Publications
Publications
Show Results For
-
All HBS Web
(565)
- Faculty Publications (94)
Page 1 of
94
Results
→
Are you looking for?
Skip to Main Content Cold Call A podcast featuring faculty discussing cases they've written and the lessons they impart. Subscribe on iTunes 29 Sep...
- March 2021 (Revised April 2021)
- Case
Wirecard: The Downfall of a German Fintech Star
By: Jonas Heese, Charles CY Wang and Tonia Labruyere
Wirecard was a German fintech company, member of the DAX30, that provided payment processing and related services. Wirecard had enjoyed large growth rates over the years and most investors and analysts were enthusiastic about the company's prospects. Wirecard's...
View Details
- September 2020
- Case
An Introduction to Money Laundering: 'The Hunter'
By: Eugene Soltes, Guilhem Ros and Grace Liu
Money laundering schemes disguise the criminal origins of an estimated 2% to 5% of the world’s gross domestic product. Money laundering not only enables criminals to escape detection, but may also be used to finance further criminal operations including terrorism. This...
View Details
- Article
The Changing Landscape of Auditors' Liability
By: Colleen Honigsberg, Shivaram Rajgopal and Suraj Srinivasan
We provide a comprehensive overview of shareholder litigation against auditors since the passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA). The number of lawsuits per year has declined, dismissals have increased, and settlements in recent years have...
View Details
- December 2018
- Case
The Global-Local Tension: Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao Leading with 'International Values and Local Roots' (A)
By: Tsedal Neeley
Vittorio Colao, CEO of telecommunication giant Vodafone, must respond to reports of disturbing accounting practices at two of Vodafone’s operating companies. In one case, €60 million have been misreported due to a series of failures to check manual accounting...
View Details
- December 2018
- Supplement
The Global-Local Tension: Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao Leading with 'International Values and Local Roots' (B)
By: Tsedal Neeley
Vittorio Colao, CEO of telecommunication giant Vodafone, must respond to reports of disturbing accounting practices at two of Vodafone’s operating companies. In one case, €60 million have been misreported due to a series of failures to check manual accounting...
View Details
- January 2017
- Case
The Six CEOs of Tyco International Ltd.
By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth
In September 2016, Johnson Controls, Inc. completed the acquisition of Tyco International PLC, a $9.9 billion business with operating profits of $884 million. The purchase consideration was $14.4 billion. Although the deal was billed as a merger, Ireland-based Tyco...
View Details
Keywords:
Tyco;
Dennis Kozlowski;
Edward Breen;
Fire Safety;
Fire Protection;
Security;
Packaging;
Securities And Exchange Commission;
Fraud;
Accounting;
Accounting Audits;
Earnings Management;
Financial Statements;
Goodwill Accounting;
Acquisition;
Mergers and Acquisitions;
Business Conglomerates;
Business Divisions;
Business Exit or Shutdown;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Business Headquarters;
Business Model;
Business Organization;
For-Profit Firms;
Restructuring;
Crime and Corruption;
Engineering;
Applied Optics;
Chemicals;
Construction;
Metals and Minerals;
Ethics;
Finance;
Cash Flow;
Public Equity;
Stock Options;
Financing and Loans;
Initial Public Offering;
Profit;
Revenue;
Geographic Location;
Geographic Scope;
Global Range;
Globalized Firms and Management;
Multinational Firms and Management;
Corporate Accountability;
Corporate Disclosure;
Health Care and Treatment;
Business History;
Executive Compensation;
Selection and Staffing;
Courts and Trials;
Lawfulness;
Lawsuits and Litigation;
Business or Company Management;
Goals and Objectives;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Market Entry and Exit;
Public Ownership;
Problems and Challenges;
Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Competition;
Competitive Strategy;
Competitive Advantage;
Consolidation;
Corporate Strategy;
Diversification;
Expansion;
Horizontal Integration;
Value;
Chemical Industry;
Construction Industry;
Consumer Products Industry;
Electronics Industry;
Energy Industry;
Industrial Products Industry;
Manufacturing Industry;
Medical Devices and Supplies Industry;
Mining Industry;
Pharmaceutical Industry;
Semiconductor Industry;
Telecommunications Industry;
Utilities Industry;
Republic of Ireland;
Switzerland;
Bermuda;
United States;
New Hampshire
- October 2016 (Revised January 2017)
- Supplement
Bally Total Fitness (B): The Fall, 2005–2016
By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth
By many measures the largest health-club chain in the United States in the early 2000s, Bally Total Fitness sold most of its remaining fitness clubs to 24 Hour Fitness in 2014 and disappeared from the industry top 100 rankings. After Bally was bedeviled by accounting...
