Remove Benchmarking Remove Management Remove Marketing Remove Present Value
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How CMOs Can Get CFOs on Their Side

Harvard Business Review

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
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Still Many Ways to Skin a Capital Cost

Harvard Business Review

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. To make sure they're comparing apples to apples, they discount those future cash flows to arrive at their net present value.

CAPM 14
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Warren Buffett's 2010 Shareholder Letter: What to Expect

Harvard Business Review

Imagine if managements, boards, and investors adopted them: we could restart our economy, energize our business school curricula and create prosperity for our children and grandchildren. But why compare apples (book value) to oranges (share price and dividends)? In all but seven of these 45 years, Berkshire beat the S&P.

Letter 15
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An HBR Refresher on Breakeven Quantity

Harvard Business Review

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? What is breakeven quantity (BEQ)? ” The company sells each pair of flip flops for $24.00.

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What Private Equity Investors Think They Do for the Companies They Buy

Harvard Business Review

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. What have been less explored are the specific actions taken by private equity (PE) fund managers. At the same time, debt puts pressure on managers not to waste money.

CAPM 8
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Will You Be Writing Off Your Investment in Egypt?

Harvard Business Review

With political upheaval roiling the streets of Cairo, the first concern of top management in many multinationals is to get their employees and their families out of Egypt safely. Anyone who has had to make the argument for an investment knows the basic tool involved: a Net Present Value (NPV) calculation.

NPV 13