First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 20, 2011

Building upon his early experience at AT&T Bell Labs, he has created and led a series of fundamental innovations, from early technology to final implementation in the market. [.]. He received a BS degree in Materials Science and Engineering in 1985 from MIT and his PhD in the same discipline from Cornell University in 1989.

Engineering 85

Engineering Technology Innovation Marketing 85

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 9, 2011

Robert Merton was 46 when he won the award. He and two other economists created the trading process called Black-Scholes that impacted the ways financial markets were informed and influenced. Merton had the office on the other side of my office. Bob Merton was as gracious and supportive as the colleague I mentioned earlier.

Merton 14

Merton Black-Scholes Welch Organizational Behavior 14

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). This failure to even mention return on capital seems perverse. It is, in fact, the salt in the value recipe.

CEO 8

CEO ROIC Cost of Capital Merton 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 29, 2014

In the 1900s, French mathematician-economist Leon Walras envisioned prices in a market economy being set by an auctioneer (since known as the “Walrasian auctioneer”) conducting continuous auctions for all kinds of commodities. Economists and market design. Admittedly, better pricing of options has been a mixed blessing.

Strategy 12

Strategy Black-Scholes Airlines Price 12

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 22, 2016

And, for reasons explained below, ARG tends to be significantly higher than EFV, especially when the stock market is booming. Especially when the stock market is on the rise, total ARG compensation tends to be much higher than total EFV compensation. million (57% from stock-based pay). million (70% from stock-based pay).

CEO 8

CEO Black-Scholes Price Merton 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 15, 2016

My parents embodied a distinction that the sociologist Robert Merton made in the 1950s studying a small American town. Up to Merton’s time, however, locals and cosmopolitans, remained strange bedfellows. We had the mindset and skills needed to deal with and, let us face it, profit from the opening up of global markets.

Merton 8

Merton Globalization Politics Learning-by-Doing 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

I was thinking about that story by Thomas Merton during a recent board meeting. Recent market updates, a technical deconstruction of various trends, then product frameworks — all in quick succession. We don't get to optimize all products, go after all markets, or add all programs. One board member sighed deeply.

Merton 15

Merton Groupthink CFO Cost 15