Decision-Making and Scenarios

Robert W. Holthausen is the Ernst and Young and Nomura Securities Company Professor of Accounting and Finance at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he also serves as the Chairman of the Department of Accounting. Before joining Wharton, he was a Professor of Accounting and Finance at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. Holthausen earned his Ph.D. and M.B.A. from the University of Rochester, and prior to his academic career, he worked as a CPA at Price Waterhouse and in finance at Mobil.His research interests encompass various topics in finance and accounting, including management compensation, governance structures, corporate restructuring, and the effects of information on stock prices and volume. His work has been published in prestigious journals such as the Journal of Accounting Research, The Accounting Review, and the Journal of Finance. Holthausen has received numerous teaching awards for his courses in investment management and valuation, including the David J. Hauck Award at Wharton. He is currently the academic director of Wharton’s Mergers and Acquisitions program and has consulted for various companies on issues related to compensation, investment strategies, and valuation analysis.

Richard Lambert is a Professor of Accounting at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he specializes in financial and managerial accounting. His research focuses on the relationship between information and the cost of capital in firms, as well as how organizations utilize information for performance evaluation. Lambert's scholarly work has been published in esteemed journals such as The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, and Strategic Management Journal. He has received several teaching awards for his contributions to education, demonstrating a commitment to excellence in teaching.In addition to his research, Professor Lambert teaches various courses, including electives in financial reporting for MBA and WEMBA programs, the core financial accounting course for WEMBA students, and doctoral seminars. He has previously held academic positions at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. Lambert earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1982, an M.S. in Statistics from Stanford in 1980, and a B.E.E. in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1977. His extensive experience and expertise make him a prominent figure in the field of accounting education and research