Remove Cost of Capital Remove Innovation Remove Marketing
article thumbnail

Entrepreneurship Suffers When Well-Paid Jobs Are Plentiful

The Horizons Tracker

A few years ago I wrote about innovation and entrepreneurship in Norway and Qatar. The author believes that while lower costs of capital would certainly help raise the entrepreneurship rate, it would be most beneficial to entrepreneurs with lower skills. Positive or negative?

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

What You Don’t Know About Sales Can Hurt Your Strategy

Harvard Business Review

The goal of strategy is profitable growth, meaning economic value above the firm’s cost of capital. Smartly reducing assets devoted to activities that earn less than their cost of capital requires good links with evolving market realities. ( Isn’t that a function of risk parameters and the debt-to-equity ratio?

article thumbnail

The Real Reasons Companies Are So Focused on the Short Term

Harvard Business Review

This has been a remarkable year for the markets. 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. MirageC/Getty Images. The S&P and the Dow indexes are up 18% and 19%, respectively.

article thumbnail

Should Companies Retain "Strategic" Cash?

Harvard Business Review

Strategic cash provides more flexibility concerning the timing and pricing of potential acquisitions; having cash on hand is the best insurance that CFOs will be able to respond with alacrity to opportunities and not be subject to the vagaries of the financial markets. Facilitate Investments. Arguments Against Strategic Cash.

Company 15
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. Indeed, for most companies, the value of accelerating growth greatly exceeds the value of returning capital to shareholders.

article thumbnail

The Case for Investing More in People

Harvard Business Review

Managed by Q, a cleaning and office services company in New York City, decided to pay employees higher wages than the prevailing market rate. In turn, the company is achieving lower levels of employee and customer churn, and correspondingly lower employee hiring and customer acquisition costs.