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Walmart Broadens ROI for Green Power

Harvard Business Review

When addressing the company's aspirational goal of using 100% renewable energy, Bedore said two noteworthy things. For example] the longer term payback on solar helps us get to scale down the road.". In short, Walmart has tweaked its ROI requirements for green power initiatives to reflect more of the big picture.

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An HBR Refresher on Breakeven Quantity

Harvard Business Review

. “It’s one of the more popular ways that managers calculate marketing ROI,” says Avery, pointing out that other common ones include calculating the investment payback period, calculating an internal rate of return, and using net present value analysis.

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How to Get People to Collaborate When You Don’t Control Their Salary

Harvard Business Review

Both these efforts help the payback period arrive sooner, making collaboration a smarter investment for the next wave of people. Take the heat of other short-term goals so that time spent collaborating feels like less of an opportunity cost. Likewise, your actions can make the benefits start to flow sooner.

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Obama Gave a Monumental Climate Change Speech, But It's Still Not Enough

Harvard Business Review

Still, if you''re dependent on coal-powered energy — or your value chain is — it''s time to rethink your energy strategy and reconsider the payback periods on clean energy investments. Walmart is the largest private user of solar power in the country, and has set goals to increase that amount 6-fold by 2020.