article thumbnail

Will You Be Writing Off Your Investment in Egypt?

Harvard Business Review

With political upheaval roiling the streets of Cairo, the first concern of top management in many multinationals is to get their employees and their families out of Egypt safely. Anyone who has had to make the argument for an investment knows the basic tool involved: a Net Present Value (NPV) calculation.

NPV 13
article thumbnail

Lafley’s P&G Brand Cull and the 80/20 Rule

Harvard Business Review

P&G is cutting its global brand portfolio by more than half. “Importantly, this will be a much simpler, much less complex company of leading brands that’s easier to manage and operate.” Should management refine and dig deeper into existing 80/20 KPIs? ” Does the leaner, meaner, and refocused Lafley 2.0

Brand 8
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Stop Focusing on Profitability and Go for Growth

Harvard Business Review

The global financial crisis prompted many companies to pull in their horns, hoard cash, trim costs, and take a wary view of large investments. Bain & Company’s Macro Trends Group carefully analyzed the global balance sheet and found that the world is awash in money. times global GDP) to more than $600 trillion (9.5

ROE 14
article thumbnail

Is Your Business Biased Against Innovation?

Strategy Driven

Net present value [NPV] is a case in point. The logic of NPV is to project cash flows into the future and then discount those flows back into today’s dollars at a given cost of capital. Yet for the small handful of companies that have managed to drive growth consistently – even through tough times – the payoff is great.