short term, high impact, no bullsh*t
Chief Executives carry the responsibility for shareholder returns, numerous jobs and compliance of the firm on their shoulders. Workdays are never finished after 8 hours, and weekends are generally not off. Top leaders are assumed, to rely on a stable and supportive relationship, to emotionally balance for the responsibilities and stress levels associated with the everyday... Continue Reading →
CEOs are traded just one level below Batman. They are rock-star-cherished for success and condemned to eternity to corporate no-man-land, upon failure. To monitor, observe and discipline this league of its own, shareholders appoint Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) to the Board of Directors (BoD). A (subtle) tension is often observed between the NEDs and the CEO.... Continue Reading →
Activist Shareholders raise their voice over the legitimate interest, associated with their actual investment. This is competing with the economic interest of other shareholders. Activities of Activist Shareholders are also eligible to distract the management's focus and attention. The role of the Board of Directors (BoD) includes to balance the different spheres of interest and... Continue Reading →
Management is facing investors, engaging directly in strategy and operations. The perception of Activist Shareholders is ambivalent. The impact on the company can vary from delivering higher returns but also causing significant inefficiencies. For the management, it is a thin line, how to answer to calls from shareholders, in order not to disconnect from its investors, but also not... Continue Reading →
The common understanding of investors is over-simplified. Authorities disregard irrationalities, as well as degrees of financial sophistication. The idea, of an idealized rational investor is flatten out the spectrum of different investor types. This creates misalignment with regulations as well complexity for investor relations. Current research identifies five major types of investors, based on behavioural... Continue Reading →
The Board of Non-Executive Directors (BoD) can contribute significantly to the long-term and sustainable growth of a firm and offers similar benefits as good (and expensive) top consultants or strategic departments in the corporate landscape. The role and composition of the BoD determines success or failure in everyday life. On the other hand, increasing competition,... Continue Reading →
Following the right strategy is the key for long term going concern of a firm. As markets keep ever-changing, for mature companies, it’s vital to review the implemented strategies and also foster adaptability to new market conditions; whereas Start Ups are observed to launch with mistaken market assessments and competitive strategies into the rough waters of competition. Both observations... Continue Reading →
If the executive team gets stuck in any of the five stages of the "process of depression" during the turnaround management, it is likely to lead to bankruptcy of the firm. Individual psychological deficits (e.g. narcissistic characteristics) can be a reason for not reaching the state of Acceptance, more often, it is observed, the turnaround management consumes too... Continue Reading →
It is fair to say, turnaround specialists, are often on-boarded in the very last moment of distress situations. For firms, this can be dramatic, as the on boarding of a turnaround professional increases chances for going concern from (only) 12.5% to more than 90%. Reasons are linked to the degree of the ability of an... Continue Reading →
To secure going concern for a firm, a turnaround professional should on-board before the final struggle for economic survival has began. If waiting too long, going concern is at stake and it is more promising to go to Las Vegas, to preserve investments. The suck of the downward spiral Root causes for distress situations putting going concern at stake... Continue Reading →
Steve Tobak from CBS MoneyWatch identifies three phases for a turnaround, whereas the most important initial starting point of the turnaround process is forgotten. When on-boarded, stopping the firm's downward trend is critical and the core objective of the turnaround CEO. This aims for multiple stakeholders, including investors, employees, customers and suppliers; it is for the... Continue Reading →
As a rule of thumb, a turnaround is considered something in the region of 12 month. Due to many uncertainties, the timeframe is varying. The objective of the turnaround is to reach break-even of the firm (again), or for start-up and growth firms, getting to the verge of scalability. Three milestones mark the reaching of this objective:... Continue Reading →
10 facts on turnaround situations (US data, research by TMS - Turnaround Management Society). 172 businesses file for bankruptcy in the US per day, this translates into 320'000 jobs lost every year due to distress situations of firms. Many turnarounds could resolve distress situations and lead to success, if managed well. Let profs do, what profs can do... Continue Reading →
In autumn 2014 another promising and emergent Swiss Start-up filed for bankruptcy. Sadly, this is rather the rule than the exception. As out of every 11 serious ideas, only one succeeds. This delivers an attrition rate of approximately 90%. From the investor's perspective the numbers are even more frustrating, as "survival" is something significant different... Continue Reading →
The concept, society has been arranged and governed by, for the past couple of hundred years, is disrupted by the digital transformation. This is happening right now. Today. It is doubtful, if political leaders have anticipated this, nor, if they will be qualified to manage through the increasing uncertainties and eroding governance. As the link between governance of society... Continue Reading →
Digital markets are ruled by a very few players. It will be difficult for other market participants, to keep competitive.
The majority of start ups fails for precedented and avoidable mistakes. Though innovation needs a degree of freedom to evolve, the discipline, applied by the venture capitalist's whip can help the management, to focus on the right spot. Though uncomfortable, this might be critical to channel creativity and align with commercial success and ROI. ... Continue Reading →
A new wave of acquisitions is on the horizon for the Swiss online and media industry On 17th of August the fundaments of the Swiss media industry were shaken by the announcement of Ringier. The 182 year old Swiss publishing giant plans to join forces for marketing its online advertising with the SRG, the public broadcaster... Continue Reading →
3 rules to prepare for disruptive innovation The responsibility to set up the organisation for future challenges and manage downside risk is a task for the board. This calls for active and technological affluent non-executive directors. Being a board member is in today’s industry far from honourable seats for the “good-old-boys-club", neither it is the eligible platform... Continue Reading →
Buy now, to create competitive advantage in times of rapid change The shock of the latest decision of the SNB to no longer defend the floor of 1.20 for the CHF to the Euro is not yet gone, but quickly the smoke vanishes. For now, it is important to quickly assess the situation, analyse the... Continue Reading →