jun 2009
News

Setting the Legislative Agenda

The Congressional Oversight Panel identified eight specific areas most urgently in need of reform and addressed each with recommendations: Identify and regulate financial institutions that pose systemic risk. Limit excessive leverage in American financial institutions.... View Details

Keywords: Credit Intermediation and Related Activities; Credit Intermediation and Related Activities; Credit Intermediation and Related Activities; Credit Intermediation and Related Activities

July 2019
Supplement

Omidyar Network's Impact Investment Framework

By: Vikram S Gandhi

A team of investors at Omidyar Network explore two different investment possibilities in the budding financial inclusion space using their investment framework to consider capital alternatives available for both investments, each of which carries highly divergent... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Micro Finance; Investment; Investment Return; Investment Activism; Investment Portfolio; Microfinance; Framework; India; Philippines

July 2024 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Shell’s Balancing Act: Resource Allocation and the Green Transition (Abridged)

By: David Collis and Haisley Wert

In mid-2023, amid pressure from climate change activists, shareholder activists, and confronting enormous uncertainty about the future demand for and price of fossil fuels, new Shell CEO Wael Sawan (Harvard MBA 2003) announced a change in strategy for the U.K. oil... View Details

Keywords: Oil ＆ Gas; Renewables; Forecasting Demand; Strategy; Energy; Climate Change; Resource Allocation; Corporate Strategy; Investment Activism; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Energy Industry

Web

The MOC Affiliate Network Impact - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

HBS ISC Resources Resources Video Courses Data Events & Presentations Frameworks News Publications Courses The MOC Affiliate Networ... MOC Affiliate Network Impact Affiliates, Faculty, ALUMNI & Courses 124 Active Affiliates 786 Faculty... View Details

20 May 2020
News

Keeping Families Connected

When millions of Americans started social distancing due to the spread of coronavirus, Caribu co-founder and CEO Maxeme Tuchman (MBA/MPP 2012) didn’t hesitate to lift the paywall on her company’s interactive video-calling platform, which allows families to do engaging... View Details

January 2000 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Cambridge Hospital Community Health Network - The Primary Care Unit

By: V.G. Narayanan, Lisa Brem and Ryan Moore

The Cambridge Hospital Community Health Network needed to gain a better understanding of its unit-of-service costs, which had been rising at a rate of 10% per year. The network's step-down costing system gave only aggregate costing information, and there was some... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Health Care and Treatment; Cost Accounting; Cost; Network Effects; Health Industry; Service Industry; Massachusetts