Publications

December 2010
Article

Rating the Ratings: How Good are Commercial Governance Ratings?

By: Robert M. Daines, Ian D. Gow and David F. Larcker

Proxy advisory and corporate governance rating firms (such as RiskMetrics/Institutional Shareholder Services, GovernanceMetrics International, and The Corporate Library) play an increasingly important role in U.S. public markets. They rank the quality of firm corporate... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Markets; Rank and Position; Quality; Business and Shareholder Relations; Voting; Change; Information; Outcome or Result; United States

January 1990 (Revised September 1994)
Case

Cray Research, Inc.: Preparing for the 1990s

By: Francis Aguilar

Describes the major changes Cray Research faced from 1985 (the time of the original case) to 1990. The dramatic decision to divide the company into two separate firms sets the stage for an analysis of the major strategic and organizational challenges facing senior... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Management Systems; Change Management; Technology Adoption; Business Units; Organizational Structure; Business Strategy; Management Teams; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology

06 Mar 2017
News

Leading in the Community and the Boardroom

“I’ve come to appreciate how fortunate I was to have an experience that instilled so much confidence in my ability to try new and different things.” That carries over to Wiley’s increasing involvement in corporate boards, even as she continues her work as principal... View Details

17 Jan 2024
HBS Case

Psychological Pricing Tactics to Fight the Inflation Blues

considered especially effective today—as well as those that are losing luster. Tiered pricing guides consumers to make the ‘right’ choice An increasing number of firms are... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Consumer Products; Retail

February 2007
Case

Update: The Music Industry in 2006

By: John R. Wells and Elizabeth Raabe

The global recorded music industry was undergoing a major transition in 2006. Sales had been declining for a decade, and consumers were buying music in new formats and through different distribution channels. CD sales still accounted for the majority of revenues, but... View Details

Keywords: History; Arts; Music Entertainment; Intellectual Property; Market Timing; Performance Evaluation; Trends; Music Industry

Educators

24 Oct 2018
Blog Post

The Energy & Environment Club

looking for.” With the help of HBS career resources, Kate LeBeau (MBA ’19) created firm decision-making criteria that helped her “quickly identify company fit and provided... View Details

2010
Book

The Comingled Code: Open Source and Economic Development

By: Josh Lerner and Mark Schankerman

Discussions of the economic impact of open source software often generate more heat than light. Advocates passionately assert the benefits of open source, while critics decry its effects. Missing from the debate is rigorous economic analysis and systematic... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Economic Growth; Policy; Government and Politics; Open Source Distribution; Software

April 2014 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Texas Teachers and the New Texas Way

By: Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, Luis M. Viceira, John D. Dionne and Nathaniel Burbank

In 2011 Britt Harris, the Chief Investment Officer for the $107.4 billion Teachers Retirement System of Texas (TRS), was considering whether to pursue strategic partnerships with a group of large private equity firms. After spending four years aggressively moving the... View Details

Keywords: Texas; TRS; Texas Teachers; Private Equity; Texas

Educators

Article

Meaning and Momentum in the Integrated Reporting Movement

By: Robert G. Eccles, Michael P. Krzus and Sydney Ribot

In this summary of their recently published book, the authors provide an update of the state of the integrated reporting (or ) movement, whose aim is to persuade companies to provide fuller disclosure of material nonfinancial (or "ESG") factors and how they are... View Details

Keywords: Integrated Reporting; Integrated Corporate Reporting

06 Feb 2006
What Do You Think?

Should CEOs of Public Companies Offer Earnings Guidance?

forecast dispersion increases and forecast accuracy decreases." For those wishing the full story, read "Is Silence Golden? An Empirical Analysis of Firms that Stop... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

2014
Article

Corporate Governance and the Financial Crisis in Italy

By: Dante Roscini

The financial crisis hit Italy harder than many other Eurozone countries. In part this was due to the fact that the crisis came upon a system that was weakened by years of sub-par economic growth. One of the several endogenous factors that explain the stagnation of the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Corporate Governance; Italy; European Union

16 May 2020
News

Businesses are proving quite resilient to the pandemic

2021
Working Paper

Going by the Book: Valuation Ratios and Stock Returns

By: Ki-Soon Choi, Eric So and Charles C.Y. Wang

We study the use of firms’ book-to-market ratios (B/M) in value investing and its implications for comovements in firms’ stock returns and trading volumes. We show B/M has become increasingly detached from common alternative valuation ratios over time while also... View Details

Keywords: Valuation Ratios; Book-to-market Ratios; Investment Return; Investment; Decision Making

SSRN

03 Oct 2019
News

Where Are All the Women in Private Equity?

December 2009
Case

Philips versus Matsushita: The Competitive Battle Continues

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the development of the global strategies and organizations of two major competitors in the consumer electronics industry. Over four decades, both companies adapt their strategic intent and organizational capability to match and counter the competitive... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Organizational Culture; Multinational Firms and Management; Restructuring; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry

Educators

June 2010 (Revised December 2013)
Supplement

Hang Lung Properties and the Chengdu Decision (B)

By: John D. Macomber, Michael Shih-Ta Chen and Keith Chi-Ho Wong

Second phase of auction for a prime retail development parcel in Chengdu, China. Competition forces the firm to revisit all of its land purchase criteria. Hang Lung Properties is known for rigorous due diligence, for discipline in buying property, and for good... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Infrastructure; Competitive Strategy; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; Chengdu

2018
Working Paper

Taxation and Innovation in the 20th Century

By: Ufuk Akcigit, John Grigsby, Tom Nicholas and Stefanie Stantcheva

This paper studies the effect of corporate and personal taxes on innovation in the United States over the 20th century. We use three new datasets: a panel of the universe of inventors who patent since 1920; a dataset of the employment, location, and patents of firms... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Innovation and Invention; History; United States