Harvard Business Review

APRIL 16, 2015

It’s been more than 50 years since Nobel prizewinners Franco Modigliani and Merton Miller identified return on investments as a major component of value creation (and value destruction). Unless your company’s return on capital exceeds its cost of capital, no amount of revenue growth can create value.

CEO 8

CEO ROIC Cost of Capital Merton 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 29, 2014

All businesses seek to control costs; they don’t need an economist to tell them why it’s important or how to do it. That way, travelers took their offers much more seriously than if they simply could “name their price” without any purchase obligation. Economics and logistics. But there are some very important exceptions.

Strategy 12

Strategy Black-Scholes Airlines Price 12

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

In slightly more formal terms, I'd suggest that they were able to take on, at least in tiny part, five of Robert Merton and Zvi Bodie's six standard functions of a financial system: settling payments, providing information, setting incentives, pooling resources, and transferring resources. But perhaps the costs have risen, too.

Banking 15

Banking Crisis Merton Decentralization 15

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

In slightly more formal terms, Id suggest that they were able to take on, at least in tiny part, five of Robert Merton and Zvi Bodies six standard functions of a financial system: settling payments, providing information, setting incentives, pooling resources, and transferring resources. But perhaps the costs have risen, too.

Banking 15

Banking Crisis Merton Guidelines 15

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 27, 2014

Sociologist Robert Merton first recognized this phenomenon in academic success and dubbed it “ the Matthew Effect ,” quoting a Bible passage in which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Starting the same company after three years in your first job entails greater financial and career opportunity costs. (It

Career 8

Career Planning Kahneman Uncertainty 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

I was thinking about that story by Thomas Merton during a recent board meeting. Or perhaps we have wondered, as others have , if it's worth the cost of speaking up. And that would be a bad thing, especially when it comes to the cost to the organization. Because silence does have a cost.

Merton 15

Merton Groupthink CFO Cost 15