Harvard Business Review

APRIL 19, 2011

This post is part of a three-week series exploring the re-invention of the social infrastructure of cities, published in partnership with the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University. Meanwhile, declines in revenue and escalating fixed costs for things like public employee pensions and health care are crippling our cities budgets.

Short-term 14

Short-term Budgeting Health Care Long-term 14

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 6, 2014

Hard discounters aim for twice the volume with the same fixed costs so they can make the same returns at half the gross margin. Whether they can do it this time depends on the strength of their leadership. You might wonder how anyone can make money with such low prices. The answer is simple – selling more.

Retail 15

Retail Merchandising Discount Price 15

Harvard Business Review

JULY 12, 2018

A second important deficiency arises from the fallacy that a cost-plus price is guaranteed to cover costs. Cost-plus prices provide no guarantee of covering costs or earning a profit. A final and significant virtue of cost-plus pricing lies in executing a cost leadership strategy.

Price 12

Price Cost Tactics Retail 12

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 15, 2018

One large nonprofit system that has been struggling with its costs had a “president of strategy,” prima facie evidence of a serious culture problem! However, doing this with blanket eliminations of layers carries a risk: inadvertently pruning away the next generation of leadership talent.

Cost 14

Cost System Management Franchising 14

Harvard Business Review

MAY 28, 2018

Directly influenced by investor input, Nikon developed a restructuring plan that would carry a onetime cost of ¥48 billion ($460 million) but generate ¥20 billion ($190 million) in annual savings. It also called for streamlining headquarters and cutting executive management’s compensation.

Company 11

Company ROIC CFO Restructuring 11

Harvard Business Review

JULY 27, 2017

And the fixed cost from “touchpoint-to-pilot” are immense. For example, in the case of a $100 million CVC fund, which can close five to 10 investments a year, these costs typically range from $1 to $2 million per startup — not including the administrative and variable costs of the pilot itself.

Venture Capitalist 8

Venture Capitalist Meyer Innovation Fixed Costs 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 27, 2016

A full-time job provided the steady income needed to support our traditional version of the American Dream: the highly leveraged, high-fixed-cost house; the cars; the latest consumer goods. If you had a full-time job, you won. Entrepreneurial workers also win.

Disaggregation 8

Disaggregation Insurance Retail Fixed Costs 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 13, 2016

It has the Council on Foundations, which provides leadership and opportunity to philanthropic organizations. Imagine eliminating all of the redundancies in fixed costs. And just as the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, so too are the parts woefully less than a division of the whole.

Budgeting 8

Budgeting NGO Diversity Fixed Costs 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 5, 2017

” It explains why firms that have anchored their strategies to content have ceded digital leadership to those that have focused on connections. The media’s bias toward big events stems from three features of its economics: Fixed costs. Fixed costs have always been central to the economics of media.

Media 15

Media Advertising Fixed Costs Content 15