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January–February 2012
Article

A Simple Model Relating Accruals to Risk, and its Implications for the Accrual Anomaly

By: Mozaffar N. Khan

This paper models systematic risk as a function of mean-reverting accruals. When the true abnormal returns are zero, but the true betas are empirically unobserved, the model predicts the anomalous pattern of empirical results on the accrual anomaly: (i) CAPM abnormal... View Details

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April 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Supply Chain Partners: Virginia Mason and Owens & Minor (A) (Abridged)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

Owens & Minor (O&M) performed lean inventory services for Virginia Mason (VM) as its Alpha Vendor, but the outdated industry pricing model created perverse incentives and could not capture O&M's costs. Together, O&M and VM created an activity-based pricing model: Total... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Partners and Partnerships; Activity Based Costing and Management; Business Model; Non-Governmental Organizations; Nonprofit Organizations; Motivation and Incentives; Asset Pricing; Cost Accounting; Fair Value Accounting; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

Robert Huckman is the Albert J. Weatherhead III Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, the Howard Cox Faculty Chair of the HBS Healthcare Initiative, and the Senior Associate Dean for External... View Details

Keywords: biotechnology; health care; manufacturing; pharmaceuticals

September 2002 (Revised March 2003)
Technical Note

Technical Note on Equity-Linked Consideration, Part 3: Cash-and-Stock Deals

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

The consideration paid by an acquiring company to a target can be a combination of cash and stock. During the 1980s and 1990s, for example, approximately 12% to 13% of all deals between public companies involved both cash and stock. This case series describes the basic... View Details

Keywords: Price; Acquisition; Business and Shareholder Relations

Ryan W. Buell is a Professor of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches View Details

Keywords: banking; e-commerce industry; fast food; financial services; high technology; hotels ＆ motels; insurance industry; restaurant; retailing; service industry; transportation

November 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Khanmigo: Revolutionizing Learning with GenAI

By: William A. Sahlman, Allison M. Ciechanover and Emily Grandjean

Already a leader in the edtech space since its 2008 launch, Khan Academy was now one of the first edtech organizations to embrace generative artificial intelligence ("genAI"). In March 2023, Khan Academy began beta testing Khanmigo, a genAI “guide” and tutor built with... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Leading Change; Entrepreneurship; Risk and Uncertainty; Education; AI and Machine Learning; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Education Industry; Technology Industry; United States; San Francisco

March 2011
Case

Valuation of AirThread Connections

By: Erik Stafford and Joel L. Heilprin

This case can be used as a capstone valuation exercise for first-year MBA students in an introductory finance course. A senior associate in the business development group at American Cable Communications, one of the largest cable companies in the U.S., must prepare a... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Present Value; Tax Accounting; Capital Costs; Synergy; Telephony; Wireless Technologies; Communication Technology; Assets; Cost of Capital; Valuation; Cash Flow; Capital Structure; Accounting; Wireless Technology; Communications Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

Forthcoming
Article

Variable Leases Under ASC 842: Evidence on Properties and Consequences

By: Jonas Heese, Albert Shin and Charles C.Y. Wang

The new lease standard (ASC 842) allows firms to keep variable leases off-balance-sheet, in part based on the assumption that future expenses are difficult to estimate reliably. We show that variable-lease expenses are both prevalent and substantial, exhibiting... View Details

Keywords: Financial Accounting; Financial Analysis; Accounting; Leasing; Financial Strategy

SSRN

January 2019 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Analytical Space: The Next Frontier?

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and David Lane

With one satellite aloft and in the midst of beta testing in late 2018, Analytical Space founders Justin Oliveira and Dan Nevius turned to critical questions about the pioneering startup’s go-to-market, pricing, and business development strategy. Analytical Space aimed... View Details

Keywords: Pricing Decisions; Demand Validation; Revenue Model; Business Development; Space Tech; Satellites; Earth Observation; Remote Sensing; Business Startups; Emerging Markets; Growth and Development Strategy; Finance; Selection and Staffing; Business Strategy; Aerospace Industry

Jo Tango is the MBA Class of 1962 Senior Lecturer of Business Administration. He helps teach "The Entrepreneurial Manager" (TEM), a required course for all 900 first-year students and of which he... View Details

April 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Supply Chain Partners: Virginia Mason and Owens & Minor (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

Virginia Mason Medical Center (VM) hired Owens & Minor (O&M) as its alpha vendor for medical/surgical supplies in 2004. By 2005, O&M was performing Just-in-Time and Low Unit of Measure services for VM, but they believed the pricing model in the industry was outdated.... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Price; Distribution; Supply Chain Management; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

December 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Background Note

Evaluating M&A Deals-Announcement Effects, Risk Arbitrage and Event Risk

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

The announcement of merger or acquisition conveys new information to the capital markets. This note describes how the stock prices of a Buyer and Target behave after the announcement of a deal. First, for an all-stock deal that is certain to go through, the note... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Announcements; Capital Markets; Stocks; Price; Risk and Uncertainty

Nancy F. Koehn is a historian at the Harvard Business School where she holds the James E. Robison chair of Business Administration. Koehn's research focuses on crisis leadership and how leaders and their teams rise to the challenges of high-stakes situations. Her... View Details

Keywords: beauty products; clothing; consumer products; entertainment; fashion; marketing industry; retailing; health care; advertising; media

June 2020 (Revised January 2024)
Case

TraceTogether

By: Mitchell B. Weiss and Sarah Mehta

By April 7, 2020, over 1.4 million people worldwide had contracted the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Governments raced to curb the spread of COVID-19 by scaling up testing, quarantining those infected, and tracing their possible contacts. It had taken Singapore’s... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Contact Tracing; Government Administration; Crisis Management; Health; Health Pandemics; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Social Issues; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Technology Adoption; Health Industry; Public Administration Industry; Singapore