article thumbnail

CEOs Don’t Care Enough About Capital Allocation

Harvard Business Review

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
article thumbnail

The Irish Banking Crisis: A Parable

Harvard Business Review

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
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

The Irish Banking Crisis: A Parable

Harvard Business Review

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
article thumbnail

Life is Luck — Here’s How to Plan a Career Around It

Harvard Business Review

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