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How to Quantify Sustainability’s Impact on Your Bottom Line

Harvard Business Review

We found that sustainable and deforestation-free practices created significant financial benefits for all players in the industry’s value chain. Specifically, our analysis found that the net benefits to ranchers ranged from $18 million to $34 million (12% to 23% of revenues) in net present value projected over 10 years.

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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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The Most Common Mistake People Make In Calculating ROI

Harvard Business Review

The finance people determine hurdle rates by looking at the company’s cost of capital, at the risk involved in a given project, and at the opportunity cost of forgoing other investments. Evaluate the investment. This is the final step.

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How CMOs Can Get CFOs on Their Side

Harvard Business Review

CFOs are more interested in capital investment estimates, net present values, and a clear outline of the trade-offs of any investment. Marketing KPIs that don’t directly address shareholder value and the company’s objectives don’t tell the CMO or the CFO where marketing efforts are having the most impact.

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

Harvard Business Review

For instance, despite the prominent role that discounted cash flow valuation methods play in academic finance courses, few PE investors use discounted cash flow or net present value techniques to evaluate investments. Rather, they rely on internal rates of return and multiples of invested capital.

CAPM 8
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A Refresher on Price Elasticity

Harvard Business Review

Once you do that, you can adjust price up or down to better represent the level of value you are providing to your customers. Read refreshers on net present value , breakeven quantity , debt-to-equity ratio , and cost of capital.

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An HBR Refresher on Breakeven Quantity

Harvard Business Review

. “It’s one of the more popular ways that managers calculate marketing ROI,” says Avery, pointing out that other common ones include calculating the investment payback period, calculating an internal rate of return, and using net present value analysis.