Publications

12 Aug 2008
First Look

First Look: August 12, 2008

the Statement of Financial Accounting Standards, No. 141R. Purchase the note: http://hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=108067 ADR Choices Harvard Business School Note 908-040 Six different... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2017 (Revised August 2017)
Case

Earl Gordon - Eastern Circle

By: Steven Rogers and Greg White

This case follows an African-American entrepreneur through the process of sourcing a potential acquisition, valuing a company, and securing the funding to purchase the company. This entrepreneur must decide if he should close the deal and which financing term sheet to... View Details

16 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 16

economic theory of GAAP under the assumption that GAAP's objective is to facilitate efficient capital allocation within an economy. The theory predicts that GAAP, as shaped by the economic forces of demand for and supply of financial... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

24 May 2004
Research & Ideas

When Reputation Trumps Regulation

Financial Economics, suggests that reputational bonding better explains the success and failure of cross-listings than legal bonding. This is largely due to the fact that the Securities and Exchange Commission, for a number of reasons,... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

26 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Corporate Transparency Improves For Foreign Firms in U.S. Markets

in its annual financial statements, primarily the annual report. For this we use the recently released transparency-and-disclosure scores provided by Standard and Poor's. Q: What did you discover about the disclosure practices of foreign... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

05 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

The Vanguard Corporation

decisions that would not have made been made on purely financial grounds. It's like P&G's Children's Safe Drinking Water program. When P&G could not make a commercial market out of water purification powder, it created a nonprofit... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

03 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

The Competitive Advantage of Global Finance

common mistakes made by international managers, and the development of his book for readers interested in "the opportunities of managing in a global setting." Sean Silverthorne: International Finance and its case studies explore various dimensions of View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services

October 2016 (Revised January 2017)
Supplement

Bally Total Fitness (B): The Fall, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

By many measures the largest health-club chain in the United States in the early 2000s, Bally Total Fitness sold most of its remaining fitness clubs to 24 Hour Fitness in 2014 and disappeared from the industry top 100 rankings. After Bally was bedeviled by accounting... View Details

30 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 31, 2006

Working PapersHow Does Foreign Direct Investment Promote Economic Growth? Exploring the Effects of Financial Markets on Linkages Authors:Laura Alfaro, Areendam Chanda, Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan, and Selin Sayek Abstract The empirical... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2000 (Revised July 2019)
Teaching Note

Cafes Monte Bianco: Building a Profit Plan

By: Robert Simons and Indra Reinbergs

Teaching Note for (9-198-088). View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Cash Flow; Capital Structure; Business Earnings; Financial Statements; Business Plan; Profit; Cost Management; Performance Evaluation; Strategic Planning; Financial Management; Investment Return; Food and Beverage Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Italy

January 1998 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Cafes Monte Bianco: Building a Profit Plan

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Alert: This case has been revised since its original publication; all amounts have been converted to euros and the dates have been updated to 2020. If you’ve taught with this case in the past, please note that changes may affect teaching plans and classroom use. Using... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Cash Flow; Investment Return; Profit; Financial Statements; Food and Beverage Industry; Italy

18 Jun 2007
Op-Ed

Leveling the Executive Options Playing Field

Harvard Business School professor Mihir A. Desai argues that investors and regulators are served poorly by the U.S. corporate financial reporting system, which allows companies to declare different profit figures to the IRS than they... View Details

Keywords: by Mihir Desai

November 1999 (Revised July 2001)
Case

New Profit Inc.: Governing the Nonprofit Enterprise

By: Robert S. Kaplan

New Profit, Inc. (NPI) is an innovative venture philanthropy fund. Founded by social entrepreneur Venessa Kirsch, NPI intends to raise large donations from individuals who wish to invest in nonprofit enterprises that could have a significant social impact and the... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Nonprofit Organizations; Venture Capital; Social Entrepreneurship; Corporate Governance; Performance Evaluation; Financial Statements; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Service Industry

06 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Microsoft vs. Open Source: Who Will Win?

Linux. Same for MS Office documents. "Promote" Linux's code forking. Infuse fear, uncertainty, and doubt into the Linux user community. For this to work, the statements must be perceived as credible. Credibility requires some... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

September 1992 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Summit Distributors (A)

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Amy P. Hutton

Summit Distributors was in danger of violating loan covenants because of slow economic activity and forecasted losses and was faced with a choice. Changing the inventory valuation method from LIFO to FIFO would avoid default but would require higher future income... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Cost Accounting; Cash Flow; Interest Rates; Economic Systems; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Statements; Valuation; Accounting Audits; Financing and Loans; Accounting Industry; Legal Services Industry

02 Sep 2016
Op-Ed

The Twitter Election

earned (i.e free) media coverage; name recognition is not an issue. He draws much larger and more enthusiastic crowds than Clinton, which may impress television viewing audiences. He is increasingly combining scripted policy statements... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch and Thales Teixeira

19 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Expensing Options Won’t Hurt High Tech

(One cure for stock option abuse, say proponents, is to change accounting rules so that option grants are reflected in a company's principal financial statements. High-tech start-ups blister at that idea, saying it would harm their... View Details

Keywords: by Zvi Bodie, Robert S. Kaplan & Robert C. Merton

January 2004 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Ford Motor Company: Quality of Earnings Growth Analysis (A)

By: David F. Hawkins and Jacob Cohen

Even though Ford Motor Co. reports improved profitability, an equity analyst issues a sell recommendation and Standard & Poor's downgrades long-term debt. View Details

Keywords: Quality; Business Earnings; Valuation; Investment Return; Profit; Financial Statements; Revenue; Auto Industry; Consulting Industry