Remove Cost of Capital Remove Development Remove Innovation
article thumbnail

Sustainable Investment Funds Can Encourage Worse Behavior

The Horizons Tracker

Subsequently, leveraging historical data, the researchers evaluated the responses of the highest and lowest polluting groups to fluctuations in their capital costs, an impact similar to the objectives of the sustainable investing movement.

article thumbnail

4 Ways Leaders Can Get More from Their Company’s Innovation Efforts

Harvard Business Review

A recent McKinsey report found that while 84% of corporate executives think innovation is key to achieving growth objectives, only 6% are satisfied with the innovation performance of their firm. Even if executives try to prioritize it, innovation often gets crowded out by more “urgent” short-term pressures.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

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

article thumbnail

The Real Reasons Companies Are So Focused on the Short Term

Harvard Business Review

Some argue that profits are stagnant because of short-termism—that decades of focusing on current profits over long-run innovativeness has resulted, now, in companies that are hollowed out. One trend that has contributed to short-termism and lower innovativeness is the increased prevalence of outside CEOs.

article thumbnail

The Case for Investing More in People

Harvard Business Review

.” There is a virtuous cycle between productivity and people: Higher levels of productivity allow society to reinvest in human capital (most obviously, though not exclusively, via higher wages), and smart investments result in higher labor productivity. Productivity in most developed economies has been anemic.

article thumbnail

What U.S. CEOs Should Do with the Money from Corporate Tax Cuts

Harvard Business Review

The cost of capital is at historic lows, averaging below 6% for most large U.S. Indeed, for most companies, the value of accelerating growth greatly exceeds the value of returning capital to shareholders. Investing in true innovation. The lower the discount rate, the more that future cash is worth.)

article thumbnail

Why Traditional M&A Is Becoming Less Important

Harvard Business Review

Mr. Rockefeller’s business strategy was to vertically integrate every aspect of the oil business (exploration, development, logistics, marketing) to assure an ongoing competitive advantage. Companies are seeking to be quicker on their feet and more innovative. Consider today’s trends in M&A.

article thumbnail

What’s Driving Superstar Companies, Industries, and Cities

Harvard Business Review

To analyze the superstar dynamics of firms, our metric was economic profit, a measure of a firm’s profit above and beyond opportunity cost. (To To do this, we take the firm’s returns, deduct the cost of capital, and multiply by the firm’s total invested capital.)