Default Category
-
AT&T Wireless: Text Messaging
Vaughan S. Radcliffe; Mitchell Stein; Michael LickverCase IVEY-9B11B005-EAccounting and Control, Marketing, StrategyThis case examines AT&T’s wireless business with a focus on its text messaging services. The industry features a high proportion of fixed costs in relation to acquiring spectrum and building a network. Variable costs are relatively low, especially in the case of SMS text messages. Pricing and margins in text messaging have attracted regulatory scrutiny in the Unites States, Canada, and elsewhere. The case requires the use of key concepts in cost ...Starting at €8.20
-
Groupon and the SEC
Vaughan S. Radcliffe; Mitchell Stein; Alexis GottschalkCase IVEY-9B12B002-EAccounting and Control, Finance, StrategyThis case provides an opportunity to review Groupon Inc’s S1 filing made prior to an initial public offering. Groupon’s financial statements attracted a great deal of controversy due to revenue recognition policies that produced substantially higher revenues for the corporation, as well as non-GAAP earnings measures, especially ACSOI — an invention of the firm that served to exclude certain marketing expenses from the calculation of profit. Since...Starting at €8.20
-
Mystery Books Co.: Measuring Performance through Accounting Policy Choices
Vaughan S. Radcliffe; Mitchell Stein; Elaine WangExercise IVEY-W27858-EAccounting and Control, FinanceIn January 2021, the co-founder of Mystery Books Co. (Mystery Books) was evaluating the company’s 2020 performance under the leadership of his daughter as the new chief executive officer. His daughter had ambitions of securing Walmart Inc. as a key client, so the co-founder had promised her an additional performance bonus of 5 per cent of his 30 per cent ownership of common stock if she grew the company’s net income by 20 per cent over the previo...Starting at €8.20
-
Baroo (A): Pet Concierge
Eisenmann, Thomas R.; Ma, Susie L.Case HBS-820011-EEntrepreneurshipBaroo CEO Lindsay Hyde was facing unrest from the board of her pet services startup in August 2017. One board member (and lead investor) was alarmed that Baroo's growth was slowing while it's appetite for funding was accelerating. Hyde wanted to hit the gas and continue expanding to new cities, which meant she needed to raise venture capital. How could she convince the board and potential investors that the business opportunities were too good to...Starting at €8.20
-
Baroo (B)
Eisenmann, Thomas R.; Ma, Susie L.Case HBS-820026-EEntrepreneurshipBaroo CEO Lindsay Hyde must secure venture capital funding if she wants to save her pet services startup. If she is unable to finance a series A, she will need to sell or shut down.Starting at €5.74
-
Tesla's Non-GAAP Accounting Measurements: Revenue Recognition and Stock-Based Compensation
Martin Persson; Mitchell Stein; Spencer HiggsCase IVEY-9B17B019-EAccounting and ControlIn November 2014, questions were raised about American electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors Inc.'s (Tesla's) accounting practices, which did not follow the generally accepted accounting practices (GAAP). Tesla’s third quarter 2014 financial statements showed a loss of almost US$75 million when using U.S. GAAP standards, compared to a profit of over $5 million when using its own non-GAAP standards. The accounting discrepancy between the two syst...Starting at €8.20
-
Under Armour Settles with the SEC
Mitchell Stein; Vaughan S. Radcliffe; David BoothCase IVEY-W27293-EAccounting and Control, FinanceIn May 2021, a recent graduate from the master of business administration program at Ivey Business School noticed a news article about one of his investments, the leading athletic apparel company Under Armour, Inc. The article stated that Under Armour, Inc. was fined US$9 Million by the US Security and Exchange Commission. The charges were a result of concerns over the company’s revenue reporting practices, but the company's share price dropped o...Starting at €8.20
-
Wayfair
Rayport, Jeffrey; Ma, Susie L.; Preble, MatthewCase HBS-819045-EMarketingIn 2016 Niraj Shah and Steve Conine, founders of online home goods retailer Wayfair, are faced with a decision about how to improve user experience on their e-commerce sites. A key driver of consumer interest and conversion to purchase in the home categorStarting at €8.20
-
Western Governors University: 10x Vision
Kerr, William R.; Ma, Susie L.Case HBS-819093-EStrategyWestern Governors University (WGU) was a nonprofit institution of higher education whose online learning model served more than 100,000 students in 2019 and was scaling rapidly. President Scott Pulsipher wanted to expand WGU's reach to millions more with a plan called 10x Vision. 10x Vision called for scaling enrollment, creating new ventures to expand access to higher education that complement WGU's business model, and funding these ventures. Pu...Starting at €8.20
-
MobSquad
Choudhury, Prithwiraj; Kerr, William R.; Ma, Susie L.Case HBS-821010-EEntrepreneurshipIrfhan Rawji (MBA 2004) launched MobSquad in October 2018 to help American tech start-ups retain hard-to-find talent, many of whom struggled with U.S. work visa issues, such as software engineers with experience in artificial intelligence, machine learning, or data science. MobSquad also helped companies fill open roles by tapping into its database of pre-vetted foreign tech workers. While there was growing demand for these specialists, the talen...Starting at €8.20