Publications

2021
Working Paper

Accounting for Product Impact in the Telecommunications Industry

By: George Serafeim and Katie Trinh

We apply the product impact measurement framework of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative (IWAI) in two competitor companies within the telecommunications industry. We design a monetization methodology that allows us to calculate monetary impact estimates of network... View Details

SSRN

Web

Managing Service Operations - Course Catalog

strategy, marketing, and operations. It draws upon cutting-edge research and field examples from a broad array of industries, including financial services, government, healthcare, hospitality, professional services, restaurants, retail,... View Details

February 1996 (Revised June 1996)
Supplement

Indianapolis: Activity-Based Costing of City Services (B)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: City; Service Operations; Infrastructure; Service Industry; Indiana

September 2021 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Mission edX: Balancing Social Good and Financial Sustainability

By: John J-H Kim, David J. Collis and James Barnett

In March 2021, online education platform edX considers how to achieve financial sustainability without compromising its mission to provide universal access to high-quality education. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Education; Values and Beliefs; Internet and the Web; Financial Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Education Industry; United States

01 Mar 2009
News

Faculty Responds to Financial Crisis

Global Failures Create a “Lodestar” for HBS Research and Teaching From new cases to new courses and research projects, the HBS faculty’s response to the global financial crisis has been “quite extraordinary,” says Professor Joe Badaracco,... View Details

Keywords: Educational Services; Educational Services

22 Feb 2022
News

Addressing The Financial Security Gap

percent of Americans have no retirement savings, and that by 2030, some 72 million American retirees will be living below the poverty line. “The pandemic has shown just how unstable things can be, how quickly it can happen, and how we need to add more View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

March 2015
Article

Inside the “Black Box” of Sell-Side Financial Analysts

By: Lawrence D. Brown, Andrew C. Call, Michael B. Clement and Nathan Y. Sharp

Our objective is to penetrate the “black box” of sell-side financial analysts by providing new insights into the inputs analysts use and the incentives they face. We survey 365 analysts and conduct 18 follow-up interviews covering a wide range of topics, including the... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Use and Leverage; Investment; Analysis; Forecasting and Prediction; Stocks; Financial Services Industry

August 1998
Case

General Motors Corp. (B), The : Financial Policies

By: Peter Tufano

The second in a four-part series, the case details the financial policies and practices at General Motors from 1990 to 1996. This part describes the stated financial policies of the firm, including its approach to capital structure, liability structure, equity... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Finance; Auto Industry; United States

July 2001 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Policy Management Systems Corp.: The Financial Reporting Crisis

Tim Williams, the new CFO of a publicly-traded enterprise software company, attempts to rebuild his company's reputation for reliable financial reporting following a highly visible financial reporting crisis. The crisis begins with an earnings shortfall warning, which... View Details

Keywords: Accrual Accounting; Revenue Recognition; Capital Markets; Policy; Corporate Governance; Accounting Audits; Technology Industry

08 Sep 2021

Women in Industry Series: Military

Please join Maura Sullivan, MBA/MPA 2009, as she moderates a panel of HBS women from the Military who are current students and alumni from different branches of service and from various roles within these branches. Learn about their... View Details

2016
Working Paper

The Impact of Supplier Inventory Service Level on Retailer Demand

By: Nathan Craig, Nicole DeHoratius and Ananth Raman

To set inventory service levels, suppliers must understand how changes in inventory service level affect demand. We build on prior research, which uses analytical models and laboratory experiments to study the impact of a supplier's service level on demand from... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Forecasting and Prediction; Learning; Consumer Behavior; Service Delivery; Performance Expectations; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry

SSRN

June 2016 (Revised May 2017)
Case

FANUC Corporation: Reassessing the Firm's Governance and Financial Policies

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno

In February 2015, Daniel Loeb (a U.S.–based activist investor) announced his firm had a large investment in FANUC Corporation, a leading producer of industrial robots and software for machine tools. Loeb was demanding that the Japanese firm change its financial and... View Details

Keywords: Hedge Funds; Economic Policy; Investments; Government Policy; Deregulation; Financial Management; Valuation; Investment Funds; Policy; Corporate Governance; Macroeconomics; Investment Activism; Change Management; Financial Strategy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Japan; United States

Web

Financial Accounting Online Course | HBS Online

Forecasting: Metropolis Health Care IRR and Payback Period Industry Insights: Assessing Financial Statements Show Hide Details Concepts Pro Forma and Free Cash Flows Valuation Lease Accounting Featured... View Details

April 1986 (Revised July 1996)
Case

Comdisco, Inc.: Financial Statement Analysis (A)

By: Krishna G. Palepu

Keywords: Financial Statements; Information Technology Industry

Article

The Electrified Future Is Shared: Mobility Services and Electrification's Pace, Shape

By: Jurgen Weiss

The article examines the potential impacts of new mobility services such as ride sharing and ride hailing on the speed and depth of electrification of personal transportation. The article explores how a shift of transportation towards shared mobility services might... View Details

Keywords: Mobility; Electric Vehicle; Autonomous Vehicles; Electricity Demand; Energy; Transportation Industry; Auto Industry; Energy Industry

November 2007
Article

A Model of Consumer Learning for Service Quality and Usage

By: Raghuram Iyengar, Asim Ansari and Sunil Gupta

In many services, e.g., the wireless service industry, consumers choose a service plan based on their expected consumption. In such situations, consumers experience two forms of uncertainty. First, consumers may be uncertain about the quality of their service provider... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Customer Value and Value Chain; Learning; Price; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Service Delivery; Quality; Risk and Uncertainty; Service Industry

October 1992 (Revised December 1993)
Case

ServiceMaster Co.: The Quality Services Network

By: James L. Heskett and Roger H. Hallowell

Keywords: Service Industry

22 Jul 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Reputation and Competition: Evidence from the Credit Rating Industry

Keywords: by Bo Becker & Todd Milbourn; Financial Services

December 12, 2023
Article

Prices for Common Services at Quaternary vs Nonquaternary Hospitals

By: Brandon W. Yan, Maximilian J. Pany and Leemore S. Dafny

Using commercial health insurance claims data from 2017-2019, we assessed whether quaternary hospitals charged higher prices for common, unspecialized services also offered by nonquaternary hospitals. We found quaternary-hospital price premiums of 8.2 percent, on... View Details

Keywords: Price; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Markets; Health Industry