Publications

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March 2022
Case

Metric

By: Christina Wallace, Rebecca Cink and Maria Lappas

Megan Murday, the founder of Metric, an environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) analytics startup, must decide which customer segment to target as a beachhead market. She received positive feedback from a Swiss venture capital (VC) firm, indicating their... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Marketing; Mission and Purpose; Customers

06 Dec 2021
News

Truth Be Told

Image by John Ritter In 2018, HBS associate professors Aiyesha Dey and Jonas Heese wrote a case about a whistleblower at a multi-national gambling company who exposed financial misstatements, first to his manager and later to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.... View Details

Keywords: April White; Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices; Management

2025
Working Paper

Blockchain Adoption and Audit Quality

By: Mei Luo, Daniel Rabetti and Shuangchen Yu

This study examines the impact of blockchain adoption in the corporate setting. Specifically, we provide comprehensive empirical support to recent theory (Cao, Cong, and Young, 2024) proposing that blockchain adoption positively affects endogenous audit quality and... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Accounting Audits; Technology Adoption; Financial Reporting; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; China

SSRN

August 2010 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Urban Water Partners (A)

By: Karthik Ramanna, George Serafeim and Aldo Sesia

The case explores a new business venture to bring clean water to residents of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, who otherwise cannot afford it. Management has enough money to get the company through August 2010 but needs more capital thereafter. An HBS alumnus is interested in... View Details

Keywords: Accrual Accounting; Financial Statements; Business Startups; Social Entrepreneurship; Investment; Performance Evaluation; Dar es Salaam; Massachusetts

March 2006
Module Note

Valuing Cross-Border Investments

By: Mihir A. Desai and Kathleen Luchs

Describes a core module in the International Finance course at Harvard Business School. The module explores how valuation differs in an international context and introduces students to the major issues in cross-border valuations: how to value investments in currencies... View Details

Keywords: International Accounting; Currency Exchange Rate; Investment; Framework; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Body of Literature; Risk Management; Projects; Valuation

March 2009
Case

Bausch & Lomb, Inc.: Pressure to Perform (A)

By: Robert L. Simons

This case breaks the existing (and still available) Bausch & Lomb, Inc.: Pressure to Perform case into an (A) and a (B) case. The (A) case describes the revenue recognition concerns as of early-1994 and the organizational context within which the decisions were made. View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Revenue; Accounting; Management Practices and Processes; Situation or Environment; Earnings Management; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

Career Coach

Jon Puz

roles have included general management, strategy, business development, sales, account management, product, operations, marketing, technology, finance, HR and more. Jon has partnered with a variety of investors, including angel, venture... View Details

December 2015
Case

Stephen Richards: Addressing FAQ

By: Eugene Soltes

Stephen Richards, former global head of sales at Computer Associates, addresses frequently asked questions from "A Letter from Prison." View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Corporate Accountability; Managerial Roles

September 1987 (Revised December 1996)
Case

Patten Corp.

By: Krishna G. Palepu

Forbes Magazine criticized the revenue recognition policy of Patten Corp. As a result, the company's stock price dropped by a significant amount. The students are asked to discuss if the criticism by Forbes is justified, and if not, what the company should do. View Details

Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; Financial Statements; Budgets and Budgeting; Problems and Challenges; Financial Condition; Spending; Revenue; Planning; Quality; Stocks; Journalism and News Industry

01 Jun 2010
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Social Reporting

Nonprofit Accountability Working Paper. Nonprofit leaders face multiple, and sometimes competing, accountability demands from numerous actors, for varying purposes, and requiring differing levels of... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

February 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Steinhoff International and the Stock Exchange

By: Siko Sikochi and Austin Lim

Nicky Newton-King, the Chief Executive Officer of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), was put in a difficult position. A scandal had broken out at Steinhoff, a JSE-listed company, under her watch and there were calls to suspend listing of the company securities from... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Reporting; Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Markets; Corporate Governance; Retail Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Distribution Industry; Africa; South Africa

May 2009 (Revised June 2009)
Case

Areva

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

Areva, the world's market leader in civilian nuclear power, was positioned to take advantage of the resurgence of nuclear power. However, three issues clouded the positive outlook: (1) a 1.7 billion euro loss on the construction of the first next generation nuclear... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Financial Statements; Energy Generation; Cash Flow; Investment; Energy Industry; Europe

Find at Harvard

2008
Working Paper

Signaling Firm Performance Through Financial Statement Presentation: An Analysis Using Special Items

By: Edward J. Riedl and Suraj Srinivasan

This paper investigates whether managers' presentation of special items within the financial statements reflects economic performance or opportunism. Specifically, we assess special items presented as a separate line item on the income statement (income statement... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Disclosure; Performance

SSRN

Read Now

August 1999 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Catanese and Vulcan (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Sanjay Pothen

A small CPA firm puts in a new performance measurement system, and profits increase by 350% in less than a year. This case illustrates the reasons for improved profitability as well as the sustainability of levels of growth, the opportunities, and the threats that... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Performance Evaluation; SWOT Analysis; Profit

02 Feb 2016
First Look

February 2, 2016

forthcoming Journal of Accounting Research Causal Inference in Accounting Research By: Gow, Ian D., David F. Larcker, and Peter C. Reiss Abstract—This paper examines the approaches View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 1996 (Revised May 2000)
Case

Bed Bath & Beyond

By: Amy P. Hutton and James Weber

This case examines how accurately investors have incorporated information about the growth strategy of Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) into share price, especially given the changing competitive environment in the housewares industry and the recent Barron's article pointing... View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Valuation; Financial Statements; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry

December 2013
Article

Measuring the Value of Process Improvement Initiatives in a Preoperative Assessment Center using Time-driven Activity-based Costing

By: Katy E. French, Heidi W. Albright, John C. Frenzel, James R. Incalcaterra, Augustin C. Rubio, Jessica F. Jones and Thomas W. Feeley

Background: The value and impact of process improvement initiatives are difficult to quantify. We describe the use of time-driven activity-based costing(TDABC)in a clinical setting to quantify the value of process improvements in terms of cost, time and personnel... View Details

Keywords: Quality Improvement; Value Agenda; Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Accounting; Health; Measurement and Metrics; Value; Health Industry; North and Central America