Minding the Corporate Checkbook: A Manager's Guide to Executing Successful Business Investments

Minding the Corporate Checkbook: A Manager's Guide for ExecutingSuccessful Business InvestmentsSteven R. Kursh, Ph.D.

"I agree strongly with the author that Return on Investment (ROI) is notby itself a sufficient justification for most of today's businessinvestments, particularly those that involve a large amount of'gut-based' emotional decisions. This book provides a defensible,repeatable, and transferable decision-making process that will help thereader become more effective when spending his company's money."

—Michael Hoch, Research Director, Aberdeen Group

"This book does a great job laying out the importance of consideringmore than just the pure 'ROI numbers' of an investment, and forces youto think about the implementation and follow-up needed. It should beread by anyone who has the opportunity or ability to change the waycapital is invested."

—Jim Connelly, Regional Vice President of Finance, MariottInternational, Inc.

"Minding the Corporate Checkbook reaffirms the notion that businessvalue is brought about by successful execution and continuedsupervision, and not solely determined by preliminary due diligence. Thescope of this book is applicable to internal corporate endeavors, aswell as a variety of other investments. After reading this book, I findmyself applying these execution and post-investment managementtechniques to a variety of my venture capital deals, as well as betterassessing new investment opportunities through more pragmatic exitstrategy evaluations."

—Rudolph J. Morando Jr., Associate, Rex Capital Advisors, LLC

"This is a very lucidly written book that provides a new qualitativeframework for business decision-making.The primary contribution is toprovide a decision-maker with a process that can be used to complementexisting (and often abused) financial-number-driven analysis.The authorhas provided a very helpful and effective resource for practitioners—both managers and consultants—and people who are regularly inundated bynumbers but may not have the time to put these numbers in the context ofa particular capital decision-making process."

—Dr. Atreya Chakraborty, Senior Consultant,The Brattle Group

"Through consulting, I have witnessed far too many failedinvestments—and even worse, failing companies!—that could have beenavoided by applying the lessons contained in this book. Anyone can readthis book and apply the tools his type of investment analysis."

—Jack Mazur, Senior Financial Consultant, Parson Consulting

"Projects too often fail not because the financial calculations werewrong, but because the execution and subsequent management were notconsidered carefully enough. Steve Kursh's new book makes a uniquecontribution by providing a framework that helps us better deal withboth the execution phase of a project and its ongoing management."

—Lal C. Chugh, Ph.D., Professor of Finance, University of Massachusetts

Dr. Steven R. Kursh has written the definitive guide to making betterbusiness investment decisions to help your company grow value. Kursh'sclear guidance and easy-to-use tools will help you to assess both thefinancial ROI and strategic value of any investment—past, current, orfuture.

Kursh covers every stage of investment decision-making, from aclear-eyed review of your current approach to practical recommendationsfor improvement. You'll learn how to identify and use the mostappropriate metrics and analysis techniques; estimate risk andincorporate it into your plans; manage and track investment portfolios;and much more.

Minding the Corporate Checkbook contains detailed checklists for action,sample business cases, and practical guidance for building effectiveExcel models.

The Business Investment Roadmap

A complete methodology for linking strategy with financial analysis thatwill enable you to make successful investments and increase yourcompany's revenues and profits

Practical examples, checklists, and models

Everything you need to put the Roadmap into action—case examples fromIBM, GE, Eli Lilly, Analog Devices, and other leaders

Step #1: Preliminary Analysis

Asses whether investments will deliver long-term growth and value

Step #2: Business Impact Analysis

Clarify your company's primary value drivers

Step #3: Risk Analysis

Identify and plan/or key investment risks

Step #4: Execution Analysis

Who, what, when, why, how: Factors for investment success

Step #5: Ongoing Management

Monitor progress and proactively correct problems