Narrative and Numbers: The Value of Stories in Business
Review Narrative and Numbers: The Value of Stories in Business
by ASWATH DAMODARAN
Description
The book, “Narrative and Numbers: The Value of Stories in Business” from the Columbia Business School Publishing, contains a number of case studies that weaves stories that bear corporate value.
The author, Damodaran, says that there is a potency in all of the storytellers generating various narratives on financial management. To Damodaran, there is power in the story, as it ultimately adds substance to numbers and compels even the most careful of investors to take steps that would expose them to risks. In turn, these stories might do well by being able to construct purposeful models and accounts.
In this light, the book goes into an investigation as to why Social Media giants, specifically Facebook and Twitter, are declared to be worth Billions of U.S. Dollars in their IPO. Also, within the investigation, the author looks into the reason as to why Twitter had become inert with profit and growth, while Facebook had grown exponentially.
Business models generated by both Apple and Amazon had also been examined. This is in light of their histories that do well by enriching their narratives.
About the Author
Aswath Damodaran is an educator and the selected chair in Finance Education in the Kerschner Family. He had authored numerous books on asset valuation, investment, and security analysis.
Table of Contents
Preface
- A Tale of Two Tribes
- Tell Me a Story
- The Elements of Storytelling
- The Power of Numbers
- Number-Crunching Tools
- Building a Narrative
- Test-Driving a Narrative
- From Narratives to Numbers
- Numbers to Value
- Improving and Modifying Your Narrative- The Feedback Loop
- Narrative Alterations-The Real World Intrudes
- News and Narratives
- Go Big- The Macro Story
- The Corporate Life Cycle
- The Managerial Challenge
- The Endgame
Notes
Index
