Publications

01 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

How To Make Restructuring Work for Your Company

The following excerpt is taken from the "Lessons of Restructuring" section of Gilson's introduction to Creating Value through Corporate Restructuring. Although the case studies in this book span a wide range of companies,... View Details

Keywords: by Stuart C. Gilson

2024
Working Paper

Principles and Content for Downstream Emissions Disclosures

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Karthik Ramanna

In a previous paper, we proposed the E-liability carbon accounting algorithm for companies to measure and subsequently reduce their own and their suppliers’ emissions. Some investors and stakeholders, however, want companies to also be accountable for downstream... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Emissions; Disclosure; Carbon Footprint; Climate Change; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Disclosure; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

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30 Apr 2024
Book

When Managers Set Unrealistic Expectations, Employees Cut Ethical Corners

In the 1990s, when Harvard Business School Professor Lynn S. Paine was researching and writing about examples of corporate misconduct, she hoped more businesses would take decisive action to root out fraud and other unethical behavior.... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

27 Jan 2015
News

Frustration with the Intracorporate Conspiracy Doctrine Distorts Other Areas of Law

October 2001 (Revised November 2005)
Case

eBay, Inc.: Stock Option Plans (A)

The footnote disclosure for eBay, Inc. in 2000 indicates that if the company had accounted for employee stock options under the fair value method, its reported profit of $48 million would have been a loss of $91 million. The protagonist is a prospective member of the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Stock Options; Financial Reporting

September 20, 2024
Article

It’s Time to Unbundle ESG

By: Aaron K. Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel

ESG is at an inflection point. It has come to represent a broad and inchoate aspiration for what business should be doing beyond maximizing shareholder value. With ESG advocates on the defensive, business leaders need a new roadmap to determine which factors to... View Details

Keywords: ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; ESG Ratings; ESG Reporting; ESG Disclosure; Sustainability; Climate; Climate Finance; Climate Risk; Social Accounting; Investment; Governance; Safety; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Financial Services Industry

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February 1992 (Revised January 1999)
Background Note

Selected Profitability Data on U.S. Industries and Companies

Describes the importance of industry structure and competitive positioning to the profitability of U.S. corporations between 1981 and 1994. Cites recent research indicating that persistent industry differences and persistent competitor differences account for 19% and... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Industry Structures; Profit; United States

THOMAS R. PIPER, Baker Foundation Professor and Lawrence E. Fouraker Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus, is a faculty member in the Finance and Accounting Units at the Graduate School of Business Administration. He has taught in the MBA Program, as well... View Details

August 2006
Article

Predicting Returns with Managerial Decision Variables: Is There a Small-Sample Bias?

By: Malcolm Baker, Ryan Taliaferro and Jeffrey Wurgler

Many studies find that aggregate managerial decision variables, such as aggregate equity issuance, predict stock or bond market returns. Recent research argues that these findings may be driven by an aggregate time-series version of Schultz's (2003, Journal of Finance... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Fairness; Managerial Roles; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Equity; Bonds; Financial Markets; Investment; Capital Markets; Borrowing and Debt; Investment Return

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Professor Cash received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Texas Christian University; a Master of Science in Computer Science from Purdue University's Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences; and a Doctor of Philosophy in Management Information... View Details

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

2012
Chapter

Integrated Reporting Requires Integrated Assurance

By: Robert G. Eccles, Michael P. Krzus and Liv A. Watson

In the wake of the recent financial crisis, increasing the effectiveness of auditing has weighed heavily on the minds of those responsible for governance. When a business is profitable and paying healthy dividends to its stockholders, fraudulent activities and... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Crime and Corruption; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Governance Compliance; Organizational Culture; Management Systems; Laws and Statutes; Information Management; Accounting Audits; Financial Crisis

28 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Investor Lawsuits Against Auditors Are Falling, and That's Bad News for Capital Markets

Investors rely on corporate auditors to keep impartial watch on the accounting practices of the companies they invest in. Historically, investors have not been shy about launching litigation when they... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Accounting; Accounting

29 Jun 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Trade Credit and Taxes

Keywords: by Mihir A. Desai, C. Fritz Foley & James R. Hines

Profits You Can Trust

“This comprehensive layman's guide is a must-read for senior management, boards, committees, and their advisors. Writing in largely non-technical language, the expert authors provide the most concise and complete road map to understanding, preventing,... View Details

July 2016 (Revised January 2019)
Case

Cyber Breach at Target

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Lynn S. Paine and Neeraj Goyal

In November and December of 2013, Target Corporation suffered one of the largest cyber breaches to date. The breach that occurred during the busy holiday shopping season resulted in personal and credit card information of approximately 110 million Target customers... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Credit Cards; Customer Relationship Management; Internet and the Web; Governing and Advisory Boards; Crisis Management; Retail Industry

Brian Trelstad is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School in the General Management Unit and the Faculty Chair of the Advanced Leadership Initiative. He teaches elective courses on Social Entrepreneurship and Systems... View Details

Keywords: education industry; health care; service industry; emerging market private equity; private equity (other); venture capital industry

January 2003 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Financial Performance Reporting

By: David F. Hawkins

Students must evaluate the Financial Accounting Standards Board/International Accounting Standards Board's tentative decisions on comprehensive income statements. View Details

Keywords: International Accounting; Income; Decision Making; Financial Reporting; Corporate Governance; Accounting Industry