Publications

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March 1999 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Cross Country Group, The: A Piece of the Rock (A)

By: Robert L. Simons and Indra Reinbergs

A new MBA graduate joins a privately held family business and sets ambitious growth goals for the next five years. To enhance motivation, he proposes a new incentive plan that will grant him a share of the wealth he creates. However, the family owners have a more... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Decisions; Motivation and Incentives; Business Strategy; Performance Efficiency; Risk and Uncertainty; Growth and Development; Planning; Accounting Industry; Accounting Industry

19 Jan 2021
In Practice

Leadership Advice for Biden: Restore a Sense of Calm

attention and energies on maximizing profit and financial value. This exclusive focus on profit and shareholder value maximization has led to environmental destruction and the concentration of wealth and... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

1998
Chapter

Risk-Taking Incentives and the Cost of Insurance Company Failures

By: Brian J. Hall

Keywords: Insurance; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management; Motivation and Incentives; Insurance Industry

2007
Chapter

Stock Market Swings and the Value of Innovation, 1908–1929

By: Tom Nicholas

Keywords: Fluctuation; Financial Markets; Innovation and Invention

Find at Harvard

August 1972 (Revised September 2000)
Background Note

Introduction to Accumulated Value, Present Value, and Internal Rate of Return

A simple, intuitive introduction to the usually-difficult topics of discounting and present value. While the mechanics of computing present value and internal rate of return are covered well, the emphasis is more about how to think about these concepts (for example,... View Details

Keywords: Accounting

October 1986 (Revised November 2003)
Case

Pinnacle Mutual Life Insurance Company

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

Pinnacle Mutual is one of the largest mutual life insurance companies in the world. Offering a full range of financial services, it competes with a broad group of financial service providers. In an effort to compete more effectively, Pinnacle adopted GAAP accounting... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

Third Quarter 2018
Article

Why and How Investors Use ESG Information: Evidence from a Global Survey

By: Amir Amel-Zadeh and George Serafeim

Using survey data from a sample of senior investment professionals from mainstream (i.e., not SRI funds) investment organizations, we provide insights into why and how investors use reported environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information. Relevance to... View Details

Keywords: ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Sustainability; Investment Management; Investment Strategy; Metrics; Standard Setting; Accounting Standards; Finance; Investment; Information; Environmental Sustainability; Governance; Performance Effectiveness; Strategy

SSRN

Find at Harvard

01 Apr 1998
News

Spangler, Former UNC President, Candidate for Board of Overseers

merger of the Bank of North Carolina with the North Carolina National Bank Corporation—now NationsBank, one of the largest financial institutions... View Details

Keywords: Nancy O. Perry

10 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

Prospective Students Steer Clear of Schools Rocked by Scandal

They collected application data using the US Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System database, and when data for a particular college wasn’t available, they contacted the school’s admissions office for... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Education

2014
Working Paper

The Contract Year Phenomenon in the Corner Office: An Analysis of Firm Behavior During CEO Contract Renewals

By: Ping Liu and Yuhai Xuan

This paper investigates how executive employment contracts influence corporate financial policies during the final year of the contract term, using a new, hand-collected data set of CEO employment agreements. On the one hand, the impending expiration of fixed-term... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Contracts; Behavior; Employment

Research Summary

Mark Bradshaw examines how sell-side financial analysts incorporate accounting information in their earnings forecasts, common stock valuations, and investment recommendations. In addition, he analyzes management reporting of modified GAAP earnings figures to... View Details

2012
Working Paper

Risky Business: The Impact of Property Rights on Investment and Revenue in the Film Industry

By: Venkat Kuppuswamy and Carliss Y. Baldwin

Our paper tests a key prediction of property rights theory, specifically, that agents will respond to marginal incentives embedded in property rights when making non-contractible, revenue-enhancing investments (Grossman and Hart, 1986; Hart and Moore, 1990). Using rich... View Details

Keywords: Property Rights; Property; Rights; Investment; Contracts; Revenue; Motivation and Incentives; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; United States

SSRN

September 2010
Case

Aaron's: Household Goods for the U.S. Base of the Pyramid

By: Michael Chu and Charles Augustus Smithgall IV

With $2.5 billion system-wide revenues, Aaron's, a major rent-to-own supplier to the U.S. base of the pyramid, continues to grow in the recession, but CEO R.C. Loudermilk, Jr. wonders how long the company can sustain the fast growth rate of its past. Founded in 1955,... View Details

Keywords: Fairness; For-Profit Firms; Renting or Rental; Financial Crisis; Demand and Consumers; Social Enterprise; Income; Goods and Commodities; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; United States

2001
Other Unpublished Work

Extending the Influence of Real Options: Problems and Opportunities

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

Keywords: Financial Instruments; Problems and Challenges; Opportunities

01 Dec 1996
News

Organizations and Markets: A Challenging View of the World

human brain is defective," says Jensen, whose life's work has reached out beyond his research in economics, finance, and accounting to include psychology, sociology, neuroscience, and history. Jensen explains that upsetting information... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

2024
Book

Fintech, Small Business & the American Dream: How Technology Is Transforming Lending and Shaping a New Era of Small Business Opportunity

By: Karen G. Mills

The second edition of Fintech, Small Business & the American Dream, builds on the groundbreaking 2019 book with new insights on how technology and artificial intelligence are transforming small business lending. This ambitious view covers the significance of... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; AI; AI and Machine Learning; Small Business; Economy; Technology Adoption; Credit; Financing and Loans; Analytics and Data Science

06 Sep 2017
News

Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio on the ‘Principles’ of Tough Love

In 2011, Ray Dalio (MBA 1973), chairman of Bridgewater Associates, published his “principles” for business online. The document distilled Dalio’s belief in the power of “radical transparency” into 210... View Details

Keywords: Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles

1980
Working Paper

Taxation and the Ex-dividend Day Behavior of Common Stock Prices

By: Jerry R. Green

The behavior of stock prices around ex-dividend days has been suggested as evidence for tax-induced clientele effects and as a means to estimate the average effective tax rate faced by investors. In this paper these possibilities are examined theoretically and... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Stocks; Price