Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Yahoo! to Boohoo!

Yahoo! had a chance to grow & survive. It ‘had’!

So what’s the biggest mistake that Yahoo! ever made? Well, allow us to rephrase that... what are the biggest mistakes made by Terry Semel and his successor Jerry Yang? Allow us to reflect back on what happened in 2001. That year, Yahoo’s chief, Terry Semel met the co-founders & co-Presidents of Google – Larry Page and Sergey Brin – to discuss the acquisition of Google. Semel offered them much lower than the $5 billion, that the co-founders asked for. As a justification, Semel stated that “no one could truly value Google,” and that there was “no way he would shell out such a hefty amount” for the search-engine start-up. Eight years later, Google commands a market value of $121.1 billion, while Yahoo!, a lamentable $19 billion! Then there was Semel’s successor, Jerry Yang, who in 2007 brushed aside Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo! for a mind-blowing $46 billion.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

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Monday, December 10, 2012

MILITARY: AFGHANISTAN

Iran may be involved if the US opted for drone attacks in Balochistan and this is bad news for Pakistan

Balochistan, the largest province of Pakistan with sparse population, is already in a state of war. Discontent is rife there against the federation and hundreds of Baloch activists have gone 'missing'. “The drone attacks in Balochistan will further strengthen Taliban and they will gain sympathy. It will further intensify hatred against the US,” says Tahir Bizenjo, ex-Senator and General Secretary, National Party. “Balochistan Assembly has already passed a resolution against drone attacks,” he further adds. Dr. Syed Jaffar Ahmed, leading Political Analyst and Director, Pakistan Study Centre, University of Karachi asserts, “I think the drone attack in Balochistan will have far reaching consequences, which one may not comprehend at the moment. In the first place I would say this adventure would involve Iran, since the Iranian Balochistan will also feel the heat. Within Pakistan too, this will further heighten the resistance against Americans and will escalate extremism. Moreover, the control of Pakistani federal centre over Balochistan will further weaken.”

During Bush administration, the Americans provided military aide worth $5.6 billion to Pakistan and now it is expected to increase. One is not sure to what extent this would help to eradicate Al-Qaeda and Taliban, but one thing is certain that the democratic movement of Pakistan would be at great risk.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

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Saturday, December 08, 2012

Some top global and Indian M&As...

Are companies strategising their inorganic growth any better amid global turmoil? B&E presents an in-depth analyses of some top global and Indian M&As...

pfizer: wyeth
Pfizer’s been lucky so far…
...but will it keep the flame burning with Wyeth is still a mystery

Combine the two and there you have your eyes opened, and wide! Perhaps Pfizer’s decision to acquire Wyeth for a whopping $68 billion could not have been more timely. But is there sound logic behind it?

No doubt, in the name of cost synergies, Pfizer hopes to save $4 billion annually in operational costs via streamlining of activities. But then that’s not the real reason for the merger! In fact, it’s all about finding a new source of revenue that can replace Pfizer’s blockbuster Lipitor (that contributed $6 billion in FY 2008), the patent for which is set to expire in November 2011. But then one shouldn’t forget that Wyeth, too, will lose its patent on two drugs, Effexor (anti-depressionary) and Protonix (for treating heartburn) in 2010 and 2011 respectively. “This acquisition doesn’t reduce the ‘overall’ exposure to patent expirations... what it needs is a couple of good new patents,” agrees David Lugg, Credit Analyst, S&P.

Even the vehicle that the company is using to finance the deal may prove expensive. The $22.5 billion short-term debt through which Pfizer plans to part finance the deal will surely have to be repaid. And in the current downturn, this actually doesn’t sound easy as Brian Tempest, Chairman, Hale & Tempest Co. states, “This funding is certainly surprising keeping the present financial environment in mind.” Even Moody’s Senior Vice President Michael Levesque argues that “Pfizer’s key credit ratios would initially erode from “Aaa” ranges to “Baa” ranges, and the combined Pfizer-Wyeth entity would still have relatively weak scores in patent exposures and late-stage pipeline quality.” Though Pfizer gets a well managed company in Wyeth with a sizeable sales base and tightened cost base; the restructuring and termination of 20,000 staff will definitely be another aspect that will be hard to manage.

