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Why You Should Crowd-Source Your Toughest Investment Decisions

Harvard Business Review

Most companies – including the movie studios in Hollywood – over-rely on basic tools like discounted cash flow and net present value. But it is possible to significantly improve your odds by understanding which decision-support tools work best for which decisions.

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Why We Need to Update Financial Reporting for the Digital Era

Harvard Business Review

Business students have traditionally considered net present value, payback period, and hurdle rates as necessary tools to determine which project to select. Some of these ideas contradict traditional financial thinking whereas others seem highly controversial or pessimistic.

Report 8
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Still Many Ways to Skin a Capital Cost

Harvard Business Review

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

CAPM 14
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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.

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Hospital Budget Systems Are Holding Back Innovation

Harvard Business Review

Despite a one-year payback period and a highly positive net present value (NPV) from this investment, the department will often reject the attractive opportunity. Consider the opportunity to raise spending in Year 1 by $100,000 to acquire technology that would decrease spending each year thereafter by $100,000.