Publications

07 Feb 2018
Video

Material Sustainability Information and Stock Price Informativeness

10 Jun 2015
Research & Ideas

The Transparency Revolution in Corporate Reporting

decipher what kind of company they are buying into. The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) is an NGO established in 2011 with designs on cutting through that noise. Much the way the Financial Accounting View Details

Keywords: Re: George Serafeim

April 2015
Case

Domeyard: Starting a High-Frequency Trading (HFT) Hedge Fund

By: Lauren Cohen, Christopher Malloy and Matthew Foreman

The principals at Domeyard, a start-up high frequency trading (HFT) hedge fund based in Cambridge, faced a myriad of important decisions: which markets to trade on, how to raise capital, and from whom to raise capital. Many of these decisions were standard for... View Details

May 15 2018
Testimonial

Winning in a Competitive Market

November 2009 (Revised September 2011)
Case

The Last DVD Format War?

By: Andrei Hagiu

Provides a brief overview of the standards battle between HD-DVD and Blu-ray, focusing on the events that precipitated the Blu-ray victory in early 2008. View Details

Keywords: Five Forces Framework; Standards; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Hardware; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Technology Industry

16 Mar 2009
Research & Ideas

When the Internet Runs Out of IP Addresses

using combinations of four integers, about 4 billion possible combinations. The problem: Internet growth is so dramatic that potential IPv4 addresses are running short on supply. A new standard called IPv6 will solve the problem with... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Telecommunications

May 2011 (Revised August 2011)
Background Note

Accounting for Loss Contingencies: FASB/IASB Proposals

By: David F. Hawkins

Technical note describing current FASB and IASB loss contingency standards and FASB and IASB proposals to change these standards. View Details

Keywords: Accounting

December 2003 (Revised November 2015)
Background Note

The Fiduciary Relationship: A Legal Perspective

By: Lynn Sharp Paine

Discusses the concept of a fiduciary, as developed in the Anglo-American common law tradition, and outlines the principal differences between the legal standard applied to fiduciaries compared to ordinary arms'-length contractors. View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Assets; Financial Management; Common Law; Standards

October 2008
Case

The Talbots, Inc., and Subsidiaries: Accounting for Goodwill

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

In 2006, Talbots, Inc., a specialty women's retailer, purchased a competitor, J. Jill. The transaction created a large goodwill account along with accounts for trademarks and other intangible assets. Using prevailing accounting standards (Statement of Financial... View Details

Keywords: FASB; Intangible Assets; Standards; Financial Statements; Goodwill Accounting; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry

16 May 2007
Working Paper Summaries

On The General Relativity of Fiscal Language

Keywords: by Jerry Green & Laurence J. Kotlikoff

06 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

Sorting Out the Patent Craze

The great thing about standards, tech industry pundit Andrew Tanenbaum once said, is that there are so many to choose from. In fact, standard setting organizations (SSOs) are the unsung heroes of the technology age. Without standards, Web... View Details

Keywords: by Sara Grant; Technology

Spring 2023
Article

Incentive Contract Design and Employee-Initiated Innovation: Evidence from the Field

By: Wei Cai, Susanna Gallani and Jee-Eun Shin

This study examines how the design of incentive contracts for tasks defined as workers’ official responsibilities (i.e., standard tasks) influences workers’ propensity to engage in employee-initiated innovation (EII). EII corresponds to innovation activities that are... View Details

Keywords: Employee-initiated Innovation; Contract Design; Rank-and-file; Extra-role Behaviors; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Innovation and Management

Find at Harvard

September 2011
Article

A Global Leader's Guide to Managing Business Conduct

By: Lynn S. Paine, Rohit Deshpandé and Joshua D. Margolis

An extensive global survey by three Harvard Business School professors finds that employees agree on core standards of corporate behavior. But meeting those standards will require new approaches to managing business conduct. The compliance and ethics programs of most... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Management; Ethics; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Globalized Firms and Management; Standards; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance

Register to Read

November 1999 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Circuits, Inc.

By: David F. Hawkins

To allow students to compute and explain quarterly and annual earnings per share figures by using financial accounting standards No. 128. View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings

October 1987 (Revised October 1989)
Background Note

Moving Ideas into Action: Mastering the Art of Change

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Discusses elements in organizing a large scale change effort: defining a shared vision, coalition building, management structure and process, communication and education, local participation and innovation, standards and measures, and symbols and signals. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Communication; Policy; Innovation and Invention; Standards; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy

Find at Harvard

August 2009 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Choosing a GAAP for Canada

By: Karthik Ramanna and Beiting Cheng

Explores Canadian regulators' decision to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The Canadian decision in 2005 to adopt IFRS is particularly interesting because Canada had well-developed domestic accounting standards and because a significant... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Cost vs Benefits; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Standards; Accounting Industry; Canada

June 2015
Article

Standard-Essential Patents

By: Josh Lerner and Jean Tirole

A major policy issue in standard setting is that patents that are ex-ante not that important may, by being included into the standard, become standard-essential patents (SEPs). In an attempt to curb the monopoly power that they create, most standard-setting... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Policy; Standards