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This note describes the market for healthcare, primarily in the U.S., but also in other parts of the world to the extent that features of the system in particular countries are instructive. It also contains exhibits that display comparative performance of the system in terms of cost and quality. It raises the question of how health care can be delivered with higher quality at lower cost.

The note describes what integration for tax purpose is, what its objective is and how the Canadian income tax achieves it. The note starts with the concept of perfect integration and then evaluates the assumptions underlying it. This is followed by a consideration of the actual extent of integration to determine when incorporation is advantageous and when it results in a real tax cost.

The French film magazine Cahiers du Cinema contributed to strengthening the characterization of film as art in France. The note provides background information on the magazine's history, on the French film industry and on French film magazines

Describes the basic elements of a typical corporate compliance or ethics program, focusing on the components of an "effective" program set forth in the U.S. Organizational Sentencing Guidelines as revised in 2010. Outlines key issues in program design and implementation and provides an overview of relevant research.

This note discusses the organizational challenges that startups often encounter as they begin to scale rapidly, along with approaches to addressing these challenges suggested by scholars, investors, and experienced entrepreneurs. The challenges fall into five broad areas: the need to formalize organizational structure; executive transitions; the need for management systems/processes; evolution of the board of directors role; and, preservation of an entrepreneurial culture.

Inventory-based lending is a form of asset-based lending used by retailers and wholesalers. This note describes the development and the current state of the inventory-based lending industry.

The last thirty years have seen the widespread embrace of market capitalism as not only a highly efficient form of economic organization but also as one that best meets the diversity of human preferences. In large, complex societies, an increasing body of theoretical and empirical research suggests, however, that the existence of competitive markets rests on strong institutional foundations. This note explores the appropriate role for the general manager, if any, in sustaining these conditions for market capitalism.

This note guides students or Executive Education participants through an exercise to help identify growth opportunities for their business units. The 3-Circle framework consists of 10 steps that lead to a vetted growth strategy. Readers work through the first five steps to identify three potential growth ideas. They then follow the remaining five steps to develop one specific Big Idea for growth. This exercise is a condensed guide to the process described in Grow by Focusing on What Matters: Strategy in Three Circles, by Urbany and Davis.

The process of branding a product involves building awareness of and preference for the specific name of the product that is being branded. Central to the branding process is the brand positioning statement, often simply called the positioning statement. The positioning statement is a short written document that lays out how the marketer believes others should think, feel, and relate to the brand. This note discusses the process of brand positioning and how to construct positioning statements.

Nothing can bedevil a high-potential startup more than its "people problems." These problems typically result from choices that founders make as they add team members to their startup team. Three characteristics of startup teams must be aligned for these teams to function well: relationships, roles, and rewards (the Three Rs). Early decisions that founders make about the Three Rs can significantly affect their startup's direction and success. This note explores some of these choices and their long-term implications.

The cost of capital is one of the most important concepts in finance. It is the minimum acceptable rate of return that new investments must yield and it represents the long-term opportunity cost of the funds used by a company. If management decides to invest in projects with expected returns above the cost of capital, the company value goes up. Conversely, if a company invests in projects (that despite having positive profitability) with expected returns below the cost of capital, it destroys value and company value goes down. Similarly, the cost of capital is the discount rate that should be used in a discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis, in capital budgeting applications, when valuing a company or a division, or an acquisition target.

The value of a firm depends not only on the cash flows it provides to its investors, but also on the timing, as well as the risk of those cash flows. This note focuses on the main methods used to value companies, whether it is in a merger and acquisition setting or not. It covers concepts such as: 1) The discounted cash flow (DCF) method; 2) Discount rates and cost of capital; 3) Valuation using multiples; 4) Value creation through mergers and acquisitions (M&As).

Describes the role of business development (BD) managers in technology companies, detailing the following: 1) BD managers' key responsibilities at each step in the process of creating a partnership agreement, 2) how the nature of the BD function evolves as a technology startup matures, and 3) the attributes of effective BD managers.

This note provides historical context and background for a challenging negotiation by Col. Joshua Chamberlain of the 20th Maine Regiment of the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War.

Describes the role of product manager (PM) in technology companies, detailing: 1) PMs' responsibilities; 2) different ways to organize the product management function; 3) how PMs interact with other functions within technology companies (e.g., engineering, product marketing); 4) how the nature of the PM role varies depending on context (e.g., early vs. late-stage startups, business- vs. engineering driven cultures); and 5) the attributes of effective PMs.

Firms that follow a hypothesis-driven approach to evaluating entrepreneurial opportunity are called "lean startups." Entrepreneurs in these startups translate their vision into falsifiable business model hypotheses, then test the hypotheses using a series of "minimum viable products," each of which represents the smallest set of features/activities needed to rigorously validate a concept. Based on test feedback, entrepreneurs must then decide whether to persevere with their business model, "pivot" by changing some model elements, or abandon the startup. This note describes, step-by-step, how to follow the hypothesis-driven approach when evaluating entrepreneurial opportunity; explains how the approach mitigates cognitive biases that otherwise can contribute to poor decisions; and considers conditions that are best suited for lean startup methods.

This note defines a business model and its major elements: a customer value proposition, a technology and operations management plan, a go-to-market plan, and a profit formula. For each element, the note lists questions that an entrepreneur must address when evaluating an early-stage opportunity. The note explores in greater depth several business model issues that are especially relevant to entrepreneurial ventures, including the impact of network effects and customer switching costs; conditions when a startup should consider vertical integration; the nature of first and late mover advantage; and conditions that favor viral marketing. The note concludes with practical guidelines for early-stage entrepreneurs on how to conduct business model analysis.

A loop is used in Microsoft Excel to repeat a piece of code, while an array is a group of variables with the same data type and name. This note is an introduction to different types of loops and their use with arrays in Excel Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), with brief definitions and examples. Loops types included are for-next, for-each, do while (do until), do-loop (with while and until), and nested loops. For arrays, the note presents static and dynamic arrays with examples.

A sub, function, or event procedure is a set of commands to perform a task in a Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) code. One important reason for subs and functions is the reusability of VBA code. For example, if an Excel VBA application requires a calculation to be performed multiple times in its code, the user can enter a reference to a sub or function, rather than rewriting the same code for each calculation.<br><br>This note is an introduction to sub, functions, and event procedures in Excel VBA with brief definitions, examples, and screenshots. The note demonstrates how to use them in a variety of settings.