Filed under: Books in General, Economics, Investing | Tags: books, Business, business books, Economics, Financial/Accounting, Investing, mergers
You’ve got to give credit to Warren Buffett for a good turn of phrase. While sourcing this quote is a bit tough, America’s most famous investor is credited with saying, “When people are greedy, be nervous. When people are nervous, be greedy.” Companies that apply this logic often look at unstable economic times as an opportunity to make bold moves.
Today’s headlines indicate that Kraft Foods is one such company looking to make a move. In an acquisition attempt that’s on par with a lunar eclipse in terms of size, the food giant is bidding to take over British confectioner Cadbury. According to a company profile, Kraft is the second largest food company in the world and the largest in the United States. If you didn’t bother to click on the link in the previous sentence, go back and take a look at the brands Kraft controls. Stunning isn’t it? How much of your grocery cart is devoted to Kraft products? If you’re a parent, your purchases of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Oreo cookies and Kool-Aid are probably a large factor in why Kraft is able to make such a bold move. I know I’ve done my part with my love of Ritz crackers and Philadelphia cream cheese.
Now Kraft is looking to become parent to yet another organization. However, as press reports indicate, Cadbury is attempting to resist the acquisition. While I’m not certain that the move will affect the taste of the Dairy Milk bar (a Cadbury staple), investors and business analysts are keeping a close eye on the proceedings.
If this deal touches off a resurgence in mergers and acquisitions (also known as M&A, which tend to occur during periods of economic recovery), executives may want to brush up on the basics of M&A. For that, I’d recommend a book we summarized a short time ago whose advice remains timeless. Scott Moeller and Chris Brady authored Intelligent M&A, a title that gives executives a strong survival guide to the intense, high-stakes world of mergers and acquisitions. It’s one of the most clear-cut books on the subject and would serve any executive well prior to being given a role in a company’s M&A efforts.
Filed under: Economics, From the Editor, General Business, Marketing, Sales, Small Business, Strategic Management, ethics | Tags: Business, Economics, Marketing, Small Business, Soundview, Strategic Management
Part of producing each month’s edition of Soundview Executive Book Summaries involves recording and editing the audio version. While conversing with a colleague at a studio with whom we work, the subject of malls came up. My friend mentioned that he’s seen more than a few empty storefronts as he walked through one local mall.
By coincidence, I came across this interesting photo study from Time magazine today. It’s important to note that at least one of the photos included in this collection is of a set of stores that were abandoned decades ago. However, the remaining stores are all fairly recent closings.
I found the photo study while reading an article about hard times at clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F). If you have children, or attended college between 1996 and 2006, you’re probably intimately familiar with this company. As an editor, I love the way Time used the classic tactic of posing a question in its headline. Is A&F really the worst recession brand? We might want to cast a critical eye over other business sectors before we do too much picking on people who sell hooded sweatshirts and, as the Time article notes, $90 jeans.
Still, the central issue in the article that is most worthy of discussion is how companies that are perceived as luxury brands should handle tough times. I found the concept of price cutting to be of particular interest in this article. Theoretically, a luxury brand that cuts its price runs the risk of losing its status, but does this assumption apply during times of economic hardship? I agree with the marketing professor in the article who notes that if you keep your prices low for a period of time, you create an expectation among customers that they’ll stay that way.
What’s your take on how luxury brands should navigate a recession? Send me a comment and let me know your thoughts.
Filed under: Books in General, Economics, From the Editor, General Business, Green, Internet, Leadership | Tags: books, Business, business book, business books, career skills, college, Economics, graduation, Green, Leadership, special offer
Despite the calendar telling us otherwise, the month of May signals the start of summer for people in many parts of the U.S. It also marks the start of a different season, one that involves caps, gowns and the emptying of dormitories and apartments everywhere. For students, this is a time of farewells coupled with new beginnings. For parents, it can be a time of new anxieties as children enter another new phase of their lives. This year, though, don’t be surprised if you find claw marks on the walls of the dorms as students try to avoid marching headlong into a less-than-friendly job market.
The amazing thing is that this group of future leaders and executives are probably more prepared, at least, from a technological standpoint, for working than any previous generation. They’ve been plugged in and over-scheduled since birth. What’s amusing are the things they don’t know. Every year since 1997, Beloit College in Wisconsin produces its “Mindset List.” This list helps to remind college professors that their incoming students may be unaware of facts that our generation (and previous ones) takes for granted. Here are a few of my favorites for the Class of 2009 (born, on average, in 1987):
- Voice mail has always been available.
- Bill Gates has always been worth at least $1 billion.
- Halogen lights have always been available (with a warning)
The complete list is located here. There are a few other items that I felt should have been included in the list. For example, the Class of 2009 has virtually no memory of a Soviet Union or a divided Germany. The Macintosh computer is older than this group. To these folks, a bank teller is the person they are forced to speak with if the ATM is broken.
