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How to Compete for Talent like a Private Equity Firm
Private equity Digital ArticleIf you want to be successful, you have to harness the talent. The top private equity firms have a genius for hiring superior talent. All organizations need great people, but PE measures talent with one test only: performance. It’s not that private equity firms are heartless. Rather, their three- to five-year time horizon doesn’t allow […] -
Are You Paying Too Much for That Acquisition?
Mergers and acquisitions Magazine ArticleThe key is knowing what your top price is—and having the discipline to stick to it. -
Measuring Investment Center Performance
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleA spate of articles and books about return on investment has appeared during the past two or three years. Improving company earnings in relation to the capital used to generate those earnings has become a matter of great concern to many top financial and general managers. Their concern is not surprising. About three years ago, […] -
What's Your Project's Real Price Tag?
Finance & Accounting Magazine ArticleWith companies' financial statements being scrutinized as never before, executives are under pressure to forecast the cost of major projects accurately.... -
Why Are We So Emotional about Money?
Finance & Accounting InterviewOur relationship with money is just as personal as any other big relationship in our lives. -
Collaborating with Congregations: Opportunities for Financial Services in the Inner City
Economics Magazine ArticleBy pooling the resources of the poor and by sharing information, religious and financial institutions can work together to change inner-city economies. -
Gathering Green Data: Tools and Tips
Costing Digital ArticleIn my last post, I talked about the ways you can use green data — footprinting information on your products and services up and down the value chain — to create enormous value for your company. As they say, you can’t manage what you don’t measure. And those with the best information can cut costs, […] -
How a CEO’s Personality Affects Their Company’s Stock Price
Leadership Digital ArticleIt pays to be conscientious. Extroverted, not so much. -
Meet the New Banker, Same as the Old Banker?
Finance and investing Digital ArticleCitigroup’s appointment of Lloyd TSB’s Terri Dial to head its consumer banking operations is being heralded as part of “widespread changes” being implemented by CEO Vakrim Pandit. To this, I say: “Really?” Dial’s entire professional career has been in retail banking. How much of a change does she really represent? The banking industry is moribund. […] -
Will Personalized Medicine Mean Higher Costs for Consumers?
Global Business Digital ArticleWe need policies that shift insurers' financial incentives. -
The Era of “Move Fast and Break Things” Is Over
Venture capital Digital ArticleHere’s what that means for VCs and entrepreneurs. -
How Private Equity Firms Infuse a Positive Attitude
Private equity Digital ArticleTimes change and markets transform themselves overnight. The half-life of common wisdom is shorter than ever. But top private equity firms have distilled a set of institutional habits that boost the likelihood of their success. What’s critical to this success? Attitude. PE leaders take pains to foster a “results-oriented mind-set”. In short, that means creating […] -
The Other Diversity Dividend
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleResearchers have struggled to establish a causal relationship between diversity and financial performance--especially at large companies, where decision... -
3 Lessons from Hyperinflationary Periods
Costing Digital ArticleWhat today’s businesses can learn about pricing strategies and consumer trust. -
Bringing the Environment Down to Earth
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleManagers should make environmental investments for the same reason they make other investments: because they expect them to deliver positive returns or to reduce risks. -
Social Cost of Fraud and Bankruptcy
Finance & Accounting Magazine Article... -
Who Should Pay on a First Date?
Finance & Accounting Digital Article...and other tips for talking money with your partner. -
Must Finance and Strategy Clash?
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleMarketers and finance people seldom see eye to eye. The makers say, “This product will open up a whole new market segment.” Finance people respond, “It’s a bad investment. The IRR is only 8%.” Why are they so often in opposition? The financial criteria used to decide if a project will be profitable are entirely […] -
Too Much Testosterone on Wall Street?
Recessions Digital ArticleFinance has always been dominated by men and driven by a testosterone-enhanced culture. If women had been running our banks, might we have avoided the sub-prime mess and the resulting economic meltdown? Halla Tomasdottir, a prominent Icelandic financier, answers yes. In a recent BBC interview she shared her outrage at the wild risks male bankers […] -
The Best-Performing CEOs in the World 2015
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleWhat's the true test of a leader's worth? At HBR, we believe it's the results he or she produces over the long run. To see who measured up, we analyzed...
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Penn West Petroleum Ltd.
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Penn West Petroleum Ltd. (Penn West), a large Canadian oil company, made multiple acquisitions that led to a buildup of goodwill (i.e., the purchase price... -
Leverage, Volatility, and Financial Risk
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details Financial risk is, in good measure, related to the uncertainty of profit coverage of interest payments and principal repayments. This note examines the... -
Indesit Company: Does Global Matter?
Global Business Case Study11.95View Details In 2007, the leadership of the Indesit Company is focused on long-term corporate strategy. After 3 decades, the company has emerged as the number 2 home... -
Early-Stage Term Sheets
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details This note was written as an updated version of "The Early-Stage Term Sheet" (UV2526) and may be used in its place. In seeking funding for an early-stage... -
SureCut Shears, Inc.
