Staying at the leading edge of management ideas and practices turns out to be a challenge even for those who are in the first ranks of management education. For the rest of us, it’s occasionally surprising to find out what we don’t know, even about subjects on which we profess expertise. A couple of experiences last week caused me to reflect on the teaching and learning process, reassuring me that old dog + new tricks = top dog.
It was the end of a well-received dramatic performance last Saturday night, and the audience responded with appreciative applause. The four actors came out one at a time, took their curtain call, and then joined hands for a collective bow. A man in the second row rose, applauding enthusiastically, and one by one people joined […]
If you’re the owner of a small business with a presence in its marketplace, sooner or later you’re going to get a call from someone who professes an interest in buying your business or represents a third party with a similar interest. What do you say? What’s the screen to segregate the serious prospect from the serious intelligence-gathering competitor, or from the simple tire-kicker? And how do you begin the courtship? What’s the Facebook for mergers and acquisitions?
Successful companies with competitive products or services and a well-developed economic model tend to get recognized in the marketplace. Sooner or later, someone will come knocking on the door with a deal that you have to consider, whether or not you’re prepared to sell out. As you move beyond the initial disposition / acquisition dance into full negotiations, a number of elements have to be harmonized in order to produce a deal. Otherwise, you may be wondering what happened when the music stops.