Publications

August 2013
Background Note

A Simple Free Cash Flow Valuation Model

By: William A. Sahlman

Explores some of the issues involved in valuing cash flow streams. A simple model is presented that reveals the effect on value of changing assumptions about the appropriate discount rate, the level of profitability, the growth rate of sales, the asset intensity ratio,... View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow; Valuation

Research Summary

Effective Capital Market Communications

Hutton's most recent research and cases examine how managers enhance the credibility and effectiveness of their financial reports and voluntary disclosures. Her most recent working paper, "Effective Voluntary Disclosure" (co-authored with Greg Miller, HBS, and Douglas... View Details

2000
Book

Competitive Environmental Strategy: A Guide to the Changing Business Landscape

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

Environmental concerns can greatly affect business success, regardless of whether a business person or corporation shares those concerns. Today's corporate managers must understand the power of environmental issues, and shift their mindset from one focused on... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Environmental Management; Social Issues; Organizational Change and Adaptation

October 1987 (Revised January 2013)
Background Note

Note on Free Cash Flow Valuation Models

By: William A. Sahlman

Explores some of the issues involved in valuing cash flow streams. A simple model is presented that reveals the effect on value of changing assumptions about the appropriate discount rate, the level of profitability, the growth rate of sales, the asset intensity ratio,... View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow; Valuation

2016
Working Paper

Alternative Paths of Green Entrepreneurship: The Environmental Legacies of The North Face's Doug Tompkins and Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard

By: Geoffrey Jones and Ben Gettinger

This working paper examines the impact of two entrepreneurs who offered alternative paths to reach their shared goal of a more sustainable world. Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins were respective founders of the prominent outdoor apparel brands Patagonia and The North... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Apparel and Accessories Industry

SSRN

August 2014
Article

The Varied Work of Challenger Movements: Identifying Challenger Roles in the U.S. Environmental Movement

By: Stephanie Bertels, Andrew J. Hoffman and Rich Dejordy

Organizations within challenger movements often exhibit differences in what they do, with whom they interact, and how they understand or present themselves. This article attempts to understand what underlies such heterogeneity in challenger movements. Adopting a mixed... View Details

Keywords: Status and Position; Environmental Management; Non-Governmental Organizations; Social and Collaborative Networks

September 2016
Article

The Effect of Target Difficulty on Target Completion: The Case of Reducing Carbon Emissions

By: Ioannis Ioannou, Shelley Xin Li and George Serafeim

Targets are an integral component of management control systems and play a significant role in achieving desirable performance outcomes. We focus on a key environmental performance objective—reduction of carbon emissions—as a setting in which to examine how target... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Target-setting; Management Accounting; Management Accounting And Control Systems; Control Systems; Sustainable Development; Environment; Goals and Objectives; Climate Change; Management Systems; Accounting; Environmental Sustainability

19 Jun 2018
Research Event

Has Environmental Sustainability Lost its Relevance?

stellar cast of practitioners, management researchers, and business and environmental historians. As co-organizer of the event with HBS Professor Amy Edmondson and Swedish... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey G. Jones; Energy

Research Summary

Dissertation: "Essays in International Non-market Strategy and the Political Economy of Environmental Regulation"

My dissertation is part of a research agenda intended to advance our understanding of the interaction between companies and non-market actors (e.g. regulators) in an international context. The empirical setting of my analysis is the European Union Emissions Trading... View Details

August 2016
Article

Asymmetric Effects of Favorable and Unfavorable Information on Decision-making Under Ambiguity

By: Alexander Peysakhovich and Uma R. Karmarkar

Most daily decisions involve uncertainty about outcome probabilities arising from incomplete knowledge, i.e., ambiguity. We explore how the addition of partial information affects these types of choices using theoretical and empirical methods. Our experiments in both... View Details

Keywords: Ambiguity; Decision Making; Outcomes; Information; Decision Choices and Conditions; Outcome or Result

October 2012
Article

The Effect of Reference Point Prices on Mergers and Acquisitions

By: Malcolm Baker, Xin Pan and Jeffrey Wurgler

Prior stock price peaks of targets affect several aspects of merger and acquisition activity. Offer prices are biased toward recent peak prices although they are economically unremarkable. An offer's probability of acceptance jumps discontinuously when it exceeds a... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Stocks; Price; Valuation; Negotiation

04 Jun 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Coming Clean and Cleaning Up: Is Voluntary Disclosure a Signal of Effective Self-Policing?

Keywords: by Michael W. Toffel & Jodi L. Short

2009
Chapter

Self-regulatory Institutions for Solving Environmental Problems: Perspectives and Contributions from the Management Literature

By: Andrew A. King and Michael W. Toffel

Scholars of management have long considered how institutions can help resolve market imperfections and thereby improve human welfare. Most previous research has emphasized the use of for-profit firms. Such institutions cannot effectively address many environmental... View Details

Keywords: For-Profit Firms; Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Competitive Advantage

2025
Working Paper

An Empirical Examination of Business Climate Alliances: Effective and/or Harmful?

By: Matteo Gasparini and Peter Tufano

This research studies business alliances that seek to address climate change, offering empirical evidence to address claims advanced by alliance supporters and critics. We study eleven major alliances mostly focused on financial services firms and 424 major... View Details

Keywords: Antitrust; Climate Change; Financial Institutions; Competition; Network Effects; Alliances

SSRN

July 2023
Article

Before or After? The Effects of Payment Decision Timing in Pay-What-You-Want Contexts

By: Raghabendra P. KC, Vincent Mak and Elie Ofek

We study how payment decision timing—before versus after product delivery—influences consumer payment under pay-what-you-want pricing. We focus on situations where there is minimal change in consumer uncertainty regarding the product before versus after receiving it.... View Details

Keywords: Price; Behavior; Valuation; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

30 Aug 2004
Research & Ideas

Mapping Your Board’s Effectiveness

corporate strategy—create value by becoming known for better governance and greater transparency to external providers? Can they lower their cost of capital and perhaps get a valuation premium based on the... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan

October 2012
Case

Lin TV Corp

By: David Scharfstein, Erik Stafford and Joel Heilprin

This case considers the valuation of Lin TV, a publicly-traded company with 30 TV stations. The case highlights how a change in operating strategy can enhance the firm's value, and considers the effect of consolidation within the industry on firm value. View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Acquisitions; Synergy; Broadcasting; Entertainment; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; North and Central America

25 May 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Self-Regulatory Institutions for Solving Environmental Problems: Perspectives and Contributions from the Management Literature

Keywords: by Andrew King & Michael W. Toffel

January 2023
Case

EKI Energy Services: One Billion Carbon Credits

By: George Serafeim

Within nine months from the time of its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in April of 2021, EKI Energy Services (EKI) shares had increased by more than 8,000%. Equally explosive was the growth of the company’s revenues and Earnings Before Interest, Taxes and Depreciation... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Credits; Carbon Emissions; Growth; Business Analysis; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Valuation; Climate Change; Accounting; Valuation; Transition; Renewable Energy; Analysis; Product Positioning; India