The arrival of the railroad in the mid-18th Century, electricity in the 19th, and the telephone in the 20th brought economic prosperity to countries and communities that were early adopters of these technologies. Beneficially, they removed distance between communities, increased trade, created jobs, and improved living standards. In the 21st Century, ubiquitous symmetric Gigabit broadband access [...]
By Eamon D. Hoey MBA, CMC and Ronald J. Pickett MBA, CMC
North American telephone and Cable TV companies have a significant investment in last mile copper networks. They are generally not deploying last mile Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH). Where they are deploying FTTH, they are not offering gigabit speeds needed to support emerging information age [...]
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) denied BCE Inc.’s $3billion takeover of Astral Media Inc. This may be as profound as Paul Martin’s decision to deny the merger of Canada’s banks. As with the banks, it may push BCE to seek growth beyond Canada.
In 1998 Martin, then Canada’s Finance Minister, blocked the merger [...]
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are a popular way of achieving rapid growth and market entry. However, the performance of acquisitions is mixed. Half of acquisitions fail to meet acquirer expectations. Yet, acquisitions remain a central element of corporate strategy. How then can firms improve the post-acquisition integration performance of acquired firms?
First, let us see [...]
Industries differ in their economic features and competitive character. Trucking, for example, bears little resemblance to Cable TV or the fast food industry. When constructing a strategy you need to first define your industry’s distinguishing features. These include market size, growth rate, the market’s geographic boundaries, size and number of competitors, buyer needs, differentiation, economies [...]
The wheel of change is ushering in an unprecedented economic, political, and social transformation. We are at a historical turning point. Violent transformational change is altering the world, as we know it. This is dramatically transforming the business environment. It is shifting long held business assumptions. Leaders must transform their organizations or fall by the [...]
Information Technology (IT) facilitates organizations with a decisive game changing opportunity. Current IT technologies and their applications provide organizations with opportunities to derive competitive advantage.
Enterprise Resource Management (ERP) systems are in wide use by organizations’ financial, human resource, supply chain, and inventory management operations. Companies implement ERP systems for the purpose of integrating the [...]
To create its own future an organization anticipates and invests in tomorrow’s opportunities. This involves building an organization which supports innovation. The organization systematically seeks and converts ideas into products/services customers will buy and processes that improve corporate effectiveness.
Commit to a Future You Define
Leaders make decisions today that create a desired future for [...]
Below are books that can be useful in the management of change and culture within an organization.
Kotter, John P. “Leading Change”
Kotter addresses the role of leadership in crafting and executing strategy. He emphasizes the need for the leadership to make change happen. Kotter provides a road map (an eight stage process) to the crafting [...]
Below are books that can be useful in crafting and executing strategy. These are “The Best of the Best”.
Drucker, Peter F. “Management Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices”
A classic must read management book. Drucker is the unchallenged management guru.
Porter, Michael E. “Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors” and “Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining [...]
