Accounting & Management

Accounting & Management

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    • May 2025
    • Case

    Humana Commits to Value-Based Care

    By: V.G. Narayanan, Henry Eyring and David Lane

    In late 2023, CEO Bruce Broussard reviewed health insurer Humana’s transformation into a value-based care ecosystem. Under its CenterWell brand, the several millions of members in Humana Medicare Advantage plans now had access to Humana-provided primary care, home care, behavioral health, and mail order pharmacy services. Innovative partnerships with private equity firms had helped finance the acquisition and operations of key CenterWell assets. Broussard and his top team now convened to review the merits of a potential acquisition of a large group of primary care clinics. The discussion centered on how best to build further on and integrate Humana’s successes to date in value-based care delivery.

    • May 2025
    • Case

    Humana Commits to Value-Based Care

    By: V.G. Narayanan, Henry Eyring and David Lane

    In late 2023, CEO Bruce Broussard reviewed health insurer Humana’s transformation into a value-based care ecosystem. Under its CenterWell brand, the several millions of members in Humana Medicare Advantage plans now had access to Humana-provided primary care, home care, behavioral health, and mail order pharmacy services. Innovative partnerships...

    • April 2025
    • Case

    Velong: Rethinking “Made in China” (B)

    By: Krishna G. Palepu, Billy Chan and Nancy Dai

    After much deliberation, the founders of Velong formed a joint venture with two local partners in India as they calculated that India could remain intact amidst the rising tensions over trade between the U.S. and China. By choosing India to diversify away from China, the founders now had to tackle the challenges that they once experienced in their Chinese factory more than two decades ago when China had not yet become a manufacturing superpower. Could their operation thrive in India?

    • April 2025
    • Case

    Velong: Rethinking “Made in China” (B)

    By: Krishna G. Palepu, Billy Chan and Nancy Dai

    After much deliberation, the founders of Velong formed a joint venture with two local partners in India as they calculated that India could remain intact amidst the rising tensions over trade between the U.S. and China. By choosing India to diversify away from China, the founders now had to tackle the challenges that they once experienced in their...

    • 2025
    • Working Paper

    With a Little Help from My Family: Informal Startup Financing

    By: Brian K. Baik, Johan Ludvig S. Karlsen and Katja Kisseleva

    Using Norwegian administrative data, we identify family equity investments in startups and examine their effects on investor returns and firm behavior. Informal investors earn lower returns than external individuals, and the firms they back are less likely to secure institutional financing or achieve a successful exit. These startups also follow more conservative strategies. Instrumental variable estimates suggest that family members do not cause conservative behavior; rather, they select into firms that take fewer risks. Additional tests support altruism as the driving motive. Informal capital is thus a behaviorally distinct source of startup funding, shaped by relational and non-pecuniary objectives.

    • 2025
    • Working Paper

    With a Little Help from My Family: Informal Startup Financing

    By: Brian K. Baik, Johan Ludvig S. Karlsen and Katja Kisseleva

    Using Norwegian administrative data, we identify family equity investments in startups and examine their effects on investor returns and firm behavior. Informal investors earn lower returns than external individuals, and the firms they back are less likely to secure institutional financing or achieve a successful exit. These startups also follow...

About the Unit

The Accounting & Management unit at Harvard Business School strives to be the worldwide leader in research, course development, and teaching on top managements' use of performance measurement systems to:

  • Communicate with external investors to ensure that their firms' securities are fairly priced and that they are able to access capital,
  • Measure and evaluate their firms' economic performance,
  • Improve resource allocation and strategy implementation within their firms, and
  • Build accountability for performance through effective external and internal governance.

Unit research, course development, and teaching fall into two broad areas: Financial Reporting and Analysis and Management Accounting. Our research helps scholars and educators understand current best practices for the design and use of performance measurement systems that help managers to build more effective, value-creating organizations. Our teaching materials enable us to bring the results of this research into the classroom, and to practice.

Recent Publications

Humana Commits to Value-Based Care

By: V.G. Narayanan, Henry Eyring and David Lane
  • May 2025 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
In late 2023, CEO Bruce Broussard reviewed health insurer Humana’s transformation into a value-based care ecosystem. Under its CenterWell brand, the several millions of members in Humana Medicare Advantage plans now had access to Humana-provided primary care, home care, behavioral health, and mail order pharmacy services. Innovative partnerships with private equity firms had helped finance the acquisition and operations of key CenterWell assets. Broussard and his top team now convened to review the merits of a potential acquisition of a large group of primary care clinics. The discussion centered on how best to build further on and integrate Humana’s successes to date in value-based care delivery.
Keywords: Business Model; Business Units; Financing and Loans; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Health Industry; United States
Related

Velong: Rethinking “Made in China” (B)

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Billy Chan and Nancy Dai
  • April 2025 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
After much deliberation, the founders of Velong formed a joint venture with two local partners in India as they calculated that India could remain intact amidst the rising tensions over trade between the U.S. and China. By choosing India to diversify away from China, the founders now had to tackle the challenges that they once experienced in their Chinese factory more than two decades ago when China had not yet become a manufacturing superpower. Could their operation thrive in India?
Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Globalization; Operations; Supply Chain Management; Risk Management; Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; China; India
Related

Setting a CEO Agenda: Ole Rosgaard at Greif

By: Krishna Palepu and Kerry Herman
  • April 2025 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
Since taking over as CEO of industrial packaging giant Greif, Ole Rosgaard has focused on growing the company and improving the perception of its value by the capital markets. He and his senior leadership team have made inroads to this end, including adjusting the company’s portfolio mix to higher-margin businesses and affirming and strengthening Greif’s strong culture. In partnership with the company’s board chair, Rosgaard worked to make changes to the board composition and board routines to create more board engagement with the company’s strategy and transformation. Have these efforts been enough?
Keywords: Leadership; Valuation; Governing and Advisory Boards; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; North America; Europe
Related

