So You Think You Understand Revenues

Revenue is one of the most misunderstood, mismanaged, and neglected measures in business. Consequently, many executives still rely on gut feel, rather than on hard data, to make revenue decisions—often destroying value in the process. We’ve seen this happen in the dozens of companies we’ve studied. Consider the short shrift revenue gets on accounting reports, […]

by

Robert Shaw

and

Vincent-Wayne Mitchell

by

Robert Shaw

and

Vincent-Wayne Mitchell

From the Magazine (May 2007)

Summary.

Reprint: F0705D

The sophisticated technologies used to understand costs don’t illuminate revenue sources well. For that you need a whole new breed of accountant.

Revenue is one of the most misunderstood, mismanaged, and neglected measures in business. Consequently, many executives still rely on gut feel, rather than on hard data, to make revenue decisions—often destroying value in the process. We’ve seen this happen in the dozens of companies we’ve studied.

A version of this article appeared in the May 2007 issue of Harvard Business Review.

RS

Robert Shaw (shaw@vbmf.com) is a visiting professor, and
VM

Vincent-Wayne Mitchell (v.mitchell@city.ac.uk) is a professor of consumer marketing, at the Cass Business School, in London.

So You Think You Understand Revenues

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