108 Posts found for Source: IESE Insight

Leadership can be learned, say Pablo Cardona and Helen Wilkinson in their book, Creciendo como líder (Growing as a Leader), which, as the title implies, believes that leadership is a necessary process of change that starts from within. The authors review 10 key competencies of being a good leader, which they say can be developed through further education, training and coaching.

Content: Article | Authors: Helen Wilkinson, Pablo Cardona | Source: IESE Insight | Subject: Management

The CEO’s reputation undoubtedly has an influence on the prestige of the business, but what determines the good name of the CEO? A survey of top Spanish CEOs reveals that personal credibility and offering a strategic vision are considered paramount. Surprisingly, ethical behavior was nudged off the Top 10, while good corporate governance and social and environmental responsibility came in even lower.

Content: Article | Authors: José Ramón Pin, Lourdes Susaeta, María Jesús Belizón | Source: IESE Insight | Subjects: Corporate Governance, Leadership, Management

When Fortune magazine once attempted to diagram alliances in the IT industry, it ended up looking as intricate as a map of the London Underground. That was 15 years ago, and if anything, that diagram will have only grown more complex. What’s more, half of all such alliances fail, leaving broken trails in their wake. IESE Prof. Lluís Renart suggests five tools, ranging from the … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Lluís Renart | Source: IESE Insight | Subjects: Management, Strategy

In these volatile times, achieving consistently outstanding performance in business has never been more important. IESE’s Federico Marinelli looks for – and finds – a clear pattern behind sustained performance among diversified companies. His fresh approach to the diversification issue also distinguishes between successful companies that consistently outperform their industry and beat the market indices – and their less fortunate brethren.

Content: Article | Author: Federico Marinelli | Source: IESE Insight | Subjects: Best Practices, Strategy

In today’s uncertain environment, the ability to sell our ideas, points of view, products, services and even our reputation is crucial. Communication and interpersonal skills are now ranked as critical business skills by recruiters, and a flattening out of hierarchies in our interdependent society has led to increased dependence on interactive skills. However, persuasion is often overlooked in current management literature. In their paper, IESE’s … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Brian O’C. Leggett, Josep Maria Rosanas | Source: IESE Insight | Subject: Personal Development

Most managers in the United States would shed workers to sustain profitability, whereas Japanese firms often consider job security one of their primary concerns. Both approaches, and their economic impact, can be explained through insider and outsider models of corporate governance. A new study examines the different results of similar corporate governance models by studying firms in different countries and closely examining the relationship between … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Miguel Ángel Ariño, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, Roberto García, Silvia Ayuso | Source: IESE Insight | Subject: Corporate Governance

CEOs do believe that knowledge can indeed heighten competitive advantage – particularly if that knowledge is of a certain kind. Preliminary findings from a study of Spanish firms, by IESE’s Rafael Andreu along with Joan Baiget and Agustí­ Canals, confirm this. Yet at the same time, the authors discover a paradox: the majority of the so-called “knowledge management initiatives” deployed by firms do not seem … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Agustí­ Canals, Joan Baiget, Rafael Andreu | Source: IESE Insight | Subject: Knowledge Management

“A man of extraordinary strength and intelligence may never be more than a failure in society if he doesn’t know how to speak in public,” noted the writer William Channing in the 19th century. Two centuries later, knowing how to speak in public is a skill increasingly valued in the workplace. The ability to change public perception through a persuasive presentation is considered one of … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Brian O’C. Leggett, Ricardo Velilla | Source: IESE Insight | Subject: Personal Development

IESE Prof. Cosimo Chiesa’s new book outlines 40 tips grouped into six categories, packed with practical insights for sales directors.