With a Little Help from My Family: Informal Startup Financing

By: Brian K. Baik, Johan Ludvig S. Karlsen and Katja Kisseleva
  • 2025 |
  • Working Paper |
  • Faculty Research
Using Norwegian administrative data, we identify family equity investments in startups and examine their effects on investor returns and firm behavior. Informal investors earn lower returns than external individuals, and the firms they back are less likely to secure institutional financing or achieve a successful exit. These startups also follow more conservative strategies. Instrumental variable estimates suggest that family members do not cause conservative behavior; rather, they select into firms that take fewer risks. Additional tests support altruism as the driving motive. Informal capital is thus a behaviorally distinct source of startup funding, shaped by relational and non-pecuniary objectives.
Keywords: Early Stage Finance; Informal Investment; Entrepreneurship; Household Finance; Risk Taking
Related

Salesforce Agentforce: The Limitless Workforce

By: Suraj Srinivasan, George Gonzalez and Allison Ciechanover
  • April 2025 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
As Cloud CRM leader Salesforce introduces GenAI agents, they grapple with new pricing strategies and organizational shifts.
Keywords: Technology Industry; United States
Related

Silicon Valley Bank: Gone in 36 Hours

By: Jung Koo Kang, Krishna G. Palepu, Charles C.Y. Wang and David Lane
  • March 2025 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
This case examines factors contributing to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March 2023, an event as unpredicted as it was quick. SVB funded nearly half of all U.S. venture-backed startups and at the end of 2022 held $173 billion in deposits, largely comprising the venture capital those startups had raised. On February 28, 2023, Moody’s warned SVB about a potential credit rating downgrade, reflecting concerns over "funding, liquidity, and profitability" which factored in substantial unrealized losses on SVB’s debt securities. To strengthen its balance sheet, SVB sold $21 billion in securities on March 8, but the move shocked its customers, as it resulted in a realized loss of $2 billion. The ensuing bank run intensified as SVB proved unable to placate investor fears or raise capital to plug that hole, and SVB was placed in receivership on the morning of March 10. Finger-pointing began immediately. Some argued that misguided pressure from Moody’s over the fair value of SVB’s debt securities prompted the bank’s death spiral. Others blamed SVB management and directors, its regulators, and the venture capitalists whom SVB otherwise benefited. What went wrong, and what lessons could be learned?
Keywords: Accounting Standards; Bank Runs; Financial Accounting; Financial Reporting; Social Media; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Investment Portfolio; Interest Rates; Debt Securities; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Statements; Risk Management; Failure; Fair Value Accounting; Credit; Corporate Governance; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; United States
Related

Perplexity: Redefining Search

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Michelle Hu, Sriraghav Srinivasan and Radhika Kak
  • March 2025 (Revised April 2025) |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
By early 2025, Perplexity had rapidly evolved from a modest startup into a popular "answer engine" valued at $9 billion. The company had boldly positioned itself as the disruptor to Google aiming to redefine search for the AI age. Through novel AI orchestration—combining custom-built indexes, real-time retrieval systems, and language models—Perplexity delivered answers to complex queries, challenging Google's dominance in traditional search. The company differentiated itself by emphasizing user-centricity, speed, and quality, intentionally foregoing advertising-based monetization. Deep Research, Pro Search, and Comet (an AI-native web browser) had helped it make inroads into both consumer and enterprise segments globally. Yet, as Perplexity scaled, the company faced tough choices in preserving its ad-free, user-centric approach versus exploring monetization strategies, such as advertising. Maintaining user trust and platform simplicity was becoming increasingly complex in the fiercely competitive AI search market. Additionally, high execution velocity and expanding into enterprise markets required significant investment in security and infrastructure, intensifying the pressure to stay ahead of competitors like OpenAI and Google. The case illustrates the tension between maintaining a trusted, unbiased product experience and pursuing monetization strategies such as advertising. It emphasizes the importance of aligning revenue models with core brand promises to sustain long-term user trust and growth.
Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Venture Capital; Innovation Leadership; Technological Innovation; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Competitive Strategy; Technology Industry; United States
Related

Taylor Guitars: Making Employee Ownership Work The Taylor Way

By: Dennis Campbell, Petros Kusmu and Stacy Straaberg
  • March 2025 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
In 2013, guitar manufacturer Taylor Guitars’ co-founders Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug were considering several exit options including selling to a competitor or to a private equity firm. The co-founders decided, instead, to embark on a seven-year process to transfer 100% of the ownership of the company from themselves and third owner partner Andy Powers to Taylor Guitars employees. The co-founders felt an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) would best preserve the company’s values and distinct culture. In 2024, the co-founders, Powers (now president and CEO), CFO Barbara Wight, and Vice President of Human Resources Shaun Paluczak took time to reflect on the ESOP. Many employees were still unclear about what the ESOP meant for them, with some likening it to a retirement plan. The challenge for the leadership team was how to activate employees’ sense of ownership in the company to enhance Taylor Guitars’ performance.
Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Communication Strategy; Strategy; Announcements; Decisions; Music Entertainment; Values and Beliefs; Borrowing and Debt; Geographic Location; Global Range; Governance; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Management Style; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Private Ownership; Business Strategy; Management Succession; Manufacturing Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; California; San Diego; Mexico; Netherlands
Related
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Accounting & Management Unit
Harvard Business School
Morgan Hall
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
A&M@hbs.edu