Despite the fact that executives could improve the value and performance of their companies by shifting capital from under-performing business units to better performing units, most choose to allocate their resources the same way year after year.
t’s one of those stats that’s constantly thrown around at conferences: 80% of the companies that existed before 1980 are no longer around—and another 17% probably won’t be here in five years. Dartmouth professor Vijay Govindarajan heard versions of this so often that he eventually began using it himself—even though he didn’t know whether it was accurate or, if it was, why it was true. So he and his colleague Anup Srivastava decided to take a rigorous look at corporate longevity.
Microsoft entered the 21st century as the dominant software provider for anyone who interacted with a computing device. Sixteen years later, that dominance is looking threadbare. The reason is failed leadership, and Apple – currently the dominant tech firm for the mobile era – is at risk of making the same mistakes.
Mergers and acquisitions are one of the most important ways a big corporation can stay competitive — when they work out. Unfortunately many of these marriages don’t always make it. Below, we look at some the worst mergers and acquisitions undertaken by large corporations, and how the good times went bad.
CEOs have wide-ranging influence over their firms. They are charged with plotting a company’s strategic course, helping set the workplace culture, and attracting new talent to the executive suite. Plenty of research exists on how factors such as CEOs’ management styles, experiences, and industry expertise inform their attitudes and behaviors when they are at the helm, which in turn helps determine a firm’s performance.
The type of CEO who lands on the cover of business magazines has a big, outgoing personality, all the better to charm investors, win over partners and rally employees.
But what if companies run by extroverts did poorly? What if companies fared better in the hands of introverts?
What if we knew how the personality traits of CEOs produced different business results, and if boards could hire accordingly?
