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PlayStation proves the importance of building corporate revolutionaries 2004-03-15 06:30:01 Gary Hamel in Leading the Revolution sets out the development of the PlayStation computer game by Sony. [Full Story...] Absolute independence of the modern company erodes as it evolves 2004-03-08 06:30:01 The Peace of Westphalia of 1848 laid the foundation of modern nation states and the concept of state sovereignty. The condition of constitutional or political independence is ordinarily understood as state sovereignty. [Full Story...] Bidvest empowerment deal seems to assign risk to shareholders 2004-03-01 06:30:01 The holy grail of black economic empowerment (BEE) transactions is obviously their funding. A person can become a shareholder only by acquiring shares from an existing shareholder, or by way of subscription. [Full Story...] Vested interests cloud corporate strategy in a post-modern world 2004-02-23 06:30:01 Francis Fukuyama, a former US state department official, shot to fame in the late 1980s as an influential liberal political scientist. His basic thesis consisted of a simple but highly important set of assertions. [Full Story...] Imperial's black empowerment deal raises a number of questions 2004-02-16 06:30:01 Imperial Holdings announced a black economic empowerment (BEE) deal with Ukhamba Holdings on December 9 last year in a transaction that raises a number of interesting issues. [Full Story...] Defensive policy of containment hands competitors too many advantages 2004-02-09 06:30:01 Following World War 2 there was substantial concern in the West over Soviet aggressive intention, particularly in regard to western Europe. [Full Story...] Principles of warfare have their place in successful business strategy 2004-02-02 06:30:01 For most of the past 60 years the US's principles of war have been based on those formulated by Von Clausewitz in his 19th century treatise, On War. [Full Story...] Empowerment deals could turn into long and winding road for corporates 2004-01-26 06:30:01 Two substantial black economic empowerment (BEE) transactions were announced last month, the first by Sanlam and the second by Imperial Holdings. [Full Story...] Big picture problem solving should be a vital element of corporate strategy 2004-01-19 06:30:01 The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour made a deep impact on US strategic thought after World War 2. America was of the firm belief that the opening shot in any future war would be a massive surprise attack by the Soviet Union. It was the only viable peer competitor at the time so it was likely that a conflict of interests between the US and the Soviets could lead to war. [Full Story...] Appeal court decision highlights need to carve in stone acts to follow if contract fails 2003-12-08 06:30:01 A recent appeal court decision raises interesting issues concerning a contract that failed through no fault of the parties. During the 1990s, Kudu Granite Operations and Caterna formed Ruenya, a joint granite mining venture in Zimbabwe. A change in the control of Kudu gave rise to conflicts of interest from its side. [Full Story...] Roman marching camp had the vital ingredient for success 2003-12-01 06:30:01 According to Edward Luttwak in The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire, the most characteristic device of the Roman art of war under the republic and early principate was the marching camp. [Full Story...] Strong rand opens up brief window of opportunity 2003-11-24 06:30:01 Once again the rand is soaring to levels last seen almost four years ago, and once again there is much head scratching over what the strong currency is doing to jobs, growth and so on. Few have come up with a coherent policy answer though, beyond the usual special pleading for protectionism of some sort. [Full Story...] Simplifying whether expenditure is of a revenue or capital nature 2003-11-24 06:30:01 The general deduction formula contained in section 11(a) of the Income Tax Act No 58 of 1962 permits only the deduction of expenditure incurred in the production of income. It is often difficult to decide when a particular expense is of a revenue or capital nature. [Full Story...] Applied game theory can help players triumph in the battle for market share 2003-11-17 06:30:01 It is widely accepted that the US had the military power to obliterate the USSR, and vice versa. It is also widely accepted that if either side attacked the other, the nation that was hit would have had a powerful incentive to strike back with equal or greater force. However, if either side can obliterate the other, what does it matter who strikes first? [Full Story...] What imperial machinations can tell us about modern business 2003-11-10 06:30:01 Systems appear throughout our physical, biological and social worlds. The fact that congruent patterns can be found across such different domains testifies to the prevalence and power of the dynamics that systems display. [Full Story...] History teaches us that the best a company can do is delay its demise 2003-11-03 06:30:01 A firm can fail for two reasons: mismanagement or industry-related