Publications

Find at Harvard

01 Oct 2013
News

A View from the US

March 2015
Teaching Note

Gerry Pasciucco at AIG Financial Products

By: Gautam Mukunda and Thomas J. DeLong

Keywords: Accountability; Business ＆ Government Relations; Business Ethics; Codes Of Business Ethics; Crisis Management; Cross Functional Management; Cross Functional Teams; Financial Audits; Financial Crisis; Management; Teams; United States

2014
Working Paper

Monitoring Public Procurement: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design in Chile

By: Maria Paula Gerardino, Stephan Litschig and Dina D. Pomeranz

The government is the biggest buyer in the economy of most countries. At the same time, the public procurement process if often thought to be fraught with corruption and malpractice. However, there is little evidence regarding the impact of audits aimed at reducing... View Details

Keywords: Procurement; Chile; Corruption; Public Finance; Public Procurement; Public Sector; Public Administration Industry; Chile

2011
Working Paper

Non-Audit Services and Financial Reporting Quality: Evidence from 1978-1980

By: Kevin Koh, Shiva Rajgopal and Suraj Srinivasan

We provide evidence for the long-standing concern on auditor conflicts of interest from providing non-audit services (NAS) to audit clients by using rarely explored NAS fee data from 1978 to 1980. Using this earlier setting, we find cross-sectional evidence of improved... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Financial Reporting; Stocks; Price; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Service Delivery; Quality; Research

SSRN

26 Jun 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Contracting in the Self-reporting Economy

Keywords: by Romana L. Autrey & Richard Sansing; Accounting

2013
Article

Non-Audit Services and Financial Reporting Quality: Evidence from 1978–1980

By: Kevin Koh, Shiva Rajgopal and Suraj Srinivasan

We provide evidence for the long-standing concern on auditor conflicts of interest from providing non-audit services (NAS) to audit clients by using rarely explored NAS fee data from 1978 to 1980. Using this earlier setting, we find cross-sectional evidence of improved... View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Financial Reporting; Accounting Audits; Knowledge Dissemination; Quality; Corporate Disclosure; Motivation and Incentives

SSRN

Find at Harvard

2012
Chapter

Integrated Reporting Requires Integrated Assurance

By: Robert G. Eccles, Michael P. Krzus and Liv A. Watson

In the wake of the recent financial crisis, increasing the effectiveness of auditing has weighed heavily on the minds of those responsible for governance. When a business is profitable and paying healthy dividends to its stockholders, fraudulent activities and... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Crime and Corruption; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Governance Compliance; Organizational Culture; Management Systems; Laws and Statutes; Information Management; Accounting Audits; Financial Crisis

April 2004 (Revised September 2007)
Case

Accounting Fraud at WorldCom

By: Robert S. Kaplan and David Kiron

The principal players in WorldCom's accounting fraud included CFO Scott Sullivan, the General Accounting and Internal Audit departments, external auditor Arthur Andersen, and the board of directors. The case provides sufficient detail to allow for a full discussion of... View Details

Keywords: Governance Controls; Governing and Advisory Boards; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Financial Reporting; Organizational Culture; Corporate Governance; Accounting Audits

October 2011 (Revised December 2013)
Case

Lehman Brothers and Repo 105

By: Anette Mikes, Gwen Yu and Dominique Hamel

The collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 was the largest bankruptcy in US history. The case examines the economics of the off-balance sheet transactions Lehman undertook prior to the collapse, and highlights the corporate governance challenges in situations where firms... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Policy; Accounting Audits; Corporate Governance; Financial Instruments; Risk Management; Financial Services Industry

03 Mar 2003
What Do You Think?

Are Conditions Right for the Next Accounting Scandal?

auditors and audit committees whose mutual survival depends on each other, overly complicated accounting and tax systems, and the nature of the reporting relationships between internal auditors and those responsible for the integrity of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Accounting; Financial Services

May 2022
Case

What to Propose?

By: David G. Fubini

Two audit and financial services firms, one of which your consulting firm has supported extensively, have merged to create one of the largest audit firms in the world. The audit firm's Executive Team has requested proposals aimed at re-evaluating their internal... View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Professional Services; Governance; Presentations; Organizational Structure; Transition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Consulting Industry

August 2010
Supplement

Batson International, S.A. (B)

By: David F. Hawkins

A surprise internal audit of a division's accounting practices reveals a number of possible earnings management and accounting irregularities. View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Earnings Management; Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Standards; United States

October 2021
Case

Financial Reporting at Mattel

By: Aiyesha Dey, Trung Nguyen, Marshal Herrmann and Julia Kelley

In September 2020, Diana Ferguson was nearing her first Audit Committee meeting as the newly appointed Audit Committee chair of Mattel, Inc. Mattel was just recovering from an accounting scandal which had revealed the company’s poor internal controls and weak board... View Details

07 Mar 2013
HBS Seminar

Mike Toffel, Harvard Business School

08 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

A Bold Proposal for Investment Reform

recent Harvard Business Review article, "How the Quest for Efficiency Corroded the Market," proposes a number of radical remedies including tax breaks for long-term investors, the establishment of an investor's union, and making stock exchanges responsible... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

August 2010
Supplement

Batson International, S.A. (C)

By: David F. Hawkins

Senior management must sign a management letter. An internal audit reveals a number of questionable accounting practices (B case). How should senior management respond? View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Managerial Roles; Standards; United States

October 1981 (Revised April 1984)
Case

H.J. Heinz Co.: The Administration of Policy (C)

Presents a condensation of the audit committee's recommendations for organizational and policy changes to help prevent a recurrence of improper income transferal practices used at the H.J. Heinz Co. View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Accounting Audits; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry

February 2003 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Arthur Andersen LLP

By: David F. Hawkins and Jacob Cohen

This case highlights the history of Arthur Andersen and the collapse of the firm following the Enron Corp. audit and the Department of Justice obstruction of justice conviction. View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Financial Statements; Business Exit or Shutdown; Lawfulness; United States