BullsEye Drexel was making its fortune in junk bonds, and that stung. We were supposed to be Wall Street’s bond traders. We were in danger of losing that distinction, however, for our managers had failed to see how important junk bonds would become. They thought junk was a passing fad. That was easily their single most … Read more
Wall Street brings together borrowers of money with lenders. Until the spring of 1978, when Salomon Brothers formed Wall Street’s first mortgage security department, the term borrower referred to large corporations and to federal, state, and local governments. It did not include homeowners. A Salomon Brothers partner named Robert Dall thought this strange. The fastest-growing … Read more
We don’t want to fight But, by Jingo, if we do, We’ve got the ships, We’ve got the men, We’ve got the money, too – “MACDERMOTT’S WAR SONG” SUNG AT THE LONDON PAVILION 1878 Negative nationalism reached a hillock of intellectual clarity in 1878 during yet another one of those Russian-Turkish crises that London tried … Read more
If the creation of the WTO in 1995 was the last clear victory for Globalization, the specific point of farthest advance was probably the inclusion of intellectual property inside the trade regime. No sooner was TRIPS in place than the backlash began.The most dependable of pro—Globalization economists were horrified. Why should coupon clipping be treated … Read more
Since 1950 world trade has multiplied — depending on whose numbers you use — between twelve- and twenty-two-fold. Worldwide foreign direct investment has grown fifteen-fold since 1970. For foreign directinvestment to developing countries, the multiple is twenty. The daily turnover in foreign exchange markets was $15 billion in 1973. Now it is over $1.5 trillion. … Read more
So why is innovation execution so hard? Simply put, organizations are not built for it. Quite to the contrary, they are built for ongoing operations. They are built to be Performance Engines. A well-run Performance Engine is the master of many challenges. It excels at serving today’s customers and fighting today’s rivals. It is terrific … Read more
How do you explain when things don’t go as we assume? Or better, how do you explain when others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions? For example: Why is Apple so innovative? Year after year, after year, after year, they’re more innovative than all their competition. And yet, … Read more
For its relaunch to succeed, Coca-Cola first has to reposition itself so that people stop feeling guilty when they drink it, or, ideally, come to see a Coke as a treat. That’s why Douglas is so intent on pushing Coca-Cola away from the supersize drinks and back to the older, smaller sizes. A few years … Read more
Onevery peculiar thing that we have noticed about most companies is that they want to be generalists so that they can sell everything to everyone. They call it covering all bases. Sounds good in theory but it does not always pan out in the real world because people tend to perceive specialists as having better … Read more
Worker resistance in the Disney theme parks can take several different forms which to a certain extent are affected by the kind of job under consideration. One response is to ‘switch off’. According to Van Maanen, when feeling too tired to smile but still having to, ride operators simply switch off. Various names are given … Read more
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