How Wealth-Creation Metrics Can Help Every Business Become More Valuable

摘要

In addition to the recommendations provided in this sidebar last year (see Chief Executive, Nov./Dec. 2012, pp. S8-9), here are five major take-aways from an analysis of the Index's past six years' Best and Worst Wealth-Creator profiles: the reasons why businesses did well or didn't: 1.Design: Far and away, the most powerful reason for prospering, or failure to do so, was the design of the business—how it makes money. Amazon is a good example. Their customer-value proposition (product range and selection, information on and customer reviews of what it offers, the actual buying experience and the pricing) is compelling, combined with the overall design of its service and the business's seemingly endless ability to scale. That said, Amazon's choice to operate on razor-thin margins has both fueled its revenue growth and led investors to continue griping, ("When are we going to make some real money here?") as it continues to reinvest in its business. But its three-year total return is 27 percent, so Jeff Bezos just might be right, long term. In contrast, Dell, once a business-design innovator, is now reduced to offering commodity technology and competing on price.