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details A bank loan officer must determine whether to waive convenants and extend terms on a line of credit granted to SureCut Shears. At issue is whether the... -
A Student's Dilemma: Rent or Buy?
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details Whenever an investment is made, there are always costs and benefits. This case explores, based on quantitative and qualitative factors, a decision that... -
Note on Managing the Growing Venture
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study8.95View Details Focuses on the strategic and organizational challenges that confront growing enterprises and the entrepreneurs who lead them. Provides an overview of... -
The Confectionery Business
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details The case proposes to evaluate an investment project in the private sphere of a Peruvian company called INVERSTATE. For this, the requirement is to make... -
Tesla's Bid for SolarCity (A)
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details In October 2016, Tesla asked its shareholders to ratify their $2.4 billion bid for SolarCity. Tesla had announced a series of large projects in the preceding... -
FedEx Corp. Versus United Parcel Service of America, Inc.: Who Will Deliver Returns from China?
Global Business Case Study11.95View Details In early 2006, the anticipated expansion of package delivery services in China provided a great opportunity for the two package delivery giants FedEx... -
Financial Intelligence, Revised Edition: A Manager's Guide to Knowing What the Numbers Really Mean
Finance & Accounting Book35.00View Details "Inc." magazine calls it one of "the best, clearest guides to the numbers" on the market. Readers agree, saying it's exactly "what I need to know" and... -
Cartwright Lumber Co.
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details The Cartwright Lumber Co. faces a need for increased bank financing due to its rapid sales growth and low profitability. A rewritten version of an earlier... -
Star Appliance Company (A)
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details An introduction to estimating the cost of capital, this case provides sufficient data for using a variety of methods for estimating the cost of equity,... -
H.E. Butt Grocery Co.: A Leader in ECR Implementation (A) (Abridged)
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details Describes the industry context that has resulted in the development of efficient consumer response (ECR) within the grocery industry and its adoption... -
Air Canada - Risk Management
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details The chief executive officer (CEO) of Air Canada was reviewing the company's risk management program with the intent to suggest changes to the policy.... -
Zopa.com: From a Hot Idea to an Established Market Player?
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Launched in early 2005, Zopa is a peer-to-peer online brokerage that couples British residents who want to lend with those who want to borrow. The company... -
China Lodging Group (B)
Finance & Accounting Case Study5.00View Details Supplement to case 116004. This case study explores the challenges of aligning middle management interests with company goals as a company navigates rapid... -
Keller Fund's Option Investment Strategies
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details A closed-end mutual fund's decision to study option trading provides an opportunity to study the profit profile and pricing of multiple option investment... -
MOVE Guides (A)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details It was a crisp autumn day in London in 2012. Brynne Kennedy and Steve Black, the co-founders of MOVE Guides, were huddling with their lead software developer,...
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How to Compete for Talent like a Private Equity Firm
Private equity Digital ArticleIf you want to be successful, you have to harness the talent. The top private equity firms have a genius for hiring superior talent. All organizations need great people, but PE measures talent with one test only: performance. It’s not that private equity firms are heartless. Rather, their three- to five-year time horizon doesn’t allow […] -
Are You Paying Too Much for That Acquisition?
Mergers and acquisitions Magazine ArticleThe key is knowing what your top price is—and having the discipline to stick to it. -
Measuring Investment Center Performance
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleA spate of articles and books about return on investment has appeared during the past two or three years. Improving company earnings in relation to the capital used to generate those earnings has become a matter of great concern to many top financial and general managers. Their concern is not surprising. About three years ago, […] -
What's Your Project's Real Price Tag?
Finance & Accounting Magazine ArticleWith companies' financial statements being scrutinized as never before, executives are under pressure to forecast the cost of major projects accurately.... -
Why Are We So Emotional about Money?
Finance & Accounting InterviewOur relationship with money is just as personal as any other big relationship in our lives. -
Collaborating with Congregations: Opportunities for Financial Services in the Inner City
Economics Magazine ArticleBy pooling the resources of the poor and by sharing information, religious and financial institutions can work together to change inner-city economies. -
Penn West Petroleum Ltd.
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Penn West Petroleum Ltd. (Penn West), a large Canadian oil company, made multiple acquisitions that led to a buildup of goodwill (i.e., the purchase price... -
Gathering Green Data: Tools and Tips
Costing Digital ArticleIn my last post, I talked about the ways you can use green data — footprinting information on your products and services up and down the value chain — to create enormous value for your company. As they say, you can’t manage what you don’t measure. And those with the best information can cut costs, […] -
Leverage, Volatility, and Financial Risk
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details Financial risk is, in good measure, related to the uncertainty of profit coverage of interest payments and principal repayments. This note examines the...