MBA ZoNe - MBA BulletPoint

How to Value the Advertising-Supported Internet @HarvardBiz

"Older Internet users may remember the battles over the commercialization of the web in the early 1990s, when the first Mosaic browser was introduced. Back then, pioneering adopters passionately condemned the first web advertisers and tried to bring down their sites with "flaming" attacks. The fight was lost as consumers voted for free information supported by advertising over subscription services. Ironically, online advertising and the commercialization of the web achieved important goals of the resisters: to preserve the web as a medium for free publishing and communications...."
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Source: HarvardBiz

Bootstrapping stories: What it takes to do an entire startup @seattle20

"This week we are running several guest posts by people who are boostrapping (or did bootstrap) their businesses. Today’s post is by Steve Murch. Read previous posts Vivek Bhaskaran and  Hillel Cooperman]  BigOven.com , the social network about food, started out as a hobby. I love to cook. I wanted a better way to organize and plan our own family meals, and thought there was a pretty big opportunity emerging at the intersection of social networking and the food/cooking/nutrition category.  After growing a startup (VacationSpot.com) and selling it to Expedia.com in 2000, by 2002 I wanted to take a little break from work.  But I quickly found that I was writing little programs for mobile devices here and there, and I wanted a larger project as a way to force myself to stay current on technology..."
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Source: Seattle 2.0 Blog

AICPA Video on GAAP Codification

"On July 1, 2009, FASB’s Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) is expected to be authoritative..."
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Reader Poll: Reader Survey: Are you aware of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (which changes the presentation of GAAP) that is slated to become authoritative on July 1, 2009?
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Source: AICPA

The World's Best Banks

"As the dust starts to settle, which banks deserve the most plaudits?

Trying to work out which banks are the world’s best is a bit like awarding the prize for prettiest war-torn village. It is a title that carries little kudos. It is also likely to prompt further shelling. Winners of industry awards in the past three years include Ken Lewis, the chief executive of Bank of America, for banker of the year (2008); Société Générale for its risk management; and Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide, a failed mortgage lender, for a "lifetime of achievement." Still, the question is becoming more pertinent. After months of indiscriminate fear, widespread losses, and government hand-holding, the banking industry is gradually stabilizing..."
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Source: CFO

U.S. "Will Be The Outlier" Without IFRS

"IASB member John Smith tells a European audience that "it is in the interest of the United States to adopt IFRSs in the next five years...

The United States will pay a high price for failing to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards within the next five years, an international accounting rulemaker told a European Commission conference audience last Thursday. "I believe it is in the interest of the United States to adopt IFRSs in the next five years," International Accounting Standards Board member John Smith told attendees at a conference in Brussels last week organized by the European Commission. Noting that Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan and Korea are committed to adopting IFRS, and the European Union already using IFRS, Smith said "the cost to the United States of failing to adopt IFRSs will be high"..."
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Source: CFO

Social media adoption: How will marketing spending patterns change?

"Although social media adoption rates are still relatively low—more and more companies are jumping in. And,as they do, we may see a dramatic shift in marketing spending patterns.  Today, most B2B companies are just dipping their toes in the social media waters. Some have launched blogs. Others are experimenting with Twitter. Still others are adopting a wait and see attitude.  Yet, if the conversation at a recent event hosted by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council is any indication, most B2B marketers are ready to move forward. Right now, their biggest challenge is figuring out how to justify social media investments to skeptical management teams..."
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Source: AccountingWeb

Built To Last Takeaways

"I just finished reading Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I first read about it in this WSJ article,where CEOs pick their favorite leadership books, and after seeing its high ratings on Amazon, decided to pull the trigger and pick it up.  The book was written by a team at the Stanford GSB, and it identifies and discusses the common behaviors and practices found in visionary companies while discrediting common myths by comparing them to a set of counterparts considered less visionary..."
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Source: Kellogg MBA Class of 2011

TheCorporateCounsel.net Blog

About: TheCorporateCounsel.net Blog
"A Practical Corporate and Securities Law Blog...Editors Broc Romanek and Dave Lynn...to provide timely information about developments in corporate and securities law -as well as practical antidotes about how people appear to be reacting to these developments..."
Source: TheCorporateCounsel.net Blog

Does Public Ownership of Equity Improve Earnings Quality?

"The quality of accounting information is influenced by an array of factors, most of which stem from the demand for such information for use in contractual arrangements and from the incentives and opportunities of management to manage the reported numbers. Both the demand for quality accounting information for contractual purposes and management incentives to adjust the reported earnings are likely to be influenced by whether the equity of the company is privately held or publicly traded. This study examines the differential earnings quality of private equity and public equity firms in order to shed light on how public ownership of equity affects the quality of firms’ earnings..."
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Source: HBS Working Knowledge

HBS Working Paper: Corporate Social Entrepreneurship

"Because corporate social entrepreneurship (CSE) expands the core purpose of corporations and their organizational values, it constitutes fundamental change that can be particularly threatening and resisted. Furthermore, it pushes the corporation’s actions more broadly and deeply into the area of social value creation where the firm’s experiences and skill sets are less developed. The disruptive social innovations intrinsic to the CSE approach amplify this zone of discomfort. Fortunately, the experiences of innovative companies such as Timberland and Starbucks show how these challenges may be overcome..."
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Source: HBS Working Knowledge