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A Refresher on Cost of Capital

Harvard Business Review

You’ve got an idea for a new product line, a way to revamp your inventory management system, or a piece of equipment that will make your work easier. You’ll likely be asked to show that the return on the investment will be better than your company’s cost of capital. What is the cost of capital?

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The Complexity of Business Communication

CoachStation

Compare Michael Porter’s competitive advantage definition: “Competitive advantage, sustainable or not, exists when a company makes economic rents, that is, their earnings exceed their costs (including cost of capital).” Is change communication in your organisation more like the first example or the second?

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The Rise of FinTech in Supply Chains

Harvard Business Review

The use of FinTechs allows suppliers to access funding at the multinationals firm’s lower cost of capital.). Many FinTechs function as cloud-based software platforms and can enable “procure-to-pay” systems that incorporate both purchasing management and accounts payable functionality.

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We Can’t Study Short-Termism Without the Right Metrics

Harvard Business Review

However, firms can efficiently increase margin growth without much revenue growth by managing to squeeze out their fixed costs to service the same level of output. Many compensation plans reward managers for higher earnings and higher stock prices, as opposed to rewarding them for adding long-term value to the firm.

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What U.S. CEOs Should Do with the Money from Corporate Tax Cuts

Harvard Business Review

The cost of capital is at historic lows, averaging below 6% for most large U.S. Indeed, for most companies, the value of accelerating growth greatly exceeds the value of returning capital to shareholders. Indeed, for most companies, the value of accelerating growth greatly exceeds the value of returning capital to shareholders.

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The Case for Investing More in People

Harvard Business Review

In research for our book, Time, Talent and Energy, my co-author Michael Mankins and I found that such investments do indeed pay off: The top-quartile companies in our study unlocked 40% more productive power in their workforce through better practices in time, talent and energy management. For knowledge workers, time is incredibly scarce.

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How to Quantify Sustainability’s Impact on Your Bottom Line

Harvard Business Review

These ranges were wide due to the relative size of the different players in the supply chain (for example, a company that has higher revenues will realize greater benefits than a smaller firm). These values can be estimated credibly and cost-effectively, and we set about applying them to the Brazilian beef sector. of revenues).