After reading this list, I sincerely hope I haven’t depressed anyone with these revelations. But then again, you and I aren’t the ones staring down the most cutthroat job market in decades, are we? To help them along, why not give your graduates a gift subscription to Soundview Executive Book Summaries? At a price of only $79, you can save 34%! This offer is for the online subscription, something this green-conscious and tech-savvy generation will appreciate.
Plus, as a special bonus gift, they’ll receive the Cutter & Buck American classic leather coffee tumbler for their morning coffee. Considering that a certain coffee retailer began overrunning cities with its green awnings the year they were born, these kids have grown up caffeinated. Your graduates will receive an email announcing your gift along with your personal message, and the coffee mug will be sent to them by mail.
Click here to give your grad an extra boost of concentrated knowledge!
Filed under: Books in General, Economics, From the Editor, General Business, Leadership, Strategic Management | Tags: books, Business, business book, business books, Economics, Financial/Accounting, Leadership, Publishing, Strategic Management
Feel free to come out from under your beds, folks. Happy days are here again.
Really?
Perhaps the people at the above media outlet should check some of the 240+ comments that were logged in the aftermath of this report hitting the airwaves. I’d tell you to check it out as well, but trust me, there are far more productive ways to spend your time. You have to cut through a lot of vitriolic remarks concerning both our current and previous president to get to statements of any relevance. The comments that did discuss the economy seemed to confirm that the public is not ready to accept that all is well from sea to shining sea.
Judging by the reports we receive from various publishers, the public’s desire for books relating to the current economic situation has not decreased. It’s gotten to the point where even individuals in specific fields are looking to address how to ride out the storm in their industries. Some may view this as opportunistic, but the market for this type of information is proving to be larger than anticipated.
We’ve answered this response ourselves in recent times. Visit Summary.com to see our Survive and Thrive Collection, one of several products we’re currently featuring that are the result of reader demand. We’re committed to providing the most relevant advice from the top business minds.
While nothing would please us more than to remove these items due to lack of need, we’re prepared to continue the flow of information for the duration of the recession. Don’t believe the hype. The road to recovery is long, but we’re with you every step of the way.
Filed under: Books in General, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Hands-On Management, Innovation, Technology | Tags: books, Business, business books, career skills, Economics, Innovation, Internet, iPhone app, Leadership, management
There’s so much concern anymore about the state of the average company that executives can’t help but wonder if they’ll be in their current jobs by the end of the quarter. However, there is some good to come out of an era of turbulence.
Let’s face it, people like to take notice of problems at their companies. You probably have a small list yourself. Who hasn’t said to him- or herself, “If I was the president of this outfit, I’d make this change”? Fortunately, times of economic hardship are often the moments when people decide to strike out on their own. This can be the result of a dismissal from their current position or the desire to leave the firing range before the crosshairs fall on them. Either way, I have a sneaking suspicion that a couple of the next great success stories will get their start during this era of difficulty.
With that in mind, we’ve got something special for you iPhone fans. We’ve got a new application that includes three stellar summaries about the business of being in business for oneself. Soundview’s Entrepreneurship Vol. I app includes three excellent titles:
NEVER BET THE FARM by Anthony L. Iaquinto and Stephen Spinelli Jr. This book celebrates entrepreneurship in its entirety, presenting a framework that can help entrepreneurs reduce risks and simplify decision-making. It is at once both encouraging and cautionary, but neither a textbook how-to nor an inspirational tome lacking substance. “We’re living in a world with unimaginable adversity and invisible threats,” writes Iaquinto. “Why should entrepreneurs be any different from a sailor who stows a well-stocked emergency pack or a mill worker who puts a little bit aside each month for a rainy day or a Boy Scout following his motto, ‘Be prepared?’”
THE ART OF THE START by Guy Kawasaki. In The Art of the Start, Guy Kawasaki writes that his goal is to help you use your knowledge, love and determination to create something great without getting bogged down in theory and unnecessary details. At Apple in the 1980s, Kawasaki turned ordinary consumers into evangelists. As founder and CEO of Garage Technology Ventures, he has field-tested his ideas with dozens of newly hatched companies. In The Art of the Start, Kawasaki takes you through every phase of creating a business, from the very basics of raising money and designing a business model through the many stages that will eventually lead your company to doing the right thing and giving back to society.
HOOVER’S VISION by Gary Hoover. Gary Hoover, the founder of BOOKSTOP, Inc. and Hoover’s Inc., lays out a plan that can turn an enterprise into a success by showing entrepreneurs how to address inputs with an open mind, and see more than what others envision. Demonstrating how leaders can recognize the importance of history and trends, Hoover drives business owners to create and feed a clear and consistent vision, and helps them find the essential qualities of entrepreneurial leadership.
Take at peek at these three titles and let your iPhone help you open your mind to the idea that you can be the next big entrepreneur. We believe! So should you.
