More from these Authors

• Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2019

  Trade Secrets Protection and Antitakeover Provisions

  Aiyesha Dey and Joshua White

  We examine whether and why managers strengthen antitakeover provisions when facing an increased threat of being acquired. Our tests exploit the Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine (IDD), which exogenously decreases knowledge-worker mobility, thereby increasing firms’ likelihood of being acquired. Managers respond by increasing specific antitakeover provisions, especially when employees have greater ex-ante mobility. Firms that strengthen antitakeovers experience a reduced takeover likelihood. Cross-sectional tests indicate that firms with higher innovative activity increase antitakeovers more after IDD, and those that do, experience greater ex-post innovation outcomes. Our results are consistent with managers increasing antitakeovers to protect long-term innovation output rather than for private benefits.

  Keywords: Antitakeover provisions; takeover defenses; innovation; trade secrets; Acquisition; Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Intellectual Property; Safety;

  Citation:

  Dey, Aiyesha, and Joshua White. "Trade Secrets Protection and Antitakeover Provisions." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-102, March 2019.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2018 (Revised February 2019)

  Revenue Recognition at HBP

  Paul Healy and Siko Sikochi

  In early 2014, Paul Bills, CFO of Harvard Business Publishing (HBP), sat down with David Wan, the company’s CEO, to discuss budget preparations for the coming year. Bills noted that the performance of Corporate Learning, one of HBP’s three business units, would be affected by a business model change for its largest product that required a change in the timing of revenue recognition. Corporate Learning 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 hosted exclusively on HBP’s server rather than on its clients’ servers, allowing updates to take place continuously. Given the change, accounting standards required HBP to change the recognition of revenue from the date of software delivery (for HMM11) to ratable recognition over its contract life (for HMM12). As Bills and Wan discussed the accounting change, they recognized that its impact on Corporate Learning’s and HBP’s performance could be material and would have to be reflected in the budget. In addition, they wondered how the new accounting would affect the company’s policy for awarding sales incentive compensation on HMM, as well as how they communicated with employees and the firm’s sole shareholder, the Harvard Business School.

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

  Citation:

  Healy, Paul, and Siko Sikochi. "Revenue Recognition at HBP." Harvard Business School Case 119-029, August 2018. (Revised February 2019.)  View Details

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• Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | February 2019

  Rio Tinto vs. the Securities and Exchange Commission

  Aiyesha Dey and Krishna G. Palepu

  Citation:

  Dey, Aiyesha, and Krishna G. Palepu. "Rio Tinto vs. the Securities and Exchange Commission." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 119-078, February 2019.  View Details

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