http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com We Stress Test Your Strategies Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:46:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/staying-rational-in-irrational-times/ http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/staying-rational-in-irrational-times/#comments Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:30:44 +0000 Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/?p=989 We found John Cassidy's essay in the Oct. 5 New Yorker, "The Real Reason that Capitalism is so Crash-Prone," to be illuminating about the challenges of managing in an irrational context, like the recent credit craze or the more distant dot-com and telecom bubbles. Cassidy argues that, even if managers know that they are in the middle of a bubble, they have little choice but to go along. Boards and investors tell them: "Do it, or move aside so that someone else can." Few can resist such pressure.]]> http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/staying-rational-in-irrational-times/feed/ 0 http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/perfecting-the-art-of-the-deal-2/ http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/perfecting-the-art-of-the-deal-2/#comments Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:50:54 +0000 Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui http://www.billiondollarlessons.com/?p=225 download the entire article in PDF form.]]> http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/perfecting-the-art-of-the-deal-2/feed/ 0 http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/the-need-for-boards-to-change-the-dialogue-with-management/ http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/the-need-for-boards-to-change-the-dialogue-with-management/#comments Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:59:53 +0000 Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui http://www.billiondollarlessons.com/?p=208 The recent attacks on the Bank of America board, related to the ill-fated decision to buy Merrill Lynch, underscore the need for boards to change the dialogue with management. A New York Times piece on BofA focuses, as many articles do, on the clubby nature of many boardrooms--you serve on my board, I serve on yours, and we make nice with each other. But the issue is broader than that. Even if you have a truly independent board with lots of diverse viewpoints, the CEO will still carry the day almost every time. He has all the information and controls how it's presented to the board. He makes the decisions, while the board pretty much is limited to deciding whether he gets to continue in the job or whether he should be replaced--a call that boards seldom make unless the situation is dire.]]> http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/the-need-for-boards-to-change-the-dialogue-with-management/feed/ 1 http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/b-of-a-the-trouble-begins/ http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/b-of-a-the-trouble-begins/#comments Sat, 17 Jan 2009 01:35:06 +0000 Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui http://www.billiondollarlessons.com/?p=194 There's something important that is getting overlooked in all the coverage of the stunning news that Bank of America has had to line up $20 billion in assistance from the federal government to handle problems at Merrill Lynch, just days after closing the Merrill purchase. That something is this: The problems are just beginning.]]> http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/b-of-a-the-trouble-begins/feed/ 0 http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/bank-of-america-and-merrill-lynch-problems-come-into-focus/ http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/bank-of-america-and-merrill-lynch-problems-come-into-focus/#comments Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:27:46 +0000 Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui http://www.billiondollarlessons.com/?p=162 When Bank of America announced its deal to acquire Merrill Lynch in mid-September, we noted in this space that we were skeptical. Based on the research for our book, we thought Bank of America was making a classic mistake: focusing so much on the benefits of an acquisition that it glossed over the potential problems. Merrill seemed to be fraught with potential problems--and they are now coming into painfully clear focus]]> http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/bank-of-america-and-merrill-lynch-problems-come-into-focus/feed/ 0 http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/bank-of-america-the-next-conseco/ http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/bank-of-america-the-next-conseco/#comments Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:43:02 +0000 Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui http://www.billiondollarlessons.com/?p=124 http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/bank-of-america-the-next-conseco/feed/ 0