Publications

December 2003 (Revised November 2015)
Background Note

The Fiduciary Relationship: A Legal Perspective

By: Lynn Sharp Paine

Discusses the concept of a fiduciary, as developed in the Anglo-American common law tradition, and outlines the principal differences between the legal standard applied to fiduciaries compared to ordinary arms'-length contractors. View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Assets; Financial Management; Common Law; Standards

December 1985 (Revised July 1993)
Case

Scovill, Inc.: NuTone Housing Group

Describes a conflict between the corporate controller and a division president about labor standards, which the division purposefully overstates to protect its margins. Illustrates the multiple roles of standards, and the roles of controllers and line management in... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Standards; Management Teams; Conflict and Resolution

January 1998
Article

Tradeoffs within Costing Systems between Incentives and Measurement Objectives

By: M. Alles, S. Datar and M. Gupta

Keywords: System; Motivation and Incentives; Measurement and Metrics; Goals and Objectives

Find at Harvard

December 1998
Case

Grupo Industrial Bimbo S.A. (1998)

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Srinivas Sunder

A leading Mexican agribusiness firm wants to expand in the United States and other locations. How to do so in a manner that utilizes the strengths of the company? View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Food; Global Strategy; Strength and Weakness; Expansion; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States; Mexico

March 1998 (Revised April 1998)
Case

Lehigh Steel

By: V.G. Narayanan and Laura Donohue

Lehigh Steel is a specialty steel manufacturer that plummeted from record profits to record losses in less than three years, driven by an inability to distinguish between profitable and unprofitable business. The scale and growth of service activities and overhead... View Details

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics; Product; Cost; Activity Based Costing and Management; Profit; Accounting; Corporate Finance; Steel Industry

August 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006

By: Krishna G. Palepu

This case centers around a dispute between the owners and the players regarding the profitability of professional baseball teams in connection with the negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. The case describes the financial statements of the baseball... View Details

Keywords: Accrual Accounting; Financial Statements; Profit; Labor Unions; Measurement and Metrics; Agreements and Arrangements; Performance; Sports Industry; United States

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

October 2005
Case

Wipro Technologies: The Factory Model

Based in Bangalore, Wipro Technologies is a rapidly growing software services company. Wipro is experimenting with a new software service delivery model that draws on the principles of the Toyota production system and "lean" manufacturing. Addresses the advantages and... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Service Operations; Applications and Software; Standards; Information Technology Industry; Bangalore

Web

Real Property - Course Catalog

Students will also gain an introduction to the general vocabulary of the business. The second module examines each of the main property types (office, hotel, industrial, retail, multifamily, single family and senior living), including their general characteristics,... View Details

Web

Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Questions for Hiring Organizations - Alumni

justice concerns in the past year? b. Have you developed specific metrics to measure your progress? Additional Resources for Managers Discover why diversity is an essential component of a successful team — and what you can do to foster... View Details

01 Mar 2015
News

Feedback

budget competing with other projects. I don’t know the feedback use metrics on this application, but I’m hopeful management supports the platform’s further reach into the information maelstrom. I suspect every alum would want access to... View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information; Food Manufacturing; Manufacturing

22 Aug 2016
Blog Post

Section Life: Your HBS Family

my section mates hailed from. Sections are diverse on every metric ranging from work experience to political beliefs to undergraduate fields of study. Because you take all your classes together RC year, diversity is critical to the... View Details

01 Jun 2017
News

Inbox: From Das’s Desk

research has focused on various aspects of customer management in B2B contexts, including customer selection and portfolio management; managing a spectrum of customer engagements, from transactions to long-term relationships; developing appropriate View Details

Keywords: Das Narayandas

01 Dec 2006
News

Rowing Upstream

most of his peers, Coach P used a variety of quantifiable metrics for each rower to determine who would sit in the varsity boat. Says Polzer, “The highest-performing individual rowers typically go in the varsity boat, just as a business... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

01 Sep 2014
News

3-Minute Briefing: Mark Pincus (MBA 1993)

should be a hard-ass and fire people all the time. I definitely was not that kind of CEO. I probably erred on the side of consensus and collaboration. The external environment is a big factor in creating company culture. For us, it is a hard environment. We get our... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; alumni

25 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Has Occupational Licensing Outlived Its Usefulness?

or she will pay. The study, Consumer Protection In An Online World: An Analysis Of Occupational Licensing, is the first to look together at what consumers care about and the effects on demand and metrics of customer satisfaction. It is... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Service

February 1987 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Polysar Limited

By: Robert L. Simons

Canada's largest chemical company produces and markets butyl rubber in two divisions, each treated as a profit center. The new plant in the North American Division operates below capacity resulting in a significant volume variance and an operating loss. The European... View Details

Keywords: Loss; Profit; Financial Management; Volume; Performance Capacity; Financial Statements; For-Profit Firms; Market Participation; Chemical Industry; Rubber Industry; Canada

October 2009 (Revised January 2014)
Teaching Note

Sustainability at Millipore (TN)

By: Michael W. Toffel

Teaching Note for [610012]. View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Organizational Structure; Investment; Projects; Performance Improvement; Framework; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Disclosure; Biotechnology Industry