The strategy profession
Great to see SMS ask if there should be Certification in strategic management. I’ve raise before the need for this to be a truly professional discipline, so we can nail what should be expected of robust leadership of this critical role. A conference session will ask some intriguing questions: Read more
M&A Keep our heads this time?
The Economist reports that M&A activity is bouncing back, and as noted in other posts (search ‘downturn’ and ‘crisis’), strong firms should be taking advantage of weak conditions to buy up low-priced opportunities – provided of course Read more
Strategy Dynamics workshop – update
There will be a free workshop prior to the Strategic Management Society conference on Saturday 10th October 4.30-6.00 [updated date/time], at the Embassy Suites, Washington DC. If you would like to attend please register here.
eBay/Skype split
Sad to see the ill-fated marriage of eBay and Skype end in divorce. Though it’s more fun to celebrate strategy triumphs, disasters can offer important lessons too. An Economist article focuses on the sale itself and worries about eBay’s prospects, but doesn’t assess why the original strategy didn’t work. At its most basic, it was a common issue – over-optimism about how business A customers would form a strong and easily-captured potential customer-base for business B. [I made the same mistake myself in the past!] Take a look at eBay’s presentation of the rationale offered at the time of the orginal acquisition – it’s scarily thin on any analytical justification for the hoped-for benefits. Investors should expect better.