View Details
Keywords:
Bally Total Fitness;
Accounting;
Accounting Audits;
Accrual Accounting;
Business Earnings;
Revenue Recognition;
Financial Statements;
Acquisition;
Business Exit or Shutdown;
For-Profit Firms;
Crime and Corruption;
Borrowing and Debt;
Capital;
Capital Structure;
Cash;
Cash Flow;
Public Equity;
Financial Condition;
Insolvency and Bankruptcy;
Financing and Loans;
Investment Activism;
Profit;
Revenue;
Geographic Scope;
Business History;
Executive Compensation;
Resignation and Termination;
Annual Reports;
Contracts;
Lawsuits and Litigation;
Business or Company Management;
Marketing;
Market Entry and Exit;
Private Ownership;
Public Ownership;
Problems and Challenges;
Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Competition;
Corporate Strategy;
Health Industry;
Accounting Industry;
United States;
Illinois;
Chicago
- Fall 2016
- Article
The Integrity of Private Third-party Compliance Monitoring
By: Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel
Government agencies are increasingly turning to private, third-party monitors to inspect and assess regulated entities’ compliance with law. The integrity of these regulatory regimes rests on the validity of the information third-party monitors provide to regulators....
View Details
Keywords:
Regulation;
Compliance;
Compliance Policies;
Conflict Of Interest;
Independent Third Party;
Inspection;
Audit Quality;
Auditor;
Audit;
Environment;
Safety;
Conflict of Interests;
Working Conditions;
Labor;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Governance Compliance;
Accounting Audits
- July 2016 (Revised July 2016)
- Case
Revenue Recognition at Silver Bank
By: V.G. Narayanan and Ashley Hartman
Rob Mitchell, the Chairman of the Audit Committee of Silver Lake Bank, had just flicked on the latest episode of Dancing with the Stars when he received an urgent phone call from Diego Alvarez, the CEO of the bank. Alvarez had recently spoken with the auditors, who had...
View Details
- September 2014
- Article
Safety Managers Should Welcome OSHA Inspections: Results from a Natural Field Experiment in California
By: David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel
For companies with strong internal occupational safety and health auditing programs, OSHA inspections might seem a formality that risk uncovering, at most, nitpicky deviations from the thousands of pages of safety regulations. For those with poor safety practices, OSHA...
View Details
- May 2014 (Revised March 2017)
- Case
Unilever's Lifebuoy in India: Implementing the Sustainability Plan
Unilever's new Global Brand VP must not only revitalize Lifebuoy soap's sagging market performance, but simultaneously impact the health of one billion people worldwide. The latter challenge comes from Unilever's new CEO who has introduced the Unilever Sustainable... View Details
Keywords:
Multinational Management;
Corporate Social Responsibility;
Strategy Implementation;
Marketing Strategy;
Mission And Purpose;
Change Management;
International Business;
Global;
Fast-moving Consumer Goods;
Soap;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Health Care and Treatment;
Environmental Sustainability;
Global Strategy;
Developing Countries and Economies;
Beauty and Cosmetics Industry;
Health Industry;
India
- February 2014
- Article
Accountability of Independent Directors—Evidence from Firms Subject to Securities Litigation
By: Francois Brochet and Suraj Srinivasan
We examine which independent directors are held accountable when investors sue firms for financial- and disclosure-related fraud. Investors can name independent directors as defendants in lawsuits, and they can vote against their re-election to express displeasure over...