Filed under: Books in General, Economics, From the Editor, General Business, Hands-On Management, Leadership, Strategic Management | Tags: books, Business, business book, business books, career skills, Economics, Leadership, Strategic Management
I’d like to think that everyone has had enough of hearing about the depths to which our economy has sunk. But media coverage and even our own subscribers are proving me to be an optimist. (No one is more surprised than me.) In all seriousness, the recent report of more than 740,000 jobs cut in the month of March has even the most optimistic of individuals looking over his or her shoulder.
Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP), the company that produced the labor index, serves more than 500,000 companies. The article above points out that ADP provides services in the areas of payroll and HR to one out of every six workers in the United States. Out of pure curiosity, I checked out ADP’s site to see if any of their employees were among the 128,000 whose jobs were cut by large businesses (more than 500 employees). Fortunately for them, the tide appears to be slow but steady in a positive direction. See, I told you I was an optimist!
However, it would be remiss of us not to address the harrowing employment situation in our summaries. Early in March, I wrote about Ram Charan’s new book Leadership in the Era of Economic Uncertainty. I’m pleased to report that we will be covering Charan’s book in an upcoming Soundview Executive Book Summaries package.
It’s our hope that Charan’s book will serve as a guide to leaders who are facing an increasingly nervy work force, as well as the peering eyes of upper management. Despite hardship, these are the times when motivation and morale are most needed to carry companies through the darkness and into the light.
If you can’t wait for Charan’s summary to debut, we’d recommend you take a look at Soundview’s Survive and Thrive collection.
Filed under: Books in General, Marketing, Sales | Tags: books, Business, business book, business books, Economics, Leadership, Marketing, Sales, strategies
I’ve always wondered how Arthur Miller came to select “salesman” as the profession of choice for his most famous character, Willy Loman. During the time in which Miller’s play Death of a Salesman made its stage debut, sales was among the most American of careers. Whether it was an insurance rep cold-calling people while a Lucky Strike burned in his desk’s ashtray, or a smart-suited gent standing in a field of shiny Chevrolets, sales was a position of some stature in any organization. Of course, it may be the sheer volume of rejection that gives plenty of opportunity for tragic underpinnings, but I don’t know if that was the sole motivator behind Miller’s decision.
Take a look at some of the other depictions of salesmen in film and literature and you can see that this “hard luck” element came to dominate the cultural landscape. Who can forget the late John Candy’s sympathetic turn as Del Griffith, “Director of sales, American Light and Fixture, shower curtain ring division” in the film Planes, Trains and Automobiles? David Mamet added to the portfolio with Shelley “The Machine” Levine in his play Glengarry Glen Ross. With the recent announcement that Google, the company thought unassailable by the current financial crisis, will be cutting sales and marketing jobs, there is the temptation to think that many current sales representatives may take on the bleak world view of their pop culture predecessors.
Out of that void, however, I’d rather remind people of a man named Blake. Despite not appearing in Mamet’s original play, this abrasive, intense sales “motivator” exploded onto the screen in the film adaptation of Glengarry. With an equal mix of smolder and brashness, Alec Baldwin gave salesmen everywhere a memorable mantra “A-B-C: Always Be Closing.” Despite the portrayal being an exaggeration of the field, tough times likes these call for a little motivation, and it’s hard not to take something away from Baldwin’s speech.
We’re doing our own part to help the sales cause. Our latest iPhone collection Sales Summaries Volume I is now available. This collection includes Making the Number by Greg Alexander, Aaron Bartels and Mike Drapeau, as well as The Perfect Salesforce by Derek Gatehouse and The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes.
Go to iTunes now via your iPhone to download the collection!
Simon & Schuster recently published a book entitled Creative Capitalism, which was edited by Michael Kinsley and includes conversations between Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and many economists, journalists and executives, in response to the speech that Bill Gates gave at the 2008 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
While this in itself is newsworthy, the real story may be the process by which the book was published. Instead of interviewing top economic thinkers or soliciting papers from these thought-leaders, Kinsley constructed an online conversation in a blog. He published Bill Gates’ speech and solicited comments from him and Warren Buffet, and then invited economists and others to weigh in through the blog.
The result was a blog site filled with conversations and dialogue between knowledgeable economists and executives. Although this is not a new idea –– take Wikipedia as one example –– soliciting the thoughts of top minds on this important issue in an open forum is a stellar example of the power of the growing social side of the Internet.
Back to the subject of the blog –– Bill Gates made the point that businesses need to put their creative energies toward finding ways to both grow and provide wealth, and help the needy of the world at the same time. Other terms that have been used for this concept include “social entrepreneurship” and “philanthro-capitalism.”
While this concept is enticing, its critics are quick to point out the flaws through the online conversation. The blog site has been re-opened, and I would recommend that you spend some time there to take in the breadth of opinions that it offers.
