Publications

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Student-Profile

Fanele Mashwama

Fanele Mashwama (he/him) first arrived at Harvard as an undergraduate. While earning his philosophy degree, he simultaneously worked in the central bank of his home country of eSwatini, where he became more and more interested in the... View Details

October 1999 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Coca-Cola Company (A), The

By: David F. Hawkins

In order to fully appreciate Coca-Cola's profitability, financial risk, and operating risk, Jane Wilson, a security analyst, is considering preparing a consolidated financial statement for Coca-Cola analyzing Coca-Cola Enterprises as a fully consolidated entity. View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Financial Statements; Business Earnings; History; Private Sector; Business Units; Consolidation; Organizations; Operations; Private Ownership; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

August 2024
Case

Quickmart: Sustaining Growth in a Challenging Economic Environment

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Kuria Kamau

In July 2023, Peter Kang’iri, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Quickmart, Kenya’s second-largest retail chain, sat in his Nairobi office reviewing the company’s first half financial results before the weekly executive committee (EXCO) meeting. The company was in... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Supply Chain; Logistics; Business Strategy; Expansion; Business Earnings; Growth and Development Strategy; Strategic Planning; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Africa; Kenya; Nairobi

November 1989
Teaching Note

H.J. Heinz Co.: The Administration of Policy (A), (B), (C), and (D), Teaching Note

By: Kenneth E. Goodpaster and Thomas R. Piper

Teaching Note for (9-382-034, 035, 036, and 037). View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Management Practices and Processes; Motivation and Incentives; System; Ethics; Policy; Business Divisions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Food and Beverage Industry

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training

01 Mar 2008
News

Class of 2007 Fellowship Awarded

business solutions to poverty. “One day we were talking to villagers who live on $2 a day, and the next day we were meeting with business and government leaders,” recalls Kim. Last summer he built on this... View Details

July 1989 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Kanthal (A)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Multinational company needs an improved cost system to determine the profitability of individual customer orders. Its strategy is to have significant sales and profitability growth without adding additional administrative and support people. The new cost system... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Earnings Management; Cost Management; Financial Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Business or Company Management; Customer Relationship Management; Sales; Business Strategy; Profit; Electronics Industry

April 2005 (Revised October 2006)
Case

David Berman

By: Ananth Raman, Vishal Gaur and Saravanan Kesavan

Examines the decision of a hedge fund manager who is considering investing in a retail stock. The protagonist is concerned about the retailer's inventory level. Explores the relationship between the retailer's inventory and future earnings--and, hence, the relationship... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Stocks; Price; Supply Chain Management; Investment

March 1990 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Analog Devices, Inc.: The Half-Life System

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The company has committed to major improvements in quality, cost, and on-time delivery performance. Despite strong senior management support, however, the actual rate of improvement was disappointing until a new measurement philosophy was introduced. The new approach... View Details

Keywords: Quality; Performance Improvement; Earnings Management; Financial Reporting; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Productivity; Business or Company Management; Cost Management; Measurement and Metrics; Management Teams; Semiconductor Industry

June 2004 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Salem Telephone Company

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Julie Hertenstein

A computer subsidiary appears to be unprofitable. Managers must determine whether it is actually unprofitable and consider whether changes in prices or promotion might improve profitability. Allows clear separation of variable costs from fixed costs. A rewritten... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Business Earnings; Cost vs Benefits; Cost Management; Profit; Telecommunications Industry

2010
Working Paper

Lawful but Corrupt: Gaming and the Problem of Institutional Corruption in the Private Sector

By: Malcolm S. Salter

This paper describes how the gaming of society's rules by corporations contributes to the problem of institutional corruption in the world of business. "Gaming" in its various forms involves the use of technically legal means to subvert the intent of society's rules in... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Civil Society or Community; Competitive Advantage; Earnings Management; Trust; Law; Performance; Investment Funds; Private Sector; Behavior; Relationships; Goals and Objectives

Read Now

September 2011 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Sino-Forest (A)

By: David F. Hawkins and David Lane

Chinese company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange is accused of fraud by a hedge fund. View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Crime and Corruption; Financial Markets; Investment Funds; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; China

Article

Signaling Firm Performance Through Financial Statement Presentation: An Analysis Using Special Items

By: Edward J. Riedl and Suraj Srinivasan

This paper investigates whether managers' presentation of special items within the financial statements reflects economic performance or opportunism. Specifically, we assess special items presented as a separate line item on the income statement (income statement... View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Financial Statements; Economics; Performance; Research; Opportunities; Business Earnings; Motivation and Incentives

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01 Dec 2001
News

Faculty News

Most Remarkable Entrepreneur; John P. Kotter on What Leaders Really Do; and Leading Change. A graduate of MIT, where he also earned an MS degree in 1970, Kotter received his DBA from HBS in 1972. Richard F. Meyer, the Thomas D. Casserly,... View Details

Keywords: reunions; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

Profile

Donna Khalife

Why was earning your MBA at HBS important to you? Earning my MBA at HBS was critical in giving me the right environment to explore my passions and gain new skills to pursue those passions whole-heartedly.... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment / Media; Entrepreneurship

June 1977 (Revised September 1992)
Case

Sorenson Research Co. (Abridged)

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Presents the issues facing a high volume, high margin (but lightweight) medical products business. The company is trying to improve its inventory control to reduce inventory investment and improve service. The present multi-site inventory system is described and major... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Investment; Volume; Service Delivery; Supply Chain; Performance Improvement; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

01 Mar 2009
News

HBS Posts Strong Results in 2008

The business of business education produced another year of strong results for HBS during fiscal 2008, which ended last June. Applications for the core MBA Program reached a five-year high of 8,661, and the... View Details

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

01 Dec 2022
News

Road to Recovery

biggest barrier—and this sounds crazy—is the lack of a billing code for contingency management.” A participant who remains substance-free and follows a treatment plan can earn up to $100 a month (up to $599 per year) for making healthy... View Details

Keywords: April White; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

February 2009
Article

Optimal Reserve Management and Sovereign Debt

By: Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk

Most models currently used to determine optimal foreign reserve holdings take the level of international debt as given. However, given the sovereign's willingness-to-pay incentive problems, reserve accumulation may reduce sustainable debt levels. In addition, assuming... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Motivation and Incentives; Decisions; Emerging Markets; Balance and Stability; Earnings Management; Policy; Interest Rates; International Finance; Cost