Harvard Business Review

MARCH 10, 2011

Many are deeply uncertain about which initiatives they should fund — and one root of this indecision is a general lack of confidence in the cost of capital projections they are using to make the call. We find that 55 percent of respondents are convinced their cost of capital estimates are off by more than 50 basis points.

Cost of Capital 13

Cost of Capital CAPM Cost Discounted Cash Flow 13

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 10, 2011

When executives evaluate a potential investment, whether it's to build a new plant, enter a new market, or acquire a company, they weigh its cost against the future cash flows they expect will spring from it. It's the opening paragraph of a Harvard Business Review article called "What's Your Real Cost of Capital?"

CAPM 13

CAPM Cost Discounted Cash Flow Cost of Capital 13

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Marketing is in the midst of an ROI revolution. The arrival of advanced analytics and plentiful data have allowed marketers to demonstrate return on investment with a degree of precision that’s never been possible before. To date, however, the reality of marketing analytics has fallen short of the promise.

CFO 8

CFO Short-term Long-term Benchmarking 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 10, 2017

While the execution of a conventional strategy lends itself to linear progress and clear benchmarks, innovation often proceeds by S-curves , moving at a slow crawl until it explodes at an exponential rate. For any business to succeed over the long term, it must earn a return that exceeds its cost of capital.

Innovation 8

Innovation P&L ROI Long-term 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 22, 2015

Marketers often have to make the call on whether a certain marketing investment is worth the cost. Can you justify the price tag of the ad you want to buy or the marketing campaign you’re hoping to launch next quarter? The variable costs to make each pair of flip flops are $14.00. How do you calculate it?

Payback Period 8

Payback Period Fixed Costs Analysis Price 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 18, 2015

We also know that private equity funds have outperformed public equity markets over the last three decades , even after the fees they charge are accounted for. Rather, they rely on internal rates of return and multiples of invested capital. Our results on capital structure are more consistent with academic theory and teaching.

CAPM 8

CAPM Discounted Cash Flow Company Rate of Return 8