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When You've Got to Cut Costs--Now
Technology & Operations Magazine ArticleYou've been ordered to reduce overhead by 10%, 20%, or even (wince) 30%. How do you do it? First, don't expect to reach your target with a single big... -
Innovating on a Shoestring
Innovation Digital ArticleScott Anthony, president of Innosight and author of The Silver Lining, explains how to innovate when time and money are tight. -
New Framework for Corporate Debt Policy
Accounting Magazine ArticleFew, if any, articles on finance that have appeared in HBR have enjoyed the influence of the 1962 article reprinted here as a “Classic.” Gordon Donaldson’s analysis of how many companies haphazardly established their debt capacity, and his careful explanation of what he considered a better way, seemed to strike a chord among corporate administrative […] -
Don’t Let Cost Cutting Run Amok
Costing Digital ArticleToo many CEOs are penny-wise and pound-foolish. -
Getting Transfer Prices Right: What Bellcore Did
Accounting Magazine ArticleThe subject of transfer pricing doesn’t normally excite many people, but when your transfer pricing system is less than perfect, life gets interesting. We at Bellcore first got interested in transfer pricing in 1983. That’s the year before AT&T was broken up and Bellcore was being formed as the centralized organization supporting the seven regional […] -
Online Shopping Isn't as Profitable as You Think
Finance & Accounting Digital ArticleEven Jeff Bezos wants to open a physical store. -
How Much Should a Corporation Earn?
Financial analysis Magazine ArticleThis article presents the research findings of a leading U.S. corporation, AT&T, on a series of important economic questions and issues, with an interpretation of the material by one of the company’s top executives. The subject is corporate earnings patterns in different industries, investment trends, the relation of profits and investment to GNP, and other […] -
The Department of Mobility
Costing Magazine ArticleEmployees are constantly in motion—making sales calls or taking service trips; visiting an international office for a few days or relocating there for a few years; soaring across oceans in the corporate jet or heading across town in the company car. Typically, these activities are administered by an assortment of departments and vendors. But we […] -
Profit Priorities from Activity-Based Costing
Accounting Magazine ArticleIn recent years, companies have reduced their dependency on traditional accounting systems by developing, activity-based cost management systems. Initially, managers viewed the ABC approach as a more accurate way of calculating product costs. But ABC has emerged as a tremendously useful guide to management action that can translate directly into higher profits. Moreover, the ABC […] -
One Cost System Isn’t Enough
Accounting Magazine ArticleMany companies now recognize that their cost systems are inadequate for today’s powerful competition. Systems designed mainly to value inventory for financial and tax statements are not giving managers the accurate and timely information they need to promote operating efficiencies and measure product costs. In response, they have tried to redesign their present systems, but […] -
You Need a New Cost System When…
Accounting Magazine ArticleBy now it’s well publicized—if not obvious—that many companies’ cost accounting systems are falling down on the job. They give managers incorrect product costing information, or they inundate managers with irrelevant cost information, or they fail to measure the things that really count. Strategies may be conceptually brilliant, but if they are based on faulty […] -
Using APV: A Better Tool for Valuing Operations
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleToday’s technology can put adjusted present value into the arsenal of every general manager. -
To Lead, You Must Focus
Costing Magazine ArticleLeading a large, complex organization like the U.S. Navy, which is interdependent with similar entities, calls for a certain approach. You begin with a narrow focus on your organization’s unique strength and role. For the navy, that is presence. U.S. naval forces—sailors and Marines—are constantly mobilized, don’t need an inch of foreign soil, and can […] -
A Case for Historical Costs
Costing Magazine ArticleDo we really need to switch to replacement-cost accounting to understand how companies have performed? -
The Moral Hazard Economy
Costing Magazine ArticleAppetites for risk should naturally abate after the catastrophic losses we’ve just seen. Will too-rich bailouts prevent that from happening? -
Divestiture: Strategy’s Missing Link
Organizational transformation Magazine ArticleExecutives spend a lot of time creating and acquiring businesses but rarely devote attention to divesting them. As a result, they often end up selling businesses too late and at too low a price, sacrificing shareholder value. -
How the Best Divest
Costing Magazine ArticleCompanies often sell off businesses when times are hard. Smart CEOs approach divestiture more strategically. -
Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing
Accounting Magazine ArticleMany companies abandoned activity-based costing because it did not capture the complexity of their operations, took too long to implement, and was too expensive to build and maintain. Here’s a way around those problems. -
Innovating on the Cheap
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleA practical guide to creating new products without starting from scratch -
You Can Prevent Layoffs
Costing Digital ArticleWhen you strip away the fancy jargon, a successful business fundamentally makes more money than it spends. While managers can pull any number of levers to accomplish this, the one they most often choose reads: “Reduce Costs!” And perhaps the most common way they cut costs is to eliminate jobs. This is why we are […]
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Highland Malt: Accounting Policy Choices in Financial Statements
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details In early 2020, a recent graduate from a prestigious masters of business administration program was working as a financial accountant for a renowned private... -
Octane Service Station, Spanish Version
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details The owner of a gas station must prepare financial statements. -
Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B)
Technology & Operations Case Study5.00View Details At the May 1996 annual shareholders meeting, Alcoa CEO Paul O'Neill reported that Alcoa was making great progress toward becoming a world-class leader,... -
VMD Medical Imaging Center
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details VMD Medical Imaging Center, a local independent provider of medical imaging services, is facing some important challenges. Despite efficiency improvements... -
Henry Spots a Problem at Sunshine O.J. (A)
Technology & Operations Case Study8.95View Details Henry Franklin works at Sunshine O.J. (Sunshine), a three-year-old, fast-growing organic orange juice manufacturer near Charleston, South Carolina. Before... -
B.F. Goodrich-Rabobank Interest Rate Swap
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details A U.S. manufacturing organization and a Eurobank swap fixed and floating rate obligations to reduce their financing costs. -
Elkay Plumbing Products Division, Chinese Version
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details The vice president of sales learns that the most profitable 1% of the division's customers generate 100% of profits, and that two of the division's largest... -
Birch Paper Co.
