Founded in 2006, the B Lab, a nonprofit organization, created the certified B Corporations (B Corps). B Corps are businesses that satisfy a set of standards and benchmarks defined by social and environmental impact. B Corps and their supply chains are assessed on their policies and procedures around governance, workers, community, environment, and disclosures to the public. Certification means the
Netflix Top Picks, Amazon recommendations, the iTunes Genius button. They all have one thing in common: they are driven by clever algorithms that use a technique known as collaborative filtering. Often used in machine learning operations, collaborative filtering is the process by which a firm like Netflix generates predictions about a single user's preferences using data taken from a large number
Assessing the performance of private equity (PE) investments is a challenging task. It starts with the fact that the assets are privately held and illiquid. By contrast, public equity valuations are determined in a vast open market populated largely by disinterested investors acting on publicly available information. Therefore, to make an informed assessment about PE performance, investors should
This technical note outlines the differences between financial accounting standards and tax law that affect the valuation of potential targets depending on the deal structure employed. Valuation models typically rely on financial accounting information to estimate the value of the deal; but tax laws, not financial accounting standards, affect the after-tax cash flows attributable to the deal. The
Family businesses are unique and complex; they have aspects and layers to them that are unlike any other organizations because at the root of family businesses' identities are the aspirations of both the business and the family's members, which could be at odds with one another. This note—a meta-analysis drawn from many authors' work—explores an approach that identifies ways to unify family and bu
Central to a firm's long-term success, is allocating capital so that it generates economic value. The two most common decision rules based on economic value are to (i) accept proposals that have a positive net present value (NPV) when discounted at the appropriate hurdle rate or (ii) to accept proposals whose internal rate of return (IRR) exceeds the appropriate hurdle rate. Key to both rules, in
This brief, one-page note provides multiple definitions of Lean. The purpose is to show that Lean programs can and should be addressed on multiple levels, including detailed operations, the entire value stream, and the entire organization.
This technical note outlines the consequences to the acquirer, target, and the target's shareholders from a basic taxable acquisition of C corporations. Specifically, asset acquisitions, stock acquisitions, and 338(g) elections are covered. A numerical example illustrates the calculation of the after-tax proceeds to the target's shareholders and the after-tax cost to the acquirer.
This technical note outlines the general judicial requirements an acquisition must meet to qualify as a tax-deferred reorganization. The variation in the specific requirements that must be met to qualify for different types of tax-deferred ("A," Forward Triangular "A," Reverse Triangular "A," "B," and "C") reorganizations are addressed. Finally, the specific tax consequences to the target's shareh
This technical notes discusses three basic deal structures used to acquire another corporation. Asset acquisitions, stock acquisitions, and mergers under state law are the three common legal forms discussed.
This technical note helps explain what leadership really is, explores some of the factors that influence leader effectiveness, and introduces the basics of how people can begin to develop as leaders. It is an introduction to a very big topic area, but provides simple definitions and explanations of complicated concepts.
This technical note discusses the various financial services segments in which technology solutions have been used to solve problems, including lending, payments, wealth/investment management, insurance, and regulation. For each of the segments, the note identifies key issues facing the segment, why and how fintech might provide an answer to the challenges faced, and the potential difficulties fin
