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Beware of Innovations from Daily-Deal Sites

Harvard Business Review

Even when sweetened with incentives for repeat purchasers, jazzed up with time- or item-specific discounts, or offered through location-aware mobile devices, all daily deals are simply price promotions. But merchants should be cautious and skeptical about these innovations. And often steep ones at that. Dholakia is the William S.

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Small Business Cash Flow Management: Why It’s Important and How to Deal With Problems

Strategy Driven

Negotiating power – Being able to pay suppliers upfront can often lead to more favorable terms and discounts. Small businesses that fail to do this can get hammered by unforeseen costs, go into steep debt, and potentially close completely. Plus, not needing to take out credit can give you more flexibility to negotiate.

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Today's Innovation Can Rise from Yesterday's Failure

Harvard Business Review

Each time, they begin again to explore and ideate all over again, generally either unaware of past learning or discounting past efforts because they did not lead to success. After hammering out today's criteria for success, we reached out to the organization globally for as many failed ideas as possible to reevaluate in today's world.

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The Real Reason Uber Is Giving Up in China

Harvard Business Review

New users were attracted to the platform by large discounts on their first trip, often equivalent to the full cost of the ride. There’s also a saying in China: “The nail that sticks up is the nail that gets hammered down.” Similarly, drivers were encouraged to join the service. ” Here is the takeaway.

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For Better Retail Promotions, Ask These Questions

Harvard Business Review

Discounts and promotions are at an all-time high, often comprising the single-biggest cost within many retailers’ P&Ls. When are discounts most likely to stimulate a sufficient sales response? Simpler promotional structures — such as an off-the-top 20% discount — tend to yield better results online.

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Why Those Guys Won the Economics Nobels

Harvard Business Review

So do not be discouraged to learn that we start with something called the stochastic discount factor , which Campbell describes as the central idea of modern asset-pricing theory. Many lay readers are familiar with John Burr Williams and the dividend discount model , or the discounted value of future cash flows.

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