Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 20, 2018

Activist hedge funds have become capital market and financial media darlings. The Economist famously called them “capitalism’s unlikely heroes” in a cover story, and the FT published an article saying we “should welcome” them. akindo/Getty Images. But they are utterly reviled by CEOs.

Hedge 8

Hedge TSR Company Sample 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 5, 2017

But the other indicators probably pick up legitimate differences in how companies in the sample operate, as opposed to whether they are myopic. What if concentrated market power of a few companies in an industry has made these companies more profitable than usual? This measure has been validated by extensive academic research.

EPS 8

EPS Metrics Depreciation Short-term 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 27, 2015

Companies in the top one-fifth of profitability earn, in aggregate, about 70 times more economic profit (accounting profit less cost of capital) than those in the middle three-fifths combined, according to McKinsey’s database of 3,000 large, publicly listed, nonfinancial U.S. Consider what’s happening among corporations.

ROIC 8

ROIC McKinsey GDP Company 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 21, 2015

In fact, determining price is one of the toughest things a marketer has to do, in large part because it has such a big impact on the company’s bottom line. As she explains in her “ Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Pricing and Profitability Analysis ,” there are five zones of elasticity. What is price elasticity?

Price 8

Price Debt to Equity Ratio Marketing Metrics 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

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 21, 2016

Today’s executives are dealing with a complex and unprecedented brew of social, environmental, market, and technological trends. Yet executives are often reluctant to place sustainability core to their company’s business strategy in the mistaken belief that the costs outweigh the benefits.

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain Price Loyalty Efficiency 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

Among the firms we identified as focused on the long term, average revenue and earnings growth were 47% and 36% higher, respectively, by 2014, and market capitalization grew faster as well. Collectively, our sample accounts for about 60%–65% of total U.S. public market capitalization over this period.

Long-term 8

Long-term EPS Short-term Management 8