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Thursday, February 9, 2006

Antergy

What’s the opposite of Synergy? It’s Antergy. Oligopoly Watch coins a new term for the cyclic stupidity of the corporate world. And, as is always the case, CxOs and consultants make beaucoup bucks on both ends – buying up things that don’t work together under the pretense of synergy, later selling them off on the pretense of releasing value. One metaphor for this is the human body. The body takes in various foodstuffs, holds onto them for a while, strips out the valuable components, and excretes the remainder. Somewhere in the process energy is created and we, the owners of the body, benefit from the process with health and life. So it is with corporations, except the CxOs and consultants are the ones who absorb all the energy in the form of bonuses and fees. The customers, employees, and shareholders often get only the excrement that comes out at the end.

Time-Warner sells book unit

One day after we note the frantic rush by the media oligopolies to spin off non-core assets then it happens once again. Time-Warner, under heavy pressure from a small group of determined investors, announced it has sold off its book division, to France's Lagardere, in a $538 million deal.

This is no big surprise. Time-Warner shopped around the book division three years ago, but has not until now found a buyer at an agreeable price. Reports are that the book division had a record year in 2005. Imprints owned by Time-Warner include Warner Books; Little, Brown & Co.; Arcade; Back Bay; and Bulfinch Press

Time-Warner was a second-tier player, #5 in the US publishing industry, considerably smaller than Bertelsmann  (Random House) and Pearson (Penguin). That industry shows little added growth, making opportunities for growth without acquisitions unlikely.

Lagardere is best known for publishing magazine like Elle, Car & Driver, and Paris Match through its Hachette Filipacci division and books through its French-based Hachette division. The company has some online and newspaper interests as well. It also has minority holdings in such unrelated industries as aerospace and cable TV. It will become the #3 book publisher worldwide after the deal. Lagardere bought British publisher Hodder Headline in 2004.

For Time Warner it's yet another sell-off of a division. The company has sold off the Warner Music Group, its share of Comedy Central TV station, and some sports teams. It entered into an alliance over AOL with Google, and rumors are always strong that it will sell off the whole AOL division (if it can find a buyer). In addition, it recently combined its WB network with Universal's UPN in a 50/50 split.

The Time-Warner proxy rebels led by Carl Icahn have announced they want the company split even further, into four new firms, namely Time-Warner Cable, motion pictures and TV networks, magazine publishing, and AOL. As with Viacom, the idea is to "release" a lot of pent-up value, the very opposite of synergy, namely antergy.

Posted by:  Terry Frazier at 12:34 PM  | Permanent Link  | Trackback URL | 
Categories: Business & Finance, Strategy

Thursday, December 8, 2005

Survey Your Customers Early and Often

Customer surveys on the cheap

Want to find out what your customers are thinking for less than what a Madison Avenue consultant spends in a year on his lattes? Consider the case of Konstantin Guericke, the co-founder of LinkedIn, an online network that professionals can use to find new clients or pick up leads on jobs.

Posted by:  Terry Frazier at 9:33 PM  | Permanent Link  | Trackback URL | 
Categories: Business & Finance, Strategy

Eliot Spitzer's Golden Rule

Never write when you can talk. Never talk when you can nod. And never put anything in an e-mail.

Posted by:  Terry Frazier at 11:26 AM  | Permanent Link  | Trackback URL | 
Categories: Strategy

Tuesday, December 6, 2005

Trend Watchers Resource List

Recommended Reading For Trend Spotters

Current events form future trends, says Gerald Celente, founder and director of the Trends Research Institute, which has been tracking business, consumer, social and lifestyle trends since 1980.
[...]
Here is a selection of books Mr. Celente counts among the exceptions, as well as his daily online reads for spotting trends.

The Secrets of Economic Indicators: Hidden Clues to Future Economic Trends and Investment Opportunities by Bernard Baumohl. "Whether you're tracking pop culture, high fashion or health care, all things are connected, and economics is the tie that binds them all."

The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism by John C. Bogle. "Tracking trends is a way of seeing where we are, how we got here and where we're going. And John Bogle's new book does just that."

China, Inc. : How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World by Ted C Fishman.


The Chinese Century: The Rising Chinese Economy and Its Impact on the Global Economy, the Balance of Power, and Your Job by Oded Shenkar. "I'm among those who believe that while the 20th century was America's, the 21st will be China's."

The Big Book of Self-Reliant Living: Advice and Information on Just About Everything You Need to Know to Live on Planet Earth by Walter Szykitka (Editor). "One of hottest trends we see is the rapidly growing desire of more people to be self empowered, non-reliant, and 'off the grid.'

Haaretz, Al Jazeera, the Independent and China Online. "These four are our daily must-read news sites."

Drudge Report and the Raw Story. "We log on to these two Internet sites daily because they generally span the ideological spectrum."

Posted by:  Terry Frazier at 12:57 PM  | Permanent Link  | Trackback URL | 
Categories: Books, Business & Finance, Policy & Regulation, Strategy

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