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Adapt Your Strategy to Higher Interest Rates

Harvard Business Review

To do that, executives need to rediscover the concept of economic profit (EP) — that is, revenue minus not just operating and administrative costs, but also the cost of the capital needed to produce that revenue.

EPS 25
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Strong Dollar, Weak Thinking

Harvard Business Review

But the strengthening creates a serious challenge for the big American multinationals with large foreign operations. The real problem is that the earnings from their substantial foreign operations are translated back to the home country financials to produce fewer dollars of net profit.

EPS 8
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We Can’t Study Short-Termism Without the Right Metrics

Harvard Business Review

While a laudable effort in principle, measuring a company’s tendency to make myopic operating and investing decisions is fiendishly complex. But the other indicators probably pick up legitimate differences in how companies in the sample operate, as opposed to whether they are myopic. On the surface, this measure looks reasonable.

EPS 9
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Business Needs to Do What Government Can't

Harvard Business Review

Just under 1,000 companies account for half of the world's market capitalization, Eccles notes. Breakthrough requires an end to systemic inequities by opening up processes, information - and markets. Companies like Unilever are on an open innovation drive, while GSK and Novartis are focusing on access to medicines in poorer markets.

EPS 8
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How Amazon Trained Its Investors to Behave

Harvard Business Review

In fact, Amazon was only operating at such a high burn rate because it could. That opportunistic approach to financial markets has defined Amazon since it went public in 1997. When Uncle Wall Street (also known as Mr. Market ) is in a generous mood, Bezos is always ready to take advantage by putting investment ahead of profitability.

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Managing in an Age of Winner-Take-All

Harvard Business Review

Consider management actions such as cutting jobs and investment as a response to currency fluctuations and the resulting accounting impact of those cuts on earnings per share (EPS). Share buybacks are preferred to investment in innovation, entrepreneurship, and value creation. This is a situation that cannot endure.

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Why I'm Glad I Got Fired

Harvard Business Review

A friend of mine, Godfrey Sullivan , asked me to consider running the operations for the Americas unit at Autodesk. Carol wanted to promote someone from within; however, that executive lacked the broad discipline knowledge of channels, marketing and sales ops. Here's what happened. Only sheer politeness kept me from hanging up.

EPS 15