Publications

November 2017
Teaching Note

Generating Higher Value at IBM (A) and (B)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 215-058 and 215-059. View Details

Keywords: Dividends; Share Repurchases; Earnings Guidance; Financial Statement Analysis; Financial Ratios; Payout Policy; Earnings Per Share (EPS); Earnings Management; Change Management; Leadership; Transformation; Financial Strategy

2020
Discussion Paper

Acting Now While Preparing for Tomorrow: Competitiveness Upgrading Under the Shadow of COVID-19

By: Christian H.M. Ketels and Peter Clinch

This paper aims to provide policy makers, especially those focused on the longer-term growth potential of their countries, with an initial framework to think about their action priorities in the context of the overall COVID-19 response. Our focus is on the... View Details

Keywords: Competitiveness; COVID-19 Pandemic; Competition; Government Administration; Health Pandemics; Economy; Supply Chain; Safety

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January 4, 2019
Article

How Companies Can Balance Social Impact and Financial Goals

By: Marya L. Besharov, Wendy K. Smith and Michael Tushman

It’s notoriously difficult for a business to manage two separate-but-equal goals—making money and creating social value at the same time, for example, or managing an existing business at the same time that you invent a new one. Most attempts at managing these... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Profit; Decision Making

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October 1990 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Taxing Situations: Two Cases on Income Taxes and Financial Reporting

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

Two whimsical situations are described to provide illustrations of situations where income taxes paid differ from the income tax expense that might be included in financial reports. In addition to illustrating that financial reported income may differ from taxable... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Accounting Audits; Financial Statements; Financial Reporting; Decisions; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

Forthcoming
Article

Legislators' Demand for Firms' Financial Statements: Evidence from U.S. Congressional Redistricting Events

By: Matthew Ma, Jing Pan, Ethan Rouen and Laura Wellman

We investigate whether U.S. House representatives and their staff seek financial information from constituent firms to inform their legislative decisions. We exploit shifts in U.S. congressional districts (i.e., the reconfiguration of federal district lines or... View Details

Keywords: Redistricting; Lobbying; Legislators; Voting Behavior; Corporate Disclosure; Government Legislation; Voting; Behavior

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Article

Financial Statements: Signposts as Well as Milestones

By: Henry B. Reiling and John C. Burton

Keywords: Financial Statements

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23 Sep 2008
Working Paper Summaries

New Framework for Measuring and Managing Macrofinancial Risk and Financial Stability

Keywords: by Dale F. Gray, Robert C. Merton & Zvi Bodie

May 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Hubei Lantian (A)

By: David F. Hawkins, Michael Shih-Ta Chen and Nancy Hua Dai

Emily Wang, an analyst with Future Securities, a Shanghai-based investment firm, is given the task of making stock purchase recommendations to her supervisor from a number of Chinese common stocks. One stock in particular, Hubei Lantian Co., Ltd. (Hubei Lantian),... View Details

Keywords: Financial Analysis; Ratio Analysis

November 2010
Teaching Note

Citigroup 2007: Financial Reporting and Regulatory Capital (TN)

By: Edward J. Riedl, Suraj Srinivasan and Sharon Katz

Teaching Note for 111041. View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Capital; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Financial Services Industry

April 2014
Teaching Note

Jiangxi Agribusiness: (TN)

By: David F. Hawkins

[TN for 114-039] Emily Wang, an analyst with Future Securities, a Shanghai-based investment firm, is given the task of making stock purchase recommendations to her supervisor from a number of Chinese common stocks. One stock in particular, Jiangxi Agribusiness... View Details

Keywords: Financial Analysis; Ratio Analysis

July 2012 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Dragonfly Corporation

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Jim Sharpe

After 3 years of losses and under legal threats from their landlord, a husband and wife team are faced with shutting the company down, buying time with the landlord or turning to their parents for additional funds. Despite opening a new location and seeing that sales... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurial Management; Turnarounds; Bankruptcy; Bank Loan; Crisis Management; Family Business; Retail Trade; Financial Crisis; Financial Analysis; Entrepreneurship; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Retail Industry; United States

2010
Chapter

Measuring and Managing Macrofinancial Risk and Financial Stability: A New Framework

By: Dale F. Gray, Robert C. Merton and Zvi Bodie

This paper proposes a new approach to improve the way central banks can analyze and manage the financial risks of a national economy. It is based on the modern theory and practice of contingent claims analysis (CCA), which is successfully used today at the level of... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Economy; Financial Condition; Central Banking; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Practices and Processes; Risk Management; Measurement and Metrics; System Shocks

September 1994 (Revised June 2017)
Case

Chemalite, Inc. (B): Cash Flow Analysis

By: Robert Simons and Antonio Davila

Students are asked to use actual and pro forma financial statements to prepare a statement of cash flows under both the direct and indirect method. View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow Analysis; Strategy Execution; Management Control Systems; Analysis; Cash Flow; Financial Statements

December 2008
Case

Merrimack Tractors and Mowers: LIFO or FIFO?

By: William J. Bruns Jr., Sharon Bruns and Susan S. Hameling

At Merrimack Tractors and Mowers in 2008, product manufacturing costs are increasing faster than competitors' costs, and as a result earnings are likely to fall below those reported in 2007. The company president and the company controller have discussed this problem,... View Details

Keywords: International; Financial; Reporting; Standards; Inventory; Business Ethics; Assets; Valuation; Ethics; Taxation; Financial Reporting; Manufacturing Industry

January 2014 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Showdown at Cracker Barrel

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Tim Gray

In the fall of 2011, activist investor, Sardar Biglari, has acquired nearly 10% ownership in the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain. He believes that the board and senior management have failed and the company has underperformed relative to its peers. When he is denied a... View Details

May 2011
Article

Consequences and Institutional Determinants of Unregulated Corporate Financial Statements: Evidence from Embedded Value Reporting

By: George Serafeim

I analyze Embedded Value (EV) reporting by firms with life insurance operations to assess the impact of unregulated financial reporting on transparency and to examine the institutional characteristics that promote unregulated reporting. Under EV accounting the present... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Reporting; Cash Flow; Contracts; Equity; Profit; Value; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business Earnings

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May 1998
Case

Data Saver Inc.

By: David F. Hawkins

An inventor must prepare financial statements to obtain financing for the commercial use of his invention. View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Financial Statements

October 2012
Case

Ribbons an' Bows, Inc.

By: David F. Hawkins

The basic concepts of accounting are explored while students prepare the financial statements for a retailer's first three months of business. View Details

Keywords: Basic Accounting Concepts; Fair Value; Fair Value Accounting; Financial Statements; Retail Industry

March 2020
Case

Minneapolis Star Tribune

By: Joseph L. Bower, Elizabeth Hansen and Michael Norris

In the summer of 2019, Mike Klingensmith, CEO of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Twin Cities metro region’s largest newspaper, reviewed subscription trends and plans for future experimentation. The newspaper industry across the U.S. had suffered a steep decline for... View Details

Keywords: Financial Performance; Industry Evolution; Business Earnings; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Journalism and News Industry; Minnesota