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/ma-the-skies-are-clearing/ http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/ma-the-skies-are-clearing/#comments Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:54:33 +0000 Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/?p=803 We promise not to write something every time there's a surge in mergers and acquisitions, but we wanted to note that there has, in fact, been the sort of increase that we expected. Deals are out there, and financing is available, as was noted in The New York Times. Good deals will position companies well as we make the slow climb out of the Great Recession. Bad deals, of course, will not. So those considering M&A still need to stress test their ideas to weed out the bad ones or at least to be fully aware of potential problems and negotiate more carefully. Bad deals, of course, will not. So those considering M&A still need to stress test their ideas to weed out the bad ones or at least to be fully aware of potential problems and negotiate more carefully.]]> http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/ma-the-skies-are-clearing/feed/ 0 http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/ding-dong-dell/ http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/ding-dong-dell/#comments Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:48:17 +0000 Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui http://www.billiondollarlessons.com/?p=248 When we remodeled our homes some years back, we decided that the most expensive words known to man were, "While we’re at it. . . ." In doing the research for our book, though, we realized that the words, “Well, we have to do something,” have caused far more damage. Executives convince themselves that, no matter what, they have to achieve some stock-price goal, some market-share goal, some profit goal. So, they lay out a strategy that might work and roll the dice, even when the odds are stacked against them. In other words, they take what they think is their best bet even though an objective review would show they aren’t making a good bet. Often, they lose. Sometimes, they lose billions—making us feel a bit better about those bad thousand-dollar decisions we made while remodeling.]]> http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/ding-dong-dell/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/%e2%80%9cdeals-from-hell%e2%80%9d-heaven-sent-advice/ http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/%e2%80%9cdeals-from-hell%e2%80%9d-heaven-sent-advice/#comments Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:17:49 +0000 Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui http://www.billiondollarlessons.com/?p=110 http://www.devilsadvocategroup.com/%e2%80%9cdeals-from-hell%e2%80%9d-heaven-sent-advice/feed/ 0