Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 16, 2016

For example, at the end of its 2015 fiscal year, Apple’s balance sheet stated tangible assets of $290 billion as a contribution to its annual revenues, with approximately $141 billion worth of intangible assets — a combination of intellectual capital, brand equity, and (investor and consumer) goodwill.

Balance Sheet 13

Balance Sheet Assets Insurance Operations 13

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 26, 2018

Similarly, Microsoft paid $26 billion for loss-making LinkedIn in 2016, and Facebook paid $19 billion for WhatsApp in 2014 when it had no revenues or profits. This becomes clear when you look at a company’s two most important financial statements: the balance sheet and the income statement.

Balance Sheet 8

Balance Sheet Assets Revenue Accounts 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 25, 2017

For instance, before the crisis, the three largest German banks had two-thirds of their total assets in foreign markets; today it is only one-third. According to Dealogic, banks have divested more than $2 trillion in assets since 2007. Their share of total foreign investment assets has risen from 8% to 14% over the past ten years.

Banking 8

Banking Assets Balance Sheet Marketing 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 30, 2017

Despite these significant labor investments, from 2007 to the end of 2016, Costco’s stock price increased over 200%, far outpacing the overall growth of the S&P 500 (58%) and that of competitors like Walmart (45%) and Target (26%), which is known to pay workers low wages and offer relatively meager employee benefits.

Marketing 12

Marketing Balance Sheet Compensation Benefits 12

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 24, 2017

Independently, Michael Porter’s Social Progress Index in 2016 specifically highlighted opportunity in Manizales as significantly higher than both Medellin and Bogota. We believe that it is not the age of the asset that is important, but rather, the value infused into that asset that drives scale.

Scaling 12

Scaling Banking Balance Sheet Sales 12

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 2, 2016

The strategy works, temporarily putting more cash on the positive side of the balance sheet. But it only makes the ROA problem worse: companies end up burdened with more unspent cash and a bigger block of dead, unproductive assets. Ironically but irrefutably, this is not good for business.

Assets 8

Assets Balance Sheet Operations A/B Testing 8