conditions. Every firm that is industry-specific is a failing firm and can, at best, delay the inevitable built-in failure for as long as possible. [Full Story...] stacles to success of charter will require legislative attention 2003-10-27 06:30:01 The recently released financial sector charter, which applies to the South African operations of financial institutions, takes effect on January 1 2004 and lasts until December 31 2014. [Full Story...] Self-defeating nature of arms control mirrored in highly complex competition policy 2003-10-20 06:30:01 Anarchy is the principal form of contemporary rule at the international level, because the only limit on a nation state's freedom of action is its power. Philosophically, arms control treaties constrain the sovereignty of countries. [Full Story...] Debt financing pacts suggest that money should be lent for specific purposes 2003-10-13 06:30:01 There is a long line of authority that supports the view that where a creditor, such as a bank, has advanced money to a debtor company on terms that the money should be used by the debtor company for a specific purpose, and the debtor company does not use the money for that purpose, the money is then held by the debtor company for the benefit of the creditor. [Full Story...] The North Vietnamese prove that resource leverage can enable you to walk on water 2003-10-06 06:30:01 The story is told of an ageing American general who, while visiting Hanoi, took the opportunity to ask an old Vietnamese general a long-nagging question. How was it that the North Vietnamese had been able to move men and material so freely across rivers, despite the attempts of the US military to locate and bomb their bridges? [Full Story...] Big question for the strong is how to stay on top and retain allies when power shifts 2003-09-29 06:30:01 The most fundamental question that a powerful corporate faces is how to remain one. The distribution of power in an industry or sector is always changing, as the power of one organisation grows at a different rate from that of others. [Full Story...] It is best to excel in those limited areas where a clear competitive advantage exists 2003-09-22 06:30:01 The demise and rebirth of China as an Asian power were central to the rivalry and eventual armed conflict between America and Japan in the first half of the twentieth century. [Full Story...] Auditing companies will do well to explore their professional services landscape 2003-09-15 06:30:01 In the years since Michael Porter first developed his five-forces framework, there has been the rearrangement and incorporation of additional variables such as import competition and multimarket contact into the determinants of intensity of each of the five competitive forces. Importantly, new types of players have been incorporated into the analysis. [Full Story...] Shareholder gets sight of company books under Access to Information Act 2003-09-08 06:30:01 The high court, in Davis v Clutcho, recently handed down an interesting decision concerning the right of a shareholder in a private company to obtain access to information from the company under the Promotion of Access to Information Act. [Full Story...] Understanding underlying problems, as Nelson did at Trafalgar, is half the secret of success 2003-08-25 06:30:01 When faced with a seemingly insurmountable problem in business, the best strategy is generally to pinpoint the simple underlying issues and focus on these. [Full Story...] Machiavelli's grasp of the competitive state system could be a lesson for modern corporations 2003-08-18 06:30:01 During the Middle Ages, a medieval army could be assembled only when a definite issue had arisen. The feudal lord concerned would assemble his vassals. They could be kept together only for as long as the campaign lasted. [Full Story...] Judgments on substantive consolidation examine justifications for piercing corporate veil 2003-08-11 06:30:01 Substantive consolidation is the process in US law by which creditors may seek the merging of the assets and liabilities of two or more companies and the disregarding of intercompany claims between them - in essence, to consolidate the two companies into one. [Full Story...] Securitisation can be a cheaper and more flexible source of finance than banks 2003-08-04 06:30:01 Financing through the capital markets is less expensive and more flexible than bank finance. Banks, after all, charge margins on their cost of funds, which includes capital adequacy costs, return on shareholders equity, funding costs and profit margins. [Full Story...] Securitisation can be a risk mechanism of perfect strength but also of perfect weakness 2003-07-28 06:30:01 Insurance risks may be classified as either high frequency, low severity or low frequency, high severity. Financial risks can be divided into similar size and frequency categories. [Full Story...] Unsecured finance agreements must allow security for lender, flexibility for borrower 2003-07-21 06:30:01 Where finance is provided on an unsecured basis, underlying loan agreements will typically contain contractual restrictions on the ability of borrowers to deal with their own assets. [Full Story...] |
