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Charles C.Y. Wang is the Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He is a research member of the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) and an associate editor of Management Science and Journal of Accounting Research,... View Details

16 Jul 2020
News

Q&A: Harvard impact investing expert on proposed ESG rule

February 2018
Case

Health Savings Accounts: Enabling Consumer Participation

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and James Wallace

Health savings accounts (HSAs), a creation of the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, had become an integral part of the drive toward consumer-driven health care. Coupled with high-deductible health plans, HSAs allowed consumers to directly control a significant part of... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Healthcare Costs; Health Insurance; Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Insurance; Innovation and Invention; Health Industry; United States

August 2010 (Revised February 2012)
Supplement

Cosmeticos de Espana, S.A. (B)

By: David F. Hawkins

Second case in the Cosmeticos de Espana case series. What should management's accounting response be to a devaluation of the Bolivar? View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Decision Choices and Conditions; Inflation and Deflation; Currency Exchange Rate; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Spain; Venezuela

July 2004 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Novell: CEO-led Turnaround and Growth Strategy

By: Richard L. Nolan and Robert D. Austin

Novell CEO Jack Messman tried to return the company to its leadership position in the software industry through a strategy that embraces Linux and other open source software. This case serves as an introduction to open source software and strategies based on open... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Value Creation; Open Source Distribution; Applications and Software; Intellectual Property; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

February 2003 (Revised February 2006)
Exercise

Revenue Recognition Exercises

The difference between the Financial Accounting Standards Board's Concept Statements #5 and #6 is explored as it pertains to revenue recognition and expense recognition. View Details

Keywords: Revenue Recognition

Research Summary

Mark Bradshaw examines how sell-side financial analysts incorporate accounting information in their earnings forecasts, common stock valuations, and investment recommendations. In addition, he analyzes management reporting of modified GAAP earnings figures to... View Details

January 2003 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Consulting by Auditors (B): The Compromise and its Fallout

By: Ashish Nanda

This case tracks the evolution from October 2000 to July 2001 of public debate, regulatory decisions, and firm perspectives on the subject of consulting by accounting firms. View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Service Delivery; Accounting Industry; Accounting Industry

04 Dec 2012
First Look

First Look: December 4

managerial practices explain this variation in productivity? A randomized evaluation of the introduction of a mobile-phone based agricultural consulting service, "Avaaj Otalo (AO)" to cotton... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

December 1993 (Revised April 1994)
Case

Polaroid: Managing Environmental Responsibilities and Their Costs

Costs relating to companies' impact on the environment are increasing at a dramatic rate. Thus, managing, measuring, and reporting of these costs has become an important issue for managers. Accounting for environmental responsibilities is one of the largest and most... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Accounting; Environmental Sustainability

KRISHNA G. PALEPU is the Ross Graham Walker Professor of Business Administration, and has served previously as Senior Advisor to the President of Harvard University, and Senior Associate Dean... View Details

Keywords: accounting industry; accounting industry; accounting industry; accounting industry; accounting industry; accounting industry

December 2018 (Revised August 2022)
Teaching Note

Revenue Recognition at HBP

By: Siko Sikochi and Paul Healy

In early 2014, Corporate Learning, one of three business units at Harvard Business Publishing (HBP), was in the process of revamping its flagship product, Harvard Manage-Mentor (HMM) from version 11.0 (HMM11) to version 12.0 (HMM12). The revamped software would be... View Details

Keywords: Accrual Accounting; Budgets and Budgeting; Revenue Recognition; Financial Reporting; Publishing Industry; Education Industry; United States

September 2006 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Timing of Option Grants at UnitedHealth Group (A)

Faced with press allegations that executives' stock options might have been backdated, the Board of UnitedHealth Group needs to determine whether its accounting for the options was proper, and if not, what the restatement amount should be and what... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Ethics; Stock Options; Accounting; Crisis Management; Corporate Governance; Insurance Industry; Health Industry; United States

September 2009
Case

ZINK Imaging: 'Zero Ink™'

By: William A. Sahlman and Sarah Flaherty

"ZINK Imaging" describes the issues confronting CEO Wendy Caswell as she uses a partnership model to commercialize ZINK's disruptive printing technology platform, ZINK Paper. The case focuses on the frameworks ZINK has used to decide which markets to target and which... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Capital; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Marketing Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Horizontal Integration; Technology Industry

March 1993 (Revised March 1994)
Case

Sierra On-Line, Inc. (A)

Sierra On-Line, a fast growing software developer, is criticized by a Forbes journalist for excessively capitalizing software development costs. In contrast to most other software developers that typically capitalize about 20% of R&D costs, Sierra capitalizes 80%.... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Financial Statements; Corporate Finance; Information Technology Industry