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- 2020
- Article
Research on Corporate Sustainability: Review and Directions for Future Research
By: Jody Grewal and George Serafeim
We review the literature on corporate sustainability and provide directions for future research. Our review focuses on three actions: measuring, managing and communicating corporate sustainability performance. Measurement is the least developed of the three and...
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Keywords:
Sustainability;
Sustainability Reporting;
Sustainability Management;
Nonfinancial Disclosure;
Nonfinancial Information;
Nonfinancial Performance;
Materiality;
ESG;
ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance;
ESG Disclosure;
ESG Disclosure Metrics;
ESG Ratings;
ESG Reporting;
Inequality;
Corporate Social Responsibility;
Accounting;
Finance;
Management;
Strategy;
Environmental Sustainability;
Climate Change;
Diversity;
Equality and Inequality;
Corporate Disclosure;
Measurement and Metrics;
Corporate Governance;
Corporate Accountability;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact
- August 2020
- Article
Strategies for Managing the Privacy Landscape
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Andres Hervas-Drane
Firms use consumer personal information to improve their products and services. Personal information is open to misuse, however, and when exploited for undesired or unexpected purposes reduces consumer’s trust in the firm and their willingness to provide personal...
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- January 2020 (Revised July 2020)
- Case
BlackRock: Linking Purpose to Profit
The case revolves around the actions that Barbara Novick, co-founder and Vice-Chair of Blackrock, and Michelle Edkins, Global Head of Investment Stewardship, would need to take in response to the controversial CEO letters from Laurence (Larry) Fink, Chairman and CEO of...
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Keywords:
Boards Of Directors;
Institutional Investors;
Disclosure;
Transparency;
Corporate Purpose;
Corporate Profits;
ESG;
ESG Disclosure Metrics;
Corporate Sustainability;
Engagement Strategy Of Institutions;
Stewardship Role Of Institutions;
BlackRock;
Corporate Governance;
Governing and Advisory Boards;
Institutional Investing;
Accounting;
Corporate Disclosure;
Mission and Purpose;
Profit;
Environmental Sustainability;
Climate Change;
Diversity;
Corporate Accountability;
Financial Services Industry;
United States
- Article
Creating Firm Disclosures
By: Amir Amel-Zadeh, Alexandra Scherf and Eugene F. Soltes
Managers expend significant time and effort preparing disclosures about firm performance and strategy. Although prior literature has explored how variation in the style and presentation of disclosures impacts investors' perceptions of firms, little is known about how...
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- Editorial
Why CEOs Should Share Their Long-Term Plans with Investors
By: Christina Rehnberg, George Serafeim and Brian Tomlinson
Rather than requiring less short-term information, the key to combating short-termism is to encourage companies to share more information about their long-term plans. Analysis of companies that have done so suggests that long-term plans are not mere marketing...
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- January 2017 (Revised January 2019)
- Case
The Rise and Fall of Lehman Brothers
By: Stuart C. Gilson, Kristin Mugford and Sarah L. Abbott
With nearly $700 billion in assets, Lehman was the largest U.S. bankruptcy in history. In 2007, Lehman achieved record earnings of over $4 billion on revenues of $60 billion. By September 2008 the fourth largest investment bank in the world was bankrupt. How had a...
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Keywords:
Bankruptcy;
Financial Distress;
Accounting Policies;
Business Ethics;
Financial Reporting;
Volatility;
Judgments;
Financial Crisis;
Insolvency and Bankruptcy;
Financial Liquidity;
Investment Banking;
Financial Management;
Financial Strategy;
Corporate Accountability;
Corporate Disclosure;
Corporate Governance;
Crisis Management;
Risk Management;
Failure;
Business and Government Relations;
Ethics;
Banking Industry;
New York (city, NY)
- 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...
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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
- 2016
- Working Paper
Patent Disclosures and Standard-Setting
By: Josh Lerner, Haris Tabakovic and Jean Tirole
A key role of standard setting organizations (SSOs) is to aggregate information on relevant intellectual property (IP) claims before deciding on a standard. This article explores the firms’ strategies in response to IP disclosure requirements—in particular, the choice...
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- April 2015
- Case
Accor: Designing an Asset-Right Business and Disclosure Strategy
By: Mozaffar Khan and George Serafeim
Sebastien Bazin was now in charge of Accor, the world's largest French hotelier, a CAC 40 company with 3,600 hotels in 92 countries and a market cap of €10 billion. Previously as the European head of Colony Capital, one of the largest private equity groups and the...
