Publications

01 Apr 1997
News

As any music industry executive will tell you, rock-and-roll drives the business. And as any ten-year-old with a boom box knows, the guitar rules rock. So when it comes to pop music's signature instrument, even though he may lack flashy... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons

01 Oct 1999
News

Eight Among Many: Nancy J. Karch

several areas. Working with a few retailers as a young principal at the firm in the early 1980s, she realized that retailing, which represents one-third of the American economy, could benefit from McKinsey's management expertise. "The timing was terrific, because the... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

Article

Managing Healthcare Costs and Value

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Michael E. Porter and Mark L. Frigo

Rising health care costs are a major global challenge. A number of factors contribute to this trend, including aging populations and medical technology. But an underlying and misunderstood source of health care’s escalating costs has been the inability of health care... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Cost Management; Cost Accounting; Health Industry

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Profile

Carol Lauson

Junior Achievement project, and in high school, membership in the Business Professionals of America, which took her all the way to the nationals in a business exam competition. "I like numbers," Carol says, "so I was naturally attracted to View Details

2008
Working Paper

An Investigation of Earnings Management through Marketing Actions

By: Craig James Chapman and Thomas J. Steenburgh

Prior research hypothesizes managers use "real actions," including the reduction of discretionary expenditures, to manage earnings to meet or beat key benchmarks. This paper examines this hypothesis by testing how different types of marketing expenditures are used... View Details

Keywords: Performance Expectations; Earnings Management; Marketing Strategy; Financial Reporting; Brands and Branding; Food and Beverage Industry

SSRN

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August 2002 (Revised August 2003)
Case

Electronic Arts Introduces The Sims Online

By: Youngme E. Moon

Electronic Arts (EA), the world's largest independent game publisher, is preparing to launch an online, subscription-based version of the most popular PC game in history: The Sims. The new game is called "The Sims Online" and it differs from the original game in two... View Details

Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; Decision Making; Price; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Internet; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

August 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Supplement

Urban Water Partners (A) (CW)

By: Karthik Ramanna and George Serafeim

The case explores a new venture to bring clean water to Tanzanians who otherwise cannot access or afford it. Management has enough money to get their company through August 2010, but needs more capital. An HBS alum is interested in investing in the company;... View Details

Keywords: Human Needs; Accrual Accounting; Financial Statements; Health Industry; Health Industry; Dar es Salaam

April 1997
Case

Peoria Engine Plant (A): (Abridged)

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Amy P. Hutton

Describes the cost control system used at an automobile engine plant for labor and overhead costs. The finance staff prepares daily, weekly, and monthly variance reports against budgets. Department supervisors, finance staff, and the plant manager discuss the use and... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Cost Management; Financial Reporting; Performance Improvement; Budgets and Budgeting; Auto Industry

20 Aug 2013
First Look

First Look: August 20

too volatile given the mean reversion in earnings. We show that high current ship earnings are associated with high secondhand ship prices and heightened industry investment in fleet capacity but forecast low future returns. We propose... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

October 2001 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Anagene, Inc.

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Christina L. Darwall

An entrepreneurial, publicly traded biotech company has begun production and sales of its core product--cartridges that permit DNA samples to be analyzed on a microchip. In the early quarters, sales are difficult to forecast and the company has experienced fluctuating... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Financial Reporting; Production; Performance Capacity; Risk and Uncertainty; Genetics; Governing and Advisory Boards; Biotechnology Industry; California

29 May 2006
What Do You Think?

How Important Is the “Service Sector Effect” on Productivity?

lower paying jobs . . . one look at the American auto industry gives us a glimpse into the future economy." As Daniel Hayes put it: "I see a shakeout coming among low-cost service providers unless they find ways to provide value... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Service

October 2009 (Revised January 2014)
Teaching Note

Genzyme Center (A), (B) & (C)

By: Michael W. Toffel

Teaching Note for [610008], [610009], and [610010]. View Details

Keywords: Environment; Environmental And Social Sustainability; Environmental Operations; Environmental Protection; Environmental Regulation; Standard Setting; Standards; Environmental Accounting; Engineering; Governance; Energy; Economics; Operations; Projects; Social Enterprise; Infrastructure; Construction Industry; Construction Industry; Construction Industry

November 1983 (Revised June 1994)
Case

Controls at the Sands Hotel and Casino

Describes the controls used in the casino over the blackjack game and cash stocks, and movements of cash. Also describes the results measures available in the casino and their limitations for control purposes. View Details

Keywords: Management Systems; Accounting; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

01 Dec 2000
News

Books

a set of entrepreneurial principles individuals can employ to transform their competitive arenas. Done Deals: Venture Capitalists Tell Their Stories, edited by Udayan Gupta, provides a revealing history of the venture capital industry as... View Details

Keywords: Rogelio Fussa; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Publishing Industries (except Internet)

May 1995 (Revised April 1998)
Case

AT&T Paradyne

By: Robert S. Kaplan

A company making data communication devices has adopted a Total Quality philosophy for working with suppliers, employees, and customers. The finance group finds its existing cost system has become obsolete because of a shift from manual to automatic production... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Product; Corporate Accountability; Activity Based Costing and Management; System; Performance Efficiency; Financial Reporting; Operations; Technology Industry; Technology Industry

June 2000
Case

Hollydazzle.com

This case describes the unique underlying economics of a start-up Internet retailing company. It highlights the fact that costs in that setting have a component that varies with volume and thus seriously impacts profitability. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Retail Industry

01 Dec 2013
News

Faculty Q&A: Playing the Hits

if there was a long period between song releases, they had to make sure to fill that time with new visual stimuli for the fans. BY THE NUMBERS Breaking Down the Blockbuster Between 2007 and 2011, Elberse found, Warner Bros. spent $6.5 billion producing movies. The top... View Details

Keywords: Patrick Kirchner; Arts, Entertainment; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

October 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Kmart Corp.

Describes a situation in which a company (Kmart) refinances a portion of its debt. Used to illustrate how the asset and liability sides of the balance sheet are linked. View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Accounting; Borrowing and Debt; Retail Industry