Publications

2022
Working Paper

Is Hybrid Work the Best of Both Worlds? Evidence from a Field Experiment

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Tarun Khanna, Christos A. Makridis and Kyle Schirmann

Hybrid work is emerging as a novel form of organizing work globally. This paper reports causal evidence on how the extent of hybrid work—the number of days worked from home relative to days worked from the office—affects work outcomes. Collaborating with an... View Details

Keywords: Hybrid Work; Remote Work; Work-from-home; Field Experiment; Employees; Geographic Location; Performance; Work-Life Balance

SSRN

Read Now

September 2006
Exercise

Earnings Management Exercise

By: Malcolm P. Baker

Students act as managers or investors. Managers have the ability to manipulate reported earnings, and investors must bid for shares taking this into account. View Details

Keywords: Earnings Management; Value; Stock Shares; Opportunities; Bids and Bidding; Reports

July 2001 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Progressive Insurance: Disclosure Strategy

By: Amy P. Hutton and James Weber

Progressive Insurance had refused to play Wall Street's earning game. Progressive didn't manage reported earnings nor did management give guidance to analysts. Management then considered taking their unique disclosure strategy one step further to become the first to... View Details

Keywords: Earnings Management; Stocks; Corporate Disclosure; Insurance; Volatility; Insurance Industry; United States

May 2014
Report

The Brink of Renewal: A Business Leader’s Guide to Progress in America’s Schools

This report focuses on the current state of U.S. PK-12 education. It highlights the converging trends that make this a special, promising moment in education reform. View Details

April 1989 (Revised September 1989)
Case

CIBA-GEIGY AG: Impact of Inflation and Currency Fluctuations

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven

The chairman of the second-largest Swiss multinational company is preparing for a board discussion on the impact of a constantly strengthening Swiss franc. The case raises strategic issues in terms of international competitiveness, financial reporting issues of how to... View Details

Keywords: Inflation and Deflation; Currency; Financial Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Competitive Strategy; Switzerland

June 2004 (Revised March 2005)
Background Note

Question of LIFO or FIFO, The; Which Is Preferable?

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Sharon M. Bruns

Discusses the advantages and disadvantages of alternative inventory flow assumptions allowed in the United States. A single exhibit shows that in Year 2, a company using LIFO in Year 1 could report higher net income by switching to FIFO at a cost of higher income... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Taxation; Revenue

23 Apr 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Does Public Ownership of Equity Improve Earnings Quality?

Keywords: by Dan Givoly, Carla Hayn & Sharon P. Katz

May 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Supplement

'GEnron'? Markopolos versus General Electric (B)

By: Jonas Heese and David Lane

Supplement to the (A) case that offers an assessment of the August 2019 Markopolos report on General Electric. View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Communication; Energy; Financial Condition; Insurance; Performance; Planning; Business and Shareholder Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Value; Insurance Industry; Financial Services Industry; Energy Industry

December 1999 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Machinery International (A)

By: David F. Hawkins

A U.S. company must decide how to translate its German subsidiary's DM financial statements into U.S. dollars for public and internal reporting purposes. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Machinery and Machining; Financial Statements; Financial Reporting; Currency; Money; Accounting; Valuation; Manufacturing Industry; Accounting Industry; United States

20 Feb 2014
HBS Seminar

Teck Ho, University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business

September 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Silic (A): Choosing Cost or Fair Value on Adoption of IFRS

By: David F. Hawkins, Vincent Marie Dessain and Andrew Barron

A French real estate firm must choose to report its primary asset (investment property) using either cost or fair-value accounting methods upon adoption of international accounting standards (IAS) in 2005. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Fair Value Accounting; Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Investment; Standards; Real Estate Industry; France

March 2016 (Revised April 2019)
Technical Note

ESG Metrics: Reshaping Capitalism?

By: George Serafeim

In the past twenty-five years, the world had seen an exponential growth in the number of companies reporting environmental, social and governance (ESG) data. Investor interest in ESG data also grew rapidly. A growing belief that increasing levels of social inequality... View Details

Keywords: Capitalism; Sustainability; Accountability; Corporate Social Responsibility; Responsibilities To Society; Environment; Social Impact Investment; ESG; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Measurement and Metrics; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Corporate Accountability; Accounting; Economic Systems

19 Nov 2019
News

Do TV Debates Sway Voters?

August 1996 (Revised May 1997)
Case

First Investments, Inc.: Analysis of Financial Statements

By: David F. Hawkins

A summer intern is asked to perform a financial value analysis of a company's financial report for the period 1987-1994. View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Financial Statements

03 Oct 2014
News

Beyonce Is Focus of Harvard Business Case Study

Article

The EU's Unsustainable Approach to Stakeholder Capitalism

By: Jesse M. Fried and Charles C.Y. Wang

A recent report by the EU claims that investor-driven short-termism is encouraging firms to return cash rather than invest it, which reduces capital available for investment in growth. The authors show that the data behind the report do not support its claims and... View Details

Keywords: Short-termism; Sustainability; Capital; Investment; Decision Making; Business and Stakeholder Relations; European Union

Find at Harvard

16 Mar 2004
Other Presentation

UK Competitiveness: Entering a New Stage

By: Christian H.M. Ketels

This presentation draws on ideas from Professor Porter's articles and books, in particular, The Competitive Advantage of Nations (The Free Press, 1990), "The Microeconomic Foundations of Economic Development," in The Global Competitiveness Report 2003,... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Growth and Development; United Kingdom