Publications

06 Jan 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Expensing Options Doesn’t Solve the Problem

transactions that were favorable to the SPE but not to Enron. The furor over expensing is, if anything, a sideshow distracting us from deeper flaws in accounting standards, compensation philosophy, and professional View Details

Keywords: by William Sahlman

19 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Expensing Options Won’t Hurt High Tech

place at the right time or penalized just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A strong case can also be made for the superiority of properly designed restricted stock grants and deferred cash payments. Yet current accounting... View Details

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

01 May 2006
Research & Ideas

What Companies Lose from Forced Disclosure

exacerbated if the manager has little or no control over the information that the labor market sees (i.e., is mandated beyond the manager's control). Q: Given the current debate about financial transparency, do you see accountants... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

April 1994 (Revised November 1998)
Case

Kendall Square Research Corporation (A)

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

Kendall Square Research was a small competitor in the supercomputer industry. As sales grew rapidly in 1992 and early 1993, the company sold stock to the public for the first time and analysts forecast higher earnings for 1993. However, when the company's revenue... View Details

Keywords: Revenue Recognition; Standards; Accounting Audits; Computer Industry

17 Sep 2024
HBS Case

The Climate Targets Leaders Need to Know as Regulations Loom

As investor pressure mounts on companies to show their environmental impacts, leaders are encountering an unwieldy tangle of terms and approaches. Climate accounting basics and a dictionary of sorts can help demystify the calculations and voluntary targets that... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

10 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

Counting Up the Effects of Sarbanes-Oxley

relentlessly attacked in the US" while those most affected by the act as implemented express "acquiescence or even mild praise." The paper, SOX after Ten Years: A Multidisciplinary Review, is scheduled to be published later this year in View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Accounting; Accounting

29 May 2014
Research & Ideas

Research Symposium 2014

to favor this experienced view." He cited the example of several meetings in the year 2000, during which the Financial Accounting Standards Board was hashing out rules regarding mergers and acquisitions. At... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Accounting; Accounting

November 2006 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Kendall Square Research Corporation

By: F. Warren McFarlan

Kendall Square Research was a small competitor in the supercomputer industry. Sales grew rapidly in 1992 and early 1993 and the company sold stock to the public for the first time. Analysts forecast higher earnings for 1993, then the company's revenue recognition... View Details

Keywords: Revenue Recognition; Standards; Accounting Audits; Computer Industry

July 2007 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Cintas y Lazos, Inc.

By: David F. Hawkins

A recent Cuban immigrant establishes a new notions store. The initial 3-month, GAAP-based income statement differs from one prepared by an economist friend. The store owner wants to know why one shows a profit and the other a loss. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Financial Statements; Management Practices and Processes; Standards; Retail Industry; Florida