No doubt, Pfizer has done some great work with previous big-ticket acquisitions like Warner Lambert and Pharmacia, but whether this will prove to be the third medal for it is still a mystery!

Read more......

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

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Friday, December 07, 2012

The web is where the heart is?!

Link-ups and break-ups… it’s all happening on the Internet.

With easy access to the Internet, it is said that people are coming closer. I’d say that with easy access to the Internet, people are becoming intimate! Activities like sports, music, dancing and painting have been substituted by chatting; and incase you assumed that this cyber addiction was limited to only youngsters, let me tell you that it is not. The reality is that it is not just kids or young adults who are obsessed with on-line friendships and cyber dating. Grown-up adults – including married men and women – are spending a great deal of time on sites like Orkut and Facebook, not just to keep in touch with long lost friends but to forge new relationships… and much more!

Shyla’s parents couldn’t have been more shocked on learning that their daughter wanted to marry a boy whom she hadn’t been dating, but had been chatting with. “How could I ever trust anyone who Shyla had met on-line where the scope of being pretentious is thoroughly explored for the sake of fun? How can one claim to have faith in a person you’ve only chatted with and not met?” squealed Shyla’s mom, while Shyla had a different argument. “I accidentally met Bhagat on-line. He was quite interesting and so we were constantly in touch. After a year of chatting we decided to meet. We continued to stay in touch on-line. Although we had met only thrice in three years, we grew fond of each other. Now, after three years of knowing each other, we have decided to get married”, said Shyla. Due to their unrelenting stand, the families had to meet and eventually, happily agreed with their decision. “On-line dating is a risky affair because there are little chances of one being serious about it. But on the other hand, it gives a huge scope of getting in touch with and meeting different people, especially for those who are looking out for a partner. Frankly speaking, I never trusted on-line relationships but there are always exceptions, like in our case!” exclaimed Bhagat.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

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Thursday, December 06, 2012

You’d do ‘Neutron’ Jack proud!

Jobs cuts, during recession become a ‘necessary’ evil; and this is the only quick solution for companies...

The thrice-marrried, former GE CEO, Jack Welch could never find another reason to be happier. Excuse us here; we’re not talking about Jack becoming a father again (he has already celebrated 73 years glorious years on the planet for Chrissake!); but about others preaching the layoff culture at GE, many years after he quit GE (strict reference to his act of firing about 120,000 ‘bottom 10%’ employees). And it is his two ‘action-packed’ decades long terrific tenure at GE that on one hand deserves all the credit for a tub-thumping appreciation of 4,100% in GE’s market value (making it the most valuable company by 2001!) and on the other, seems to have created a model of leadership that fellow-American MNCs and those from the Eurozone & First World have begun to emulate. Yes, we’re talking about the lay-off announcements that were made in the past week; there was GM confirming 2,000 cuts, Caterpillar – 12,000; Pfizer – 19,500; Sprint-Nextel – 8,000; Intel– 6,000; Philips – 6,000; Corus – 5,500; Corning Inc. – 3,500; ING – 7,000; Texas Instruments – 3,500; Home Depot – 7,000; Microsoft – 5,500; Hitachi – 27,000; Ford – 1,200, UAL – 1,000… and the list continues.

Reacting to these announcements, an emotional US President, Barack Obama said, “These are not just numbers on a page... these are working men & women whose families have been disrupted and whose dreams have been put on hold…” Indeed, Obama puts his emotions in good light here, but are not these actions mere rampages sans rationale?

We need to question the very ‘fundamental necessity’ of job-cuts, especially with unemployment rates having grown meteorically from 4.7% in December 2007 to 7.2% in December (a 15-year high!) as per a January 2009 report by IHS Global Insight The report further suggests how during just the last four months, 2 million jobs were slashed – representing 80% of total cut during the current downturn. Worst, the report proves how, we are “just halfway to the total job loss anticipated during this cycle,” thereby forecasting the unemployment rate to rise above 9% by early-2010 (highest in 30 years). Surely, we are on the verge of making some ‘bitterly forgettable’ history! 
 
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

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Tuesday, December 04, 2012

A piece on Israeli grandmothers!