Finance & Accounting Case Study6.95View Details Involves transfer pricing among three divisions of a company. -
Philips Singapore: Creating Value Through Human Resource Shared Services Centre
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details In 2003, Philips Electronics Private Limited, Singapore launched Philips People Services (PPS), a shared services centre to provide various standardised... -
Wendy's Chili: A Costing Conundrum
Organizational Development Case Study8.95View Details This case poses the seemingly simple and straightforward question, "How much does it cost Wendy's to make a bowl of chili?" Because most of the meat used... -
Hewlett Packard: Performance Measurement in the Supply Chain, Condensed Version
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details In a maturing market, HPs attention moved from Return on Sales to Return on Net Assets. Mismatches between demand and supply, aggrevated by a long supply... -
Landau Company
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details The CEO of a manufacturing company is assessing the value of variable costing as opposed to full-absorption costing. The teaching note contains a simple... -
Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details Introduces the role for time-driven activity-based costing. Identifies the value from an accurate costing model, describes the difficulties of traditional... -
Premier Furniture Co.
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details A credit analyst for a furniture manufacturer is confronted with two customers who have exceeded their credit limits. The financial performance of each... -
Adventurous Computer Games, Inc. (Abridged)
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details A new company that manufactures computer games must begin to capitalize computer software development costs. Issues that must be addressed include the... -
Note on the Theory of Optimal Capital Structure
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details Examines the interrelationship between the maximization of the share value of a firm's common stock and the minimization of the firm's weighted average... -
Grand River University Water Buffalos: Activity-Based Costing of University Sports
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details On April 30, 2018, the athletic director of Grand River University was drafting a plan for his department to be reviewed by the school's board of trustees.... -
Financial Analytics Toolkit: Cash Flow Projections
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details This note reviews the basics of projecting cash flows for a typical operating decision. To find the economic consequences of any decision, one needs to... -
Business in Brazil: Infrastructure
Technology & Operations Case Study8.95View Details ... -
Simmons Japan Ltd.
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details Concerns the first leveraged buyout to occur in Japan. Analytic tasks include a valuation of the company and an assessment of its debt capacity. Also...
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Making Smart Investments: A Beginner's Guide
Finance & Accounting AdviceReduce the risk factor, increase the reward factor, and generate meaningful returns. -
When You've Got to Cut Costs--Now
Technology & Operations Magazine ArticleYou've been ordered to reduce overhead by 10%, 20%, or even (wince) 30%. How do you do it? First, don't expect to reach your target with a single big... -
Innovating on a Shoestring
Innovation Digital ArticleScott Anthony, president of Innosight and author of The Silver Lining, explains how to innovate when time and money are tight. -
New Framework for Corporate Debt Policy
Accounting Magazine ArticleFew, if any, articles on finance that have appeared in HBR have enjoyed the influence of the 1962 article reprinted here as a “Classic.” Gordon Donaldson’s analysis of how many companies haphazardly established their debt capacity, and his careful explanation of what he considered a better way, seemed to strike a chord among corporate administrative […] -
Don’t Let Cost Cutting Run Amok
Costing Digital ArticleToo many CEOs are penny-wise and pound-foolish. -
Highland Malt: Accounting Policy Choices in Financial Statements
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details In early 2020, a recent graduate from a prestigious masters of business administration program was working as a financial accountant for a renowned private... -
Getting Transfer Prices Right: What Bellcore Did
Accounting Magazine ArticleThe subject of transfer pricing doesn’t normally excite many people, but when your transfer pricing system is less than perfect, life gets interesting. We at Bellcore first got interested in transfer pricing in 1983. That’s the year before AT&T was broken up and Bellcore was being formed as the centralized organization supporting the seven regional […] -
Service Design in the Context of Customers-Operators, Module Note for Instructors
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleTaught as the second module in a Harvard Business School course on Managing Service Operations: Understanding the Customer Operating Role (606-092). Addresses... -
Octane Service Station, Spanish Version
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details The owner of a gas station must prepare financial statements. -
Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B)
Technology & Operations Case Study5.00View Details At the May 1996 annual shareholders meeting, Alcoa CEO Paul O'Neill reported that Alcoa was making great progress toward becoming a world-class leader,...