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

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

CAPM 14

CAPM Cost Discounted Cash Flow Cost of Capital 14

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 24, 2011

But why compare apples (book value) to oranges (share price and dividends)? Buffett explains that book value is the best proxy for "intrinsic value," the net present value of all estimated future cash flows. Consider that since 1965, Berkshire's book value grew 434,057% and the S&P index grew only 5,430%.

Letter 15

Letter P&L Net Present Value Insurance 15

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

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. Such investments carry significant equity risk, suggesting that equity-based benchmarks like public market equivalents (PMEs) are appropriate.

CAPM 8

CAPM Discounted Cash Flow Company Rate of Return 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

For decades multinational corporations have poured hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign investments into emerging markets , sometimes preferring the investment climate of "stable" authoritarian regimes over "messy" democracies. Certainly the money at stake is substantial.

NPV 13

NPV Short-term Discount Politics 13