And on why mothers and grandmothers of this great nation play a critical role in the Israeli-Russia spar

Since August 28, 2008, almost all western media in some or the other form, are criticising Russia’s decision of recognising the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia [once considered part of Georgian influence] by considering it Russian-occupied territories. Not only have both Fortune and Economist featured Russia’s growing influence on their cover stories in the last few weeks, even global leaders have suddenly started recognising that Russia still exists. In sarcastic criticism, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expectably showed her support to Georgia and warned Russia, “In contrast to Georgia’s position, Russia’s international standing is worse now than at any time since 1991...” How interesting dear Ms. Rice that you use that year as an example, for we believe that for the first time since 1991, Russia is finally regaining its rightful position on the world platform. And please Ms. Rice, neither you nor your favourite ‘Kiss Army’, of whom you are a self-confessed die-hard fan, are even an iota interested in what happens in Georgia, are you ma’am?

But what we wish to impetuously implicate out here, and what has been missed out by a majority of media in the process has been the emergence of a strange spar between Israel and Russia over the Georgian war! Analysts and experts in both Israel and Russia are bombarding each other with anti-Russian and anti-Israel statements respectively. Even in the media, while on one hand, Israeli press is accusing Russia of increasing its arm trade with the Middle East, on the other hand, the Russian media is leaving no stone unturned to prove the presence of arms and Israeli training hubs in Georgian land. And now, gravely serious political leaders allege that Russia’s nuclear fuel supply to Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant is an initiative against Israel and Georgia. The question is, why is Israel suddenly getting into the benign act of protecting Georgia?


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

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Monday, December 03, 2012

Now for some ‘Healthistaan’

Pepsi’s new initiative in rural markets faces a branding challenge

Phew! For a change, this is a refreshingly different story. At a time when companies are actually turning enemies of scale, PepsiCo India is actually continuing its untethered initiatives to achieve it in India. Claiming that the FMCG sector remains barely moved by the global slowdown otherwise troubling various industrial sectors of the world, Indra Nooyi, Global Chairman & CEO recently spoke with B&E to inform, “Irrespective of the recession, our sectoral volume growth has been not affected.”

Nooyi has just propagated the ‘Power of one’ strategy globally, and restructuring in India is on track with respect to this strategic direction. PepsiCo India and Frito-Lay will now come under Sanjeev Chadha as one entity and exploit mutual synergies. The company has earmarked another $500 million for expansion in India, hoping to triple its business in the Indian market. It’s a different matter that the company has also announced investments of $3 billion in Mexico and $1 billion in China recently!


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri

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Saturday, December 01, 2012

FAFA ISLAND RESORT

On a palm covered, uninhabited island, Fafa Island Resort is a pearl in the off-shore islands north of Nuku’alofa. The white sandy beaches, the turquoise lagoon surrounded by a coral reef and colourful fishes keep the natural beauty of this place alive. The stunning resort is a perfect blend of the natural environment and the modern requirements of it’s demanding clientele.

THE VIEW: Spread on an 18-acre palm covered atoll, the Fafa Island Resort is setup on an uninhabited coral island in Tongatapu Lagoon. The resort gives its customers a spectacular view of the beach from their bungalows, and yes, if you’re bored then just step out of your bungalow and simply enjoy the soothing sound of the waves hitting the shore.

ARCHI TYPE: The resort is confined to 13 bungalows, each constructed with bamboo to give your bungalow a perfect beach house look. Also, your bedroom – which has been made just a step away from the beach – faces the sea for you to enjoy the beautiful scenery while you spend quality time with your loved one.

BON APPÉTIT: The resort is known for its unique contemporary Polynesian European Gourmet and especially for its seafood. And well, you needn't worry about the food menu. The menu, in fact, changes everyday and the food is prepared from the fresh products of the market giving you a delicious meal which is worth its price. Also, the perfect way to unwind is with some tropical cocktails which are served in the open-air bar just outside the resort.

AROUND THE CORNER: In-case you are looking for some souvenirs, especially the famous carvings and weaved products of Tonga, the shops outside the resort are a must visit as they not only give you the best of the products but also at prices hard to resist.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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