Info Klinik Bisnis

Worth a $4 billion gamble? Among other deal announcements in Sept., 2013, an investing group from Canada has decided to bet on Blackberry, the tech company that was all the rage from the late 1990's until the iPhone shoved it off the scene in the mid-2000's. People still use Blackberry (yep, some still do!), and many companies support employee usage, partly because of an efficient messaging system. Yet with rapidly deteriorating market share and with its feeble efforts to catch up with what other smartphones offer (and with mounting losses), who would want to buy the company? A Canadian private-equity company has jumped in to take the gamble and assume the risk. It sees some value other market investors and the consuming public at large don't--up to about $4.7 billion worth. It has agreed to a buy-out to purchase shares it doesn't already own.  In recent weeks, Blackberry's CEO has announced large losses, lay-offs and a new strategy focusing primarily on...

Waiting for the invitable b-school case Eventually this will become an intriguing business-school case, particularly for those concentrating in marketing and general management.  Activist investors push hard to re-engineer, restructure and revitalize JCPenney, the old retailing outfit--languishing in modern times, struggling to expand, and suffering with losses and a tanking stock price in the post-recession recovery. The old CEO resigns, and the company figures it has found the solution in a dynamic new CEO, who would swoop in and radically change JCP by casting upon it magical dust from Steve Jobs and Apple.  JCP, amidst fanfare, hires Ronald Johnson after he helped spawn and lead Apple's broadly successful and wildly popular store expansion.  Apple, Jobs and Johnson had transformed the branch-store and electronic-purchasing experience into in-store theater. JCP succumbs to the nudges from shareholder activist and prominent investor William Ackman. They reason that John...

Jenn Wei, a Stanford MBA who once worked in investment banking, is now researching, chasing and negotiating deals in technology as a venture capitalist at Bloomberg Capital.  Last week, in postings that appeared widely in business media, including  VentureBeat.com , she wrote about the startling, but not surprising lack of women in venture capital--in Silicon Valley (California), in Silicon Alley (New York) and at other pivotal venture spots around the country. She reminded us of the glaring scarcity of females at negotiating tables, within network huddles when ideas are bantered about, and in closed-door meetings where entrepreneurs, deal-doers and investors decide the right amounts for an early-round investment to support the next new thing. She offered a few reasons why women are not prominent in the industry and dared to propose solutions. She said women desperately need role models in the industry and industry participants need to take time to understand the likes, intere...

Let's get real. As we turn the corner and head toward an uncertain 2012, where are the real opportunities for MBA finance professionals ? What's the real scoop? In an environment where some tip-toe when they project better scenarios next year, but where every other day large banks announce lay-offs by the thousands, what's the real story? Who's  hiring? Who's promoting solid performers? Who's luring those interested in finance and promising long-term career paths? Where are the sectors or institutions that will harbor finance pros and allow them to grow, contribute and thrive over the the next few years? Let's take a glance and gauge vibes and signals across the sectors. 1.  Investment banking, corporate finance.   From now until about mid-2012, you know banks won't commit. Uncertainty forces them to be hesitant. They'll want to see sustained trends in an economic recovery. Until then, banks will resort to old-time habits of firing rashly and excess...

If you were to peep inside the corridors of most venture capital firms, including those in pockets of Silicon Valley or those scattered about Manhattan or in the Boston suburbs, would you see encouraging signs of diversity? Would you see a diverse environment, an inclusive culture, or a setting where those from under-represented groups are deeply involved in investment discussions, analyses, presentations, and decision-making? In those same venture capital firms, would you see women, blacks and Hispanics in prominent professional roles? Not really, says a survey from the National Venture Capital Association ( http://www.nvca.org/ ) . Would you be surprised? Not really, the survey also shows.  The business of venture capital (investing in promising start-ups, nurturing new ideas, coaching young entrepreneurs, and facilitating financing in second and third rounds) has a long way to go. The survey was taken in mid-2011 and follows a similar survey from 2008. The survey was sent to inv...