Recently I got to know about the acquisition of Yahoo by Verizon at a meagre price that was never expected. The news went viral on social media too. Then I had a burning desire to write more on my understanding on this topic. You may treat this as a business blog, a social blog or a combination from the best of both world.
Any business decision has two sides – people and profit. This profit is again to grow business further in the interest of people and organisation. Direct benefit goes to people as we get more number of employments with growth in business scaling well across the geography.
The decision of a merger and acquisition is not so simple. It directly affects all the stakeholders and shareholders in the business. Earlier I had witnessed the acquisition of Covansys by CSC about eight years back when I was a part of it. I couldn’t accept the fact well that time. Hardly have I had any business sense in that period but just left with my emotional state of mind. It’s always a feel good factor when our company acquires another but not the vice versa. Many questions come to mind like “Am I not doing good?” Have I failed to add more value to my company?
Every business owner wants to see the growth of people and business in parallel. A decision may come either when it’s not profitable enough to run as usual or still when we find much better hands to handle it even though making profit.
Sometimes, it’s sensed like the current profit may not be sustainable for a longer period with present state of all the resources. Any such decision may also come when there are other business plans in mind needing huge investment bit lacking investors.
Profit or loss factor is largely dependent on the market trend which is again controlled by people as per their purchasing power and how they view your product. They look out for more advantages (like durability, better/prompt & cheaper service) than your competitors.
Let’s now come to the social side of business. How do you see your company and colleagues? You may think of it as a workplace where you are supposed to perform your routine jobs and make money as salary periodically. Your colleagues could be like strangers but companions either for a short term or a longer period as per your tenure.
We remember few and we forget many with time. This is because these few people left a deep impression on us unlike the rest. This is again much dependent on our emotional quotient that decides whom to remember or forget.
Have you ever thought of your company as your home and all companions as your family members? If you think so you can do a lot of good to your company and people. The simple reason being nobody causes harm to her/his own home and family members. In this case you can’t leave your home under normal circumstances but a separation is still possible when a decision is made at a larger interest of people and the organisation. This decision could come from either side for a good reason.
I used to write for social and environmental causes. For the first time i am writing something different that includes thought on business as i understand it’s for people and powered by people. That news of acquisition kept me vigilant for some time like a watchman and directed me to look at the current market trend. I asked myself can I do an analysis further. I felt like do i have the business sense to dig deeper?
The news came to me as follows:
*What is your perception on this?*
1998: Yahoo refuses to buy Google for $1 million.
2002: Realizing the mistake Yahoo offers $3 billion; Google wants $5 billion; Yahoo says no!
2008: Yahoo turns down Microsoft’s $40 billion offer.
2016: Yahoo sold to Verizon for $4.9 billion..!!!
Many in my friend circle feel it’s a great loss for Yahoo and they don’t see it as a winning strategy when we compare with previous offers. It made me think about time value of money. So, what went really wrong? Was there some major flaws in strategic business decision making?
I think we should not blame yahoo for their decision in the year 1998. Information technology industry was not growing at the current rate those days. It was not easy to do well valuation of a company like google that time. Business risk taking with a startup might have been turned down by analysts that time.
What about the decision in the year 2002 and again in 2008? The news says realising the mistake… but how much they really did?
Few of my learning from this topic i wish to share as quotations goes as follows:
“Never underestimate someone small when you are big.”
“Don’t wait to stop and start again when you are completely exhausted but pause yourself in between for refreshments.”
“Opportunity might be there knocking your door but you may never come to know about it if you fail to sense it just before arrival.”
“Time value of money is more important than money itself.”
“Don’t loose your good time at present waiting for your bad time to leave you. Stay blissful always!”
“Evaluate yourself and your business better periodically like how do you see it grow in coming years and then you do an analysis about your competitors.”
“Vision, strategy and action should go together.”
I will update more thoughts here as i develop. I am still thinking to develop better business sense to write more. Do share with me your valuable insights as sharing is caring!
Have a great time doing what you love to do!!
B +Ve!! 