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What GE’s Board Could Have Done Differently

Harvard Business

During Jeff Immelt’s tenure as CEO of General Electric, from 2001 until 2017, the company’s stock price fell by over 30%, a decline of roughly $150 billion in shareholder value. When Jack Welch stepped down as CEO in 2001, GE’s defined benefit (DB) plan was sitting on a surplus of $14.6

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Shockingly Bad Fiscal Health of Chicago (and the Financial Engineering Chicago Uses to Hide that Fact)

MishTalk

Although most governments are required to balance their budgets on a cash flow basis each fiscal year, a structural budget gap can arise when recurring expenditures are greater than recurring revenues. It is not a balance sheet test, but a cash flow test. This is one of several eligibility criteria.

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Finally, Proof That Managing for the Long Term Pays Off

Harvard Business

New research, led by a team from McKinsey Global Institute in cooperation with FCLT Global , found that companies that operate with a true long-term mindset have consistently outperformed their industry peers since 2001 across almost every financial measure that matters. The differences were dramatic. We calculate that U.S.

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5 Ways the Best Companies Close the Strategy-Execution Gap

Harvard Business

Instead of formulating detailed, long-term financial plans, executives at Dell now align around a common performance ambition—a cash flow vector consistent with growing the company’s intrinsic value faster than competitors. Webvan was forced to cease operations by 2001.

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The U.S. Needs Tax Reform, Not Tax Cuts

Harvard Business

There are ways to get around budgetary rules, including requiring the tax cuts to expire after 10 years, as was done in 2001, or using “dynamic scoring” with excessively optimistic assumptions about how much tax cuts increase economic growth. But these options have their own drawbacks and limitations.