Publications

07 Jul 2016
Blog Post

Can You Learn Finance through the Case Method?

Greetings from HBS! My name is Siri and I am a second-year student and a candidate for the joint MBA/MPP program between HBS and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Before graduate school, I worked for three years as a management consultant specializing in the... View Details

December 2004
Case

Ciclon de Alicante

By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez

A Spanish soccer team that received a large influx of cash thanks to a real estate transaction with its stadium faces critical accounting decisions. The team's accountants are confronted with decisions about players' contracts, jersey inventory, season ticket sales,... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Financial Statements; Sports Industry; Spain

George Serafeim is the Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He co-leads a Lab, within Harvard's Digital, Data, Design Institute, and serves on the faculty steering commitee of Harvard University's Salata Institute. He... View Details

Keywords: insurance industry; insurance industry; insurance industry; insurance industry; insurance industry; insurance industry; insurance industry

November 2010 (Revised July 2011)
Supplement

Merck/Schering-Plough Merger (B)

By: David F. Hawkins

Worksheet exercise to illustrate the accounting for the Merck/Schering-Plough reverse merger. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Mergers and Acquisitions; Pharmaceutical Industry

2022
Article

Which Corporate ESG News Does the Market React To?

By: George Serafeim and Aaron Yoon

Using a dataset that classifies firm-level ESG news as positive and negative, we examine how stock prices react to different types of ESG news. We analyze 111,020 firm-day observations for 3,126 companies and find that prices react only to issues identified as... View Details

Keywords: ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; ESG Ratings; Social Capital; Environment; Sustainability; CSR; Stock Price; Stock Market Expectations; Materiality; Market Reaction; Environmental Sustainability; Governance; Social Issues; Performance; News

SSRN

25 Apr 2022
Video

U.S. Health Care Strategy: Course Overview with Professor Leemore Dafny

October 2001
Case

Healthcare Brands Corporation

By: David F. Hawkins

A U.K. and a U.S. firm are entering into a merger agreement. Management must decide whether the merged companies should be domiciled in the United Kingdom and account for the merger as a pooling of interests or the United States and account for the merger as a... View Details

Keywords: International Accounting; Mergers and Acquisitions; Contracts; Health Industry; United Kingdom; United States

10 Nov 2015
Blog Post

Using an MBA for a Career Change

I applied to MBA programs because I wanted to change careers. I went from spending six years at one company to trying out a number of industries and function areas in two years. During that time I learned two important things: 1. Maybe... View Details

August 2011
Article

Independent Invention During the Rise of the Corporate Economy in Britain and Japan

By: Tom Nicholas

Independent inventors accounted for approximately half of all patents in Britain and Japan by 1930, despite the rise of the corporate economy and the spread of industrial R&D. A mixture of patent renewal and historical citations data reveals that the quality of... View Details

Keywords: Independent Innovation and Invention; Development Economics; Research and Development; Patents; System; Motivation and Incentives; Tokyo; London; United States

Read Now

November 2010
Case

Bling Nation

By: William A. Sahlman and Liz Kind

Bling Nation, a Palo Alto, CA startup, was founded in 2007 as a mobile payment service provider that bypassed industry participants such as Visa and MasterCard. Bling Nation partnered with local community banks and merchants in small towns. The banks provided their... View Details

Keywords: Culture

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; Construction Industry; United States

November 2001 (Revised September 2007)
Case

Children's Hospital and Clinics (A)

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Michael Roberto and Anita L. Tucker

Describes the major phases of an initiative designed to transform the organization and enhance patient safety. Raises interesting questions about how to encourage candid discussion about failures while continuing to hold people accountable for their performance. View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Leading Change; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Performance Improvement; Safety; Health Industry

November 2000 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Blaine and Mason, LLP: Gross Versus Net Revenue Reporting (A)

By: David F. Hawkins

The managing partners of a public accounting firm must resolve a number of staff requests for assistance in deciding how audit clients should report their revenues. Each example explores whether revenues should be reported on a gross or net basis. View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Accounting Audits; Business Earnings; Budgets and Budgeting; Financial Reporting; Revenue; Accounting Industry

Archie Jones is a Senior Lecturer in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at the Harvard Business School, where he currently teaches Venture Capital and Private Equity, Field... View Details

June 1989 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Thumbs-Up Video, Inc.

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

A start-up video rental business is described to provide a basis for a bookkeeping and financial reporting exercise for an accounting course. Both start-up and operating transactions are included along with situations requiring judgments about depreciation policies and... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Financial Statements; Accounting Audits; Accrual Accounting; Financial Reporting; Accounting Industry

Research Summary

Overview

By: Mark L. Egan

When considering how households make investment decisions, Professor Egan became intrigued by the question, “What makes a bank ‘special’ when compared to other lending institutions?” Focusing on empirical industrial organization with applications to finance and... View Details

Krishna G. Palepu

KRISHNA G. PALEPU is the Ross Graham Walker Professor of Business Administration, and has served previously as Senior Advisor to the President of Harvard University, and Senior Associate Dean at the... View Details

Keywords: accounting industry; accounting industry; accounting industry; accounting industry; accounting industry; accounting industry

January 1993 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Adventurous Computer Games, Inc.

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

A new company producing computer games must begin to capitalize computer software development cost. To do so requires a cost accounting system, decisions about which costs to capitalize, and how to match costs to future revenues. Teaches accounting standards for... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Applications and Software; Cost Accounting; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry

February 2018
Case

Health Savings Accounts: Enabling Consumer Participation

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and James Wallace

Health savings accounts (HSAs), a creation of the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, had become an integral part of the drive toward consumer-driven health care. Coupled with high-deductible health plans, HSAs allowed consumers to directly control a significant part of... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Healthcare Costs; Health Insurance; Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Insurance; Innovation and Invention; Health Industry; United States