Publications

Find at Harvard

September 2011 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Building Watson: Not So Elementary, My Dear!

By: Willy Shih

This case is set inside IBM Research's efforts to build a computer that can successfully take on human challengers playing the game show Jeopardy! It opens with the machine named Watson offering the incorrect answer "Toronto" to a seemingly simple question during the... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Standards; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mathematical Methods; Research and Development; Information Technology

22 Sep 2015
News

Putting Entrepreneurial Skills to Work in City Hall

hard to help people, to make a difference in their lives, to make Boston a better place for jobs, a better place for families, and to give chances to kids to reach their full potential. We set, I hope, a bit of a standard for cities... View Details

April 2012
Case

Credit Rating Agency Reform in the US and EU

By: Robert C. Pozen and Brian Conroy

The purpose of this note is to explore reform options for the credit rating industry. The note examines the ways in which credit rating agencies contributed to the recent financial crisis, particularly through ratings of securitized products and sovereign debt. It... View Details

Keywords: Debt Securities; Financial Condition; Standards; Financial Crisis; Corporate Finance; Financial Services Industry; United States; European Union

August 2010 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Batson International, S.A. (A)

By: David F. Hawkins

Management seeking to make up a shortfall in interim period earnings is seeking an accounting solution to close the gap. View Details

Keywords: Earnings Management; Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Financial Management; Standards; United States

2003
Chapter

Designing Sustainability at BMW Group: The Designworks/USA Experience

By: Michael W. Toffel, Natalie Hill and Kellie McElhaney

This case study describes how an industrial design company developed a Sustainability Management System (SMS) standard, designed and implemented an SMS throughout its business, and then became the first company in the world to achieve third-party SMS certification. The... View Details

Keywords: Design; Governance Compliance; Management Practices and Processes; Standards; Environmental Sustainability; United States

Read Now

01 Oct 1999
News

Running on empty

began selling SpareTank in June. Now available at Kmart and other chains for less than $20 a gallon, SpareTank could generate as much as $15 million in sales this year and may soon be adopted as a standard feature by a major automaker.... View Details

17 Jun 2014
News

Shedding light on business issues and opportunities in Asia

development banking at Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, Swiss Bank Corporation, Union Bank of Switzerland, and the Asian Development Bank. He is currently a member of the HBS Asia-Pacific Advisory Board and other boards. (Published June... View Details

01 Mar 2007
News

In Brief

Q&A with Daniel Vasella. Initially regarded by critics as too inexperienced to lead a major pharmaceutical company, Daniel Vasella (PMD 57, 1989) has set a new standard for innovation as CEO of Novartis. The Winning Season. Last year, St.... View Details

Keywords: Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices; Management

September 2008
Teaching Note

Chi Mei Optoelectronics (TN)

By: Willy C. Shih

Teaching Note for [608-123]. View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Information Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Standards; Industry Clusters; Supply Chain; Production; Experience and Expertise; Biotechnology Industry; Chemical Industry; Taiwan; Asia; Korean Peninsula; China

08 Mar 2004
Research & Ideas

Secret to Success: Go for “Just Enough”

Here is an excerpt from the chapter, "The Dangers of Going for the Max." One of the most ironic aspects of the fiftieth anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary's scaling of Mt. Everest was how ephemeral the standards of climbing... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Nash & Howard Stevenson

November 2009 (Revised November 2010)
Case

SIPEF: Biological Assets at Fair Value under IAS 41

This case examines fair value accounting under lAS 41 for a European-listed agricultural firm. Students identify the firm's core operations, distinguishing the IFRS treatment for three distinct assets: land, agricultural assets that reside on the land, and inventory... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Fair Value Accounting; Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Standards; Valuation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Europe

As CEO of Standard Oil of New Jersey, Rathbone is credited for making Jersey Standard into an international company. Seeing problems with an ever increasing dependence on oil from the Middle East, Rathbone... View Details

Keywords: Utilities & Energy

01 Oct 1999
News

Culture Clash: Exploring Cross Cultural Conflicts in Business

organizational values and business ethics, Paine has long focused on American companies engaged primarily in domestic U.S. business. But faced with an increasing number of questions from international students about whether U.S. corporate View Details

Keywords: Judith A. Ross

May 1989 (Revised February 1991)
Supplement

Motorola and Japan (B)

By: David B. Yoffie and John J. Coleman

Updates Motorola and Japan (A) and Motorola and Japan (A), Supplement. A rewrite of two earlier supplements. View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Standards; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Japan

December 2012
Article

Evidence on the Use of Unverifiable Estimates in Required Goodwill Impairment

By: Karthik Ramanna and Ross L. Watts

SFAS 142 requires managers to estimate the current fair value of goodwill to determine goodwill write-offs. In promulgating the standard, the FASB predicted managers will, on average, use the fair value estimates to convey private information on future cash flows. The... View Details

Keywords: Goodwill Impairment; Fair-value Accounting; FASB; SFAS 142; Fair Value Accounting; Standards; Cash Flow; Agency Theory; Motivation and Incentives; Forecasting and Prediction; Goodwill Accounting