Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 3, 2011

Second, he or she needs to understand how capital markets work. Companies that manage for shareholder value, the thinking goes, do whatever it takes to engineer an ever-higher market price. A CEO's job is about resource allocation with a goal of earning a return in excess of the opportunity cost of capital.

Short-term 12

Short-term Long-term Price CEO 12

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 21, 2015

In fact, determining price is one of the toughest things a marketer has to do, in large part because it has such a big impact on the company’s bottom line. As she explains in her “ Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Pricing and Profitability Analysis ,” there are five zones of elasticity. What is price elasticity?

Price 8

Price Debt to Equity Ratio Marketing Metrics 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 10, 2011

Many are deeply uncertain about which initiatives they should fund — and one root of this indecision is a general lack of confidence in the cost of capital projections they are using to make the call. We find that 55 percent of respondents are convinced their cost of capital estimates are off by more than 50 basis points.

Cost of Capital 13

Cost of Capital CAPM Cost Discounted Cash Flow 13

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 10, 2017

For any business to succeed over the long term, it must earn a return that exceeds its cost of capital. It is through continuously making incremental progress in lowering costs and increasing revenues that firms achieve competitive advantage in their industry. Here are four things leaders can do. Build for the Few, Not the Many.

Innovation 8

Innovation P&L ROI Long-term 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 22, 2015

Marketers often have to make the call on whether a certain marketing investment is worth the cost. Can you justify the price tag of the ad you want to buy or the marketing campaign you’re hoping to launch next quarter? The variable costs to make each pair of flip flops are $14.00. How do you calculate it?

Payback Period 8

Payback Period Fixed Costs Analysis Price 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Take, for instance, a group of companies that currently have high returns on invested capital (ROIC). If you follow that group over time, you would see their ROICs revert back toward the cost of capital. In determining the ultimate amount of pay, the vagaries of the market overwhelmed the performance of the executives.

Skills 15

Skills ROIC Sports Cost of Capital 15

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

The goal of strategy is profitable growth, meaning economic value above the firm’s cost of capital. Smartly reducing assets devoted to activities that earn less than their cost of capital requires good links with evolving market realities. ( Or, they learn fast after a few investor meetings.)

Debt to Equity Ratio 10

Debt to Equity Ratio Cost of Capital Strategy Incentives 10

Harvard Business Review

MAY 25, 2018

Mr. Rockefeller’s business strategy was to vertically integrate every aspect of the oil business (exploration, development, logistics, marketing) to assure an ongoing competitive advantage. Likewise, the airlines have demonstrated that well-constructed alliances can be a powerful way to build market position and capitalize on scale.

Incubator 8

Incubator Insurance Cost of Capital Competitive Advantage 8

Strategy Driven

SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

The logic of NPV is to project cash flows into the future and then discount those flows back into today’s dollars at a given cost of capital. With Discovery-Driven Growth , Rita and Ian offer managers everywhere a time-tested blueprint for planning and executing a strategic growth agenda with confidence – in any market.

Innovation 50

Innovation NPV Business Model Constraint 50