In mid September we published a short post with the title “the worse is yet to come“. Now, one month later, we can observe worst case scenarios becoming reality. Black swan effects test the survivability of financial institutions. Large banks on both sides of the ocean are in very serious trouble and need massive government […]

The last two days can be described as a dramatic change in terms of the global financial crisis. Not so long ago – or to be more specific: last weekend – a liberal approach seem to rule governmental measures how to tackle the financial crisis. Lehman Brothers did not receive a public backup. But at […]

Last we were informed about US government’s decision to rescue Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Both mortgage lenders are under special regulatory supervision now, the so called conservatorship. This event can be described in two sentences, but there are some major implications. We have found the following data that illustrate the size of this public […]

In this post we will have a brief look at a specific phenomenon of strategic management. Turn back time is in interesting concept in terms of movies or sci-fi literature, but in terms of chosen strategic directions an easy way out often does not exist. So let’s look at this issue – given the example […]

How important is education? Well, we know that education (as process) and knowledge gained (as a result) has become an important factor to differentiate organizations and to establish (or at least to support) competitive advantages. Today knowledge can have the same meaning as a commodity. Information, knowledge and learning have a huge impact on capabilities […]

Brand management is an important tool when it comes to segment markets and to leverage positive perceptions (of a specific brand). But sometimes brand management can confuse customers and your company will receive very negative feedbacks. To illustrate this statement I have a brief example from the car industry.

General Motors (GM) operates the brand Chevrolet […]

A couple of days ago I participated in a discussion concerning risk management systems. A specific emphasis was given on strategic risks and their management. Identification and delimitation were described as two major problems when starting to manage this risk type.
Well, that is basically not an unusual situation within an organization. Before managing a specific […]

The subprime crisis of us-American mortgages (and its primary and secondary impacts on the financial system) has increased the pressure for mergers and acquisitions in the European financial services market. In particular in Germany major transactions are likely to occur: Postbank and Citibank are on Sale. Some Federal State banks (former Sachsen LB and West […]

As you might have noticed from one of my blog posts I am an external PhD-student of the Warsaw School of Economics / Institute for Organization and Management in Industry. My research topic focuses on the strategic planning of European retail banks. As part of my studies I was given the opportunity to present some […]

A couple of weeks ago I discussed four major benefit criteria of innovation in this post. Now it is time to look on the other side of innovation. Yes, there are not only benefits; in the case that your organization starts to focus on innovation you should have in mind to face some disadvantages. You […]