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Profit Is Less About Good Management than You Think

Harvard Business Review

Benjamin Graham , the father of value investing, seldom met the managers of the companies he invested in because he felt they would tell him only what they wished him to hear and because he didn’t want to be influenced by impressions of personality. So is there something different about the managers who do succeed?

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What Younger Workers Can Learn from Older Workers, and Vice Versa

Harvard Business Review

We typically imagine that the young can help the old understand technology and the old can impart general wisdom. What we asked people was, at this point in their lives, are they actively building, maintaining, or depleting their tangible and intangible assets? Coaching and mentoring across age groups makes sense.

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Startups Could Fundamentally Change the Way Big Investors Operate

Harvard Business Review

Small startup firms are already developing proprietary technologies — such as machine vision, deep learning, and other innovations —– that could help large investors evaluate opportunities and risks with far greater accuracy and efficiency than was previously possible. But right now that’s not happening.

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What It Will Take to Fix HR

Harvard Business Review

In the July/August issue of HBR , Ram Charan argues that the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) role should be eliminated, with HR responsibilities funneled in two separate directions — administration , led by traditional HR-types, reporting to the CFO; and talent strategy , led by high-potential line managers, reporting to the corner office.

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Investors Today Prefer Companies with Fewer Physical Assets

Harvard Business Review

The companies that provide those services and enable us to share what we have (insights, relationships, assets) with others not only are valued more highly by investors but also are relatively asset-light themselves. And equipment must be maintained in a world that is becoming virtual and augmented by technology (VR and AR).

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A Novel Idea for Putting Sidelined Cash to Work

Harvard Business Review

Second, for small and rapid-growth technology companies, the problem is compounded by the fact that, while rich in intangible assets, they typically lack the kind of collateral (equipment, inventory, real estate, etc.) banks require to secure commercial loans.

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Why We Shouldn’t Worry About the Declining Number of Public Companies

Harvard Business Review

firms gravitate towards digital strategies, firms have less need for elaborate finance, marketing, production, distribution, accounting, and human resource departments. Such acquisitions become more lucrative with rising first-mover advantages, pace of technological development, and network externality.

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