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- October 2014 (Revised March 2015)
- Case
Integrated Reporting at Aegon
By: Robert G. Eccles, George Serafeim, Sydney Ribot and Michael Krzus
In 2011, Aegon adopted integrated reporting—a corporate reporting approach that sought to present company performance in a holistic light by considering medium- to long-term issues, stakeholder opinions, and the relationship between material financial and nonfinancial...
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- January 2014 (Revised January 2014)
- Case
Showdown at Cracker Barrel
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Tim Gray
In the fall of 2011, activist investor, Sardar Biglari, has acquired nearly 10% ownership in the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain. He believes that the board and senior management have failed and the company has underperformed relative to its peers. When he is denied a...
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Keywords:
Boards;
Activist Investors;
Proxy Battles;
Shareholder Activism;
Peer Firm;
Ratio Analysis;
Financial Accounting;
Financial Analysis;
Board Of Directors;
Boards Of Directors;
Financial Intermediaries;
Financial Analysts;
CEO Turnover;
New CEO;
Peer Groups;
Hedge Fund;
Hedge Funds;
Proxy Contest;
Proxy Fight;
Proxy Advisor;
Proxy Battle;
Financial Statement Analysis;
Financial Strategy;
Corporate Governance;
Corporate Disclosure;
Governing and Advisory Boards;
Competition;
Valuation;
Business Strategy;
Value Creation;
Business and Shareholder Relations;
Financial Reporting;
Financial Statements;
Retail Industry;
Food and Beverage Industry;
United States
- Winter 2013
- Article
Fear of Rejection? Tiered Certification and Transparency
By: Emmanuel Farhi, Josh Lerner and Jean Tirole
The sub-prime crisis has shone a harsh spotlight on the practices of securities underwriters, which provided too many complex securities that proved to ultimately have little value. This uproar calls attention to the fact that the literature on intermediaries has...
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- Fall 2013
- Article
Engaging Supply Chains in Climate Change
By: Chonnikarn Fern Jira and Michael W. Toffel
Suppliers are increasingly being asked to share information about their vulnerability to climate change and their strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Their responses vary widely. We theorize and empirically identify several factors associated with suppliers...
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- Spring 2013
- Article
Salience in Quality Disclosure: Evidence from the U.S. News College Rankings
By: Michael Luca and Jonathan Smith
How do rankings affect demand? This paper investigates the impact of college rankings, and the visibility of those rankings, on students' application decisions. Using natural experiments from U.S. News and World Report College Rankings, we present two main...
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- March 2013 (Revised January 2015)
- Technical Note
Business and Government: Campaign Contributions and Lobbying in the United States
By: Karthik Ramanna, Sandra J. Sucher and Ian McKown Cornell
This note on business-government relations introduces students to the state of campaign contributions and lobbying by corporations in the United States. The note develops two hypotheses as to the impact of corporate political engagement: (i) a vehicle to facilitate...
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- September – October 2011
- Article
The Rise and Consequences of Corporate Sustainability Reporting
By: Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim
For many decades the cornerstone of corporate reporting has been financial information that is presented in a company's annual, semi-annual, and quarterly reports. These comprehensive financial reports—required by law for public companies in most countries...
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- August 2011 (Revised July 2012)
- Case
Mike Mayo Takes on Citigroup (A)
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Amy Kaser
The case details the conflict between Mike Mayo, an influential banking analyst and Citigroup about what Mayo considers aggressive accounting policies. Mike Mayo questions Citigroup's lack of a valuation allowance against their Deferred Tax Assets despite Citi's recent...
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- June 2011 (Revised February 2013)
- Case
Mandatory Environmental, Social, and Governance Disclosure in the European Union
By: Robert G. Eccles, George Serafeim and Phillip Andrews
In 2011, the European Commission was deciding on how to best modify the existing European Union policy on corporate disclosure of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information. Previous directives had recommended that European companies report ESG...
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- August 2010
- Article
Sell-Side School Ties
By: Lauren H. Cohen, Christopher J. Malloy and Andrea Frazzini
We study the impact of social networks on agents' ability to gather superior information about firms. Exploiting novel data on the educational backgrounds of sell-side equity analysts and senior officers of firms, we test the hypothesis that analysts' school ties to...
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- November 2009
- Article
Responding to Public and Private Politics: Corporate Disclosure of Climate Change Strategies
By: Erin Marie Reid and Michael W. Toffel
The challenges associated with climate change will require governments, citizens, and firms to work collaboratively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a task that requires information on companies' emissions levels, risks, and reduction opportunities. This paper...
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