Content: Article | Author: Cosimo Chiesa | Source: IESE Insight | Subjects: Management, Marketing / Sales

The basic financial statements – P&Ls and balance sheets – are not enough to help investors clearly understand a company’s capability to generate value. The paper “Customer Equity: An Integral Part of Financial Reporting” recommends that companies start reporting “forward-looking customer metrics” by providing the value of their customer base and how it changes over time. This is especially important for companies whose customers are … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Bernd Skiera, Julián Villanueva, Thorstein Veblen | Source: IESE Insight | Subjects: Accounting, Finance

Who, what, where and why? These are all questions that arise from the complex subject of executive compensation, and the individual questions do not exist in a vacuum. Rather, each element that determines executive compensation, such as the type of company and the country where it is located, affects every other element involved. The “gold standard” of executive compensation for many years has been the … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Jordan Otten, Luis R. Gómez-Mejía, Pascual Berrone | Source: IESE Insight | Subject: Corporate Governance

Imagine giving a negative value to the shares of a company with positive cash flow forecasts. While it may seem strange, this type of mistake is more common than you think. In his book, 201 errores en valoraciones de empresas (201 Mistakes in Company Valuations), IESE Prof. Pablo Fernández shows how the host of theories and methods available to analysts sometimes leads to confusing results. … [ Read more ]

Content: Related Content | Author: Pablo Fernández | Source: IESE Insight | Subject: Finance

Ever seen books with their covers torn off? This is one of the telltale signs that buyers and suppliers, seeking to optimize their supply chain, have struck a buy-back agreement. While buyers and suppliers need to negotiate such types of deals, finding a mutually advantageous arrangement is no easy feat, especially when it comes to a field as complex as supply-chain economics. Considering all the … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: David Simchi-Levi, Víctor Martínez de Albéniz | Source: IESE Insight | Subject: Operations

What is a company worth? The answer to this question can vary depending on who you ask and the purpose of the valuation. As a result, figures derived by an options trader, credit liquidator, and an acquiring firm will not only differ in amount but, more interestingly, in the methods used to reach them. While discounted cash flow methods are widely accepted as the most … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Pablo Fernández | Source: IESE Insight | Subjects: Accounting, Finance

In the U.S. in 1906, the prominent private bank Kuhn Loeb – prompted by the scandal of the Armstrong Investigation – withdrew from the boards of all non-bank corporations. This historical announcement changed the course of corporate governance, and ultimately prevented private banks from being activist shareholders in the United States. In the paper “The Value of Private Banks in Corporate Governance: Evidence From the … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Miguel Cantillo | Source: IESE Insight | Subjects: Finance, History | Industry: Finance / Banking

There is no doubt that planning through a hierarchical structure has significant advantages, such as breaking a complex problem into more easily solvable parts or enabling lower levels to respond more quickly to problems. However, hierarchical organization poses two major problems. First, while one or more areas may find local ways to improve planning and production, the net effect on the whole organization may be … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: IESE Insight | Subject: Planning

The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is one of the most widespread asset pricing models in the financial world, but did you know that its results are not so reliable? According to Professor Pablo Fernández and researcher José Maria Carabias, both of IESE, it is possible to obtain an “Ã la carte” Beta coefficient. Should we thus blindly entrust the results of our investments … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: María Carabias, Pablo Fernández | Source: IESE Insight | Subject: Finance

Although methods for determining the value of a brand have proliferated in recent years, most are a bit flimsy, explains IESE Professor Pablo Fernández in his paper “Valoración de marcas e intangibles” (“Valuation of Brands and Intangibles”). The author analyzes and criticizes the reliability of the methods used by Damodaran, Interbrand, Financial World and Houlihan Valuation Advisors. According to his analysis, the methods are too … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Pablo Fernández | Source: IESE Insight | Subjects: Finance, Marketing / Sales

In today’s business environment, innovation seems to be the one thing that nobody can get enough of. Nevertheless, is there really an automatic link between technological innovation and increased profitability? And if not, do we know what factors determine when technological innovation will be translated into money in the bank? In their working paper, “What Do We Really Know about When Technological Innovation Improves Performance … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Joan Enric Ricart, Tunji Adegbesan | Source: IESE Insight | Subject: Innovation

Why do people choose one thing over another? And why do they stop choosing something at all? Over time, cravings, habits and over-saturation make some things appealing and others less so. Economists have attempted to predict consumer choice by applying a “discounted utility model,” which aims to account for how people’s habits and preferences change. In “Predicting Utility Under Satiation and Habituation,” Professors Manuel Baucells … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Manuel Baucells, Rakesh K. Sarin | Source: IESE Insight | Subjects: Economics, Marketing / Sales