View Details
- 2013
- Working Paper
Accountability of Independent Directors—Evidence from Firms Subject to Securities Litigation
By: Francois Brochet and Suraj Srinivasan
We examine which independent directors are held accountable when investors sue firms for financial and disclosure related fraud. Investors can name independent directors as defendants in lawsuits, and they can vote against their re-election to express displeasure over...
View Details
- 2013
- Article
Non-Audit Services and Financial Reporting Quality: Evidence from 1978–1980
By: Kevin Koh, Shiva Rajgopal and Suraj Srinivasan
We provide evidence for the long-standing concern on auditor conflicts of interest from providing non-audit services (NAS) to audit clients by using rarely explored NAS fee data from 1978 to 1980. Using this earlier setting, we find cross-sectional evidence of improved...
View Details
- February 2013
- Case
Diamond Foods, Inc.
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Tim Gray
The Diamonds Foods, Inc. case describes the major accounting blow up at the company in late 2011 that was triggered by a report by Off Wall Street, a prominent short selling research firm. Diamond Foods, a high flying growth company in 2011, grew from a walnut farmers'...
View Details
Keywords:
Accounting Restatements;
Accounting Scandal;
Accounting;
Financial Analysis;
Financial Statement Analysis;
Short Selling;
Revenue Recognition;
Board Of Directors;
Audit Committees;
Auditing;
Financial Reporting;
Financial Statements;
Agribusiness;
Accrual Accounting;
Earnings Management;
Corporate Accountability;
Corporate Disclosure;
Corporate Governance;
Valuation;
Revenue;
Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry;
California;
Cambridge
- Article
Audit Quality and Auditor Reputation: Evidence from Japan
By: Douglas Skinner and Suraj Srinivasan
We study events surrounding ChuoAoyama's failed audit of Kanebo, a large Japanese cosmetics company whose management engaged in a massive accounting fraud. ChuoAoyama was PwC's Japanese affiliate and one of Japan's largest audit firms. In May 2006, the Japanese...
View Details
- July 2012
- Case
New Century Financial Corporation (Abridged)
By: Krishna G. Palepu, Suraj Srinivasan and Ian Cornell
After years of rapid growth and stock price appreciation, New Century Financial Corporation, one of the largest subprime loan originators in the U.S., reported accounting problems in early 2007. The resulting liquidity crisis forced the company to file for Chapter 11...
View Details
- December 2011 (Revised May 2015)
- Case
Aviva Investors
By: George Serafeim, Robert G. Eccles and Kyle Armbrester
The Aviva Investors case describes the challenge of integrating sustainability considerations into the strategy and business practices of companies and into the decision making process of the investment community. Steve Waygood, Chief Responsible Investment Officer at...
View Details
Keywords:
Investing;
Investment Management;
Shareholder Activism;
Disclosure;
Stock Exchanges;
Sustainability;
Sustainable Development;
Sustainability Reporting;
Esg;
Esg (environmental, Social, Governance) Performance;
Social Impact;
Activism;
Investment;
Management;
Business and Shareholder Relations;
Environmental Sustainability;
United Kingdom
- Article
Is It Time for Auditor Independence Yet?
By: M. H. Bazerman and D. A. Moore
Well before the collapse of Enron and Arthur Andersen, we argued that the auditing system had been corrupted by the incentives auditors face to please their clients. We stated that even honest auditors were incapable of independence within the current regulatory...
View Details
- 2011
- Working Paper
Non-Audit Services and Financial Reporting Quality: Evidence from 1978-1980
By: Kevin Koh, Shiva Rajgopal and Suraj Srinivasan
We provide evidence for the long-standing concern on auditor conflicts of interest from providing non-audit services (NAS) to audit clients by using rarely explored NAS fee data from 1978 to 1980. Using this earlier setting, we find cross-sectional evidence of improved...
View Details