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- Article
Is ‘Not Guilty’ the Same as ‘Innocent’? Evidence from SEC Financial Fraud Investigations
By: Eugene F. Soltes and David H. Solomon
When the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigates firms for financial fraud, investors learn about the investigation only if managers disclose it, or regulators sanction the firm. We investigate the effects of such disclosures using confidential records on...
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- Article
Measuring Audit Quality
By: Shivaram Rajgopal, Suraj Srinivasan and Xin Zheng
In this paper, we document 45 specific allegations related to audit deficiencies based on GAAS, as detailed in 141 AAERs and 153 securities class action lawsuits over the violation years 1978–2016. Next, we use these allegations to validate existing popular proxies of...
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- November 2020
- Case
Wilderness Safaris: Responses to the COVID-19 Crisis
By: James E. Austin, Megan Epler Wood and Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard
This case is an epilogue to “Wilderness Safaris: Impact Investing and Ecotourism Conservation in Africa” (2-321-020), which ends with the emergence of the pandemic in March 2020. The final discussion area for that case can be “What should Wilderness Safari CEO Keith...
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- February 2020
- Supplement
Theranos: Who Has Blood on Their Hands? (B)
By: Nien-he Hsieh, Christina R. Wing and John Masko
This supplemental case tracks the results of the Colman and Taubman-Dye class action suit against Theranos as well as Theranos’ other legal challenges and chronicles the final demise of the company in 2019.
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- August 2019 (Revised April 2020)
- Case
Transforming Hindustan Unilever
By: Krishna G. Palepu and Rachna Tahilyani
In October 2013, when Sanjiv Mehta had taken over the reins of Unilever’s business in India and the larger South Asia region, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) had been going through a difficult time. Caught in the midst of a weakening economy, falling consumer spending, and...
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- February 2019 (Revised February 2020)
- Case
Theranos: Who Has Blood on Their Hands? (A)
By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Christina R. Wing, Emilie Fournier and Anna Resman
This case covers the rise and fall of Theranos, the company founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2004 to revolutionize the blood testing industry by creating a device that could provide from a small finger prick the same results and accuracy as intravenous blood draws. As...
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- December 2016 (Revised February 2019)
- Case
Kurt Summers: Investing in Our Chicago
By: Joshua Margolis and Michael Norris
In 2016, Kurt Summers, the Chicago City Treasurer, faced a decision with potential personal and political ramifications: whether or not to ask the city’s Mayor to join a class action antitrust suit against the city’s creditors for actions they took during the Global...
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- 2015
- Chapter
"Level II" Negotiation Strategies: Advance Your Interests by Helping to Solve Their Internal Problems
Many negotiators have constituencies that must formally or informally approve an agreement. Traditionally, it is the responsibility of each negotiator to manage the internal conflicts and constituencies on his or her own side. Far less familiar are the many valuable...
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- 2014
- Working Paper
Better Deals Through Level II Strategies: Advance Your Interests by Helping to Solve Their Internal Problems
Many negotiators have constituencies that must formally or informally approve an agreement. Traditionally, it is the responsibility of each negotiator to manage the internal conflicts and constituencies on his or her own side. Far less familiar are the many valuable...
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- 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...
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- September 2013
- Case
United Rentals (A)
By: Jay W. Lorsch, Kathleen Durante and Emily McTague
In December 1997 United Rentals (URI) went public on the NYSE. Ten years later, during the peak of the economic meltdown, the company's performance was in decline. United Rentals had experienced its share of problems in the prior years and was still struggling to... View Details
- December 2012 (Revised November 2014)
- Case
W.R. Grace & Co.: Dealing with Asbestos Torts
By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott
A manufacturer of building products and specialty chemicals, W. R. Grace & Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001 in response to a flood of lawsuits alleging that its products contained asbestos, and had caused hundreds of thousands of people to contract...
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Keywords:
Bankruptcy Reorganization;
Business Failures;
Environmental Regulations;
Class Action Lawsuits;
Natural Environment;
Valuation;
Health Disorders;
Capital Structure;
Restructuring;
Lawsuits and Litigation;
Chemicals;
Crisis Management;
Insolvency and Bankruptcy;
Legal Liability;
Construction Industry;
Chemical Industry;
United States
- 2013
- Working Paper
Securities Litigation Risk for Foreign Companies Listed in the U.S.
By: Beiting Cheng, Suraj Srinivasan and Gwen Yu
We study securities litigation risk faced by foreign firms listed on U.S. exchanges. We take into account not only the propensity for foreign firms to commit violations of U.S. securities laws but also the costs that investors face when suing foreign firms. We find...
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- 2012
- Working Paper
Earnings Management from the Bottom Up: An Analysis of Managerial Incentives Below the CEO
By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Julie Wulf
Performance-based pay is an important instrument to align the interests of managers with the interests of shareholders. However, recent evidence suggests that high-powered incentives also provide managers with incentives to manipulate the firm's reported earnings. The...
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- October 2011
- Case
Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service
By: Robert Simons and Michael Mahoney
In January 2010, U.S. luxury goods retailer Raleigh & Rosse is being sued by its employees for encouraging "off the clock" hours. At the center of the class action lawsuit is the famous Raleigh & Rosse performance measurement system previously thought to be the core of...
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Keywords:
Control Systems;
Performance Measurement;
Goal Setting;
Compensation;
Incentives;
Motivation;
Sales Compensation;
Motivation and Incentives;
Goals and Objectives;
Growth Management;
Lawsuits and Litigation;
Organizational Culture;
Management Systems;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Employees;
Performance Evaluation;
Compensation and Benefits;
Retail Industry;
United States
- August 2011
- Case
Denise Frazer and Paolo Canto: A Case Vignette on Feedback - Denise Frazer's Perspective
By: Joshua D. Margolis and Anthony J. Mayo
Denise Frazer and Paolo Canto, two HBS students, have decided to give each other feedback on their class participation. While Denise believes that she has provided concrete, actionable feedback to Paolo, she does not feel that Paolo is reciprocating. His feedback is...
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- November 2005 (Revised July 2009)
- Case
Cutter & Buck (A)
By: William A. Sahlman and Victoria Winston
Only three short months into her new position as CEO of publicly traded golf apparel manufacturer Cutter & Buck, Fran Conley discovers accounting irregularities that call into question the reliability of this company's financial statements. Working closely with her...
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- September 2002
- Case
Seattle Public Schools, 1995-2002 (C2): Race, Class, and School Choice
By: Stig Leschly
Presents the decision by the Federal Court of Appeals for the ninth Circuit in the spring of 2002 to invalidate Seattle's use of race as a factor in allocating space in Seattle's oversubscribed schools. Summarizes the posture and content of the litigation, including...
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- December 1998
- Article
Entrepreneurs and Business Performance in Nineteenth Century France
By: Tom Nicholas, Elisa Boccaletti and James Foreman-Peck
A popular explanation for the supposed "delayed industrialisation" of the nineteenth century French economy has been the inappropriate attitudes and actions of the managerial classes and family firms. To address these claims we model the supply and demand for...
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- October 1995
- Case
Singapore TradeNet: Beyond TradeNet to the Intelligent Island
By: Lynda M. Applegate, John L. King and Soon-Siong Neo
Describes the actions taken by the government of Singapore to enable the country to survive and prosper after it achieved independence in the late 1960s. Recognizing that its small size, limited natural resources, but excellent location placed it in a vulnerable...
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