Publications

November 2012 (Revised July 2013)
Case

Gerry Pasciucco at AIG Financial Products

By: Gautam Mukunda and Thomas J. DeLong

Gerry Pasciucco was appointed to lead American International Group's Financial Products (AIGFP) group after the government bailout of AIG in 2008 and charged with the task of shutting down the division while minimizing the government's losses. AIGFP's failed trades had... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Accountability; Ethics; Crisis Management; Financial Crisis; Management Teams; Business and Government Relations; Financial Services Industry; United States

July 2007 (Revised July 2008)
Case

The Beijing Dream

By: Arthur I Segel, Voon Siang Lee, Jialei Tian and Ying Laura Wang

The purchase of a single-family home is generally the major investment for most young couples in China. Shows in detail the process that a young couple goes through in late April 2007 to find, finance, and close on an apartment in Beijing within what they believe to be... View Details

Keywords: Property; Investment; Cost; Emerging Markets; Financing and Loans; Acquisition; Activity Based Costing and Management; Internet and the Web; Management Practices and Processes; Real Estate Industry; Beijing; United States

August 2010 (Revised February 2012)
Case

Cosmeticos de Espana, S.A. (A)

By: David F. Hawkins

Management must decide which exchange rate to use to consolidate the company's Venezuelan subsidiary. View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Business Subsidiaries; Inflation and Deflation; Currency Exchange Rate; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Spain; Venezuela

25 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 25

of tomorrow's innovative new products, arguing that companies must reinvest in new product and process development in the U.S. industrial sector. Only by reviving this "industrial commons" can the world's largest economy build... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

21 Nov 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, November 21, 2017

associated with the index, rather than direct-pecuniary or capital-market benefits. Back-of-the-envelope estimates suggest that the index-inclusion incentives accounted for 16% of the average increase in aggregate annual earnings and 20%... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 14, 2007

clients and employees who felt betrayed by the firm's apparent misconduct. He must confront some tough decisions about recently uncovered questions concerning the handling of certain accounting transactions three years earlier and about... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Sep 2005
Research & Ideas

The Broadband Explosion: Thinking About a Truly Interactive World

invitation-only conferences are convened every few years (the one before this one was in 1995); the idea is to bring together a critical mass of the best thinkers in these industries for an intense session of discussion and debate.... View Details

Keywords: by Sara Grant; Technology; Communications; Telecommunications

28 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 28

the paper: http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0042673 Mandatory IFRS Adoption and Financial Statement Comparability Authors: Francois Brochet, Alan Jagolinzer, and Edward J. Riedl Publication: Contemporary Accounting Research... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2020 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Governing PG&E

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

The five commissioners of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) listened intently at a public forum in April 2019 as PG&E Corporation’s out-going chairman Richard Kelly described the company’s proposed new board. PG&E, which provided electricity and natural... View Details

November 2004 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Musimundo

By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez and James Robert Dillon

Mario Quintana, managing partner of Pegasus Capital, was preparing for the upcoming Musimundo board of directors meeting. He was satisfied with the investment decisions of the entertainment retailer, as actual performance surpassed the initial budget. However, given a... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Partners and Partnerships; Performance Evaluation; Budgets and Budgeting; Retail Industry; Spain

20 Aug 2007
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Using Investor Relations Proactively

"While the energy industry has been in the forefront of a demand for more information from a broad group of stakeholders, this demand is becoming more and more common across almost all firms. Thus, the oil companies are likely... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Energy; Utilities

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

October 2017 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Snap Inc. Goes Public (A)

By: Lynn Sharp Paine and Will Hurwitz

Snap Inc.’s chairman must decide how to address investor concerns about the company’s unprecedented plans to issue only non-voting shares in its upcoming IPO. The case is set in early 2017 following the public availability of Snap’s IPO filing with the U.S. Securities... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Capital Structure; Corporate Accountability; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Going Public; Business and Shareholder Relations; Leadership; Management; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Venture Capital; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United States; California

15 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

High Ambition Leadership

to study must have had a compounded annual growth rate in revenues, profits, and market capitalization that exceeded the 50th percentile of industry peers between 1997 and 2006 or for the CEO's tenure. Corresponding figures were used for... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

06 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

Why Businesses Need a Language Strategy

highest levels of their industry and ask them to learn the basics of another language that you want to make the basis of communication in your company? Aren't they going to feel like a student in high school? Tsedal Neeley: I've written... View Details

Keywords: Re: Tsedal Neeley

04 May 2009
Research & Ideas

What’s Next for the Big Financial Brands

to advertise when media stories of trips and bonuses remind consumers of their extravagance and malfeasance? For consumers to change banks is burdensome but they can easily move assets among their accounts at different firms. No... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Banking; Financial Services

June 2003 (Revised October 2006)
Case

George McClelland at KSR (A)

By: Joshua D. Margolis, Ayesha Kanji and Wan Wong

George McClelland accepts a position as the chief administrative officer/chief operating officer at Kendall Square Research (KSR), a fledgling computer company that is taking its promising parallel computer technology to market. McClelland is a veteran of the computer... View Details

Keywords: History; Technological Innovation; Leadership; Business History; Accounting; Problems and Challenges; Business Strategy; Growth and Development; Computer Industry; Computer Industry