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Displaying 1-30 of 33 results
Exclusive
How to succeed in volatile times
- Article
- 01 Mar 2024
- Karen Harris, Austin Kimson, Dunigan O'Keeffe
The case study of the Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B and its quick reaction to the pandemic is used as an example of how to adapt fast. We've now entered a new era, say the authors: a time of post-globalization, capital rationalization, spatial dispersion, shrinking workforces, and dependence on automation. They suggest a three-part strategy approach for this time of volatility, integrating capabilities for prediction, adaptability and resilience. Companies should map exposures, develop scenarios, allocate capital and track signals.
Exclusive
UK insolvencies jump 14% in 2023 after interest rates surge
- Article
- 16 Jan 2024
- Tom Rees
The number of UK companies suffering insolvency jumped 14% in 2023 as firms collapsed under the weight of higher borrowing costs and weaker economic growth. The article gives an overview of the factors involved and the sectors most affected.
Exclusive
Who learns fastest, wins: Lean Startup and Discovery Driven Growth
- Article
- 01 Oct 2023
- Rita Gunther McGrath
Most entrepreneurial ventures and startups fail. Against this backdrop, Lean Startup and Discovery-Driven Growth (DDG) are methods that emphasize rapid learning, resource parsimony, and focus on validating assumptions as ways of reducing the cost and risk of failure. Rita Gunther McGrath looks at the benefits of both methods, suggesting that they are a major advance over traditional planning processes because they both emphasize rapid learning. She also provides a 'flops file' of massive corporate failures and analyses the mistakes made.
Exclusive
Should companies launch new products in a recession?
- Article
- 01 Sep 2023
A look at the pros and cons of launching new consumer products during a recession. The authors explore how products introduced during a recession perform, examine how the severity of the recession can impact the product's performance, and scrutinize whether the timing within the recession matters. The authors' research included analysing 8,981 product launches in consumer goods categories within the UK from 1995 to 2012.
Exclusive
Down and out? UK insolvencies reach highest level in 14 years
- Article
- 01 Sep 2023
- Sean Feast
The article reports that UK insolvencies have reached their highest level in 14 years, with a 13% increase in registered company insolvencies in Q2 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. While redundancies remain low, factors like increased borrowing and energy costs are affecting businesses' financial stability, leading to a rise in liquidations, administrations and company voluntary arrangements (CVAs).
Exclusive
Fighting through the downturn: How CEOs and CFOs can take action together
- Article
- 10 Nov 2022
- Anna King
Advice on what CEOs and CFOs should be doing during an economic downturn, including: gain visibility into where your costs are coming from, set a detailed, graduated budget with milestones, and be pre-emptive in preparing ahead of time. Chief financial officers should establish the KPIs and targets for the company's updated priorities and do this hand in hand with their chief executive officer.
Exclusive
Strategy making in uncertain times
- Article
- 01 Sep 2022
- Mark Gottfredson, Michael Mankins
Most companies have stuck with conventional techniques for strategy-making. In this article the authors describe what it takes to produce great results during economic uncertainty, and propose a practical model for strategy development that they have seen work at several leading companies.
Exclusive
Wells Fargo: a corporate recovery model to bank on
- Article
- 24 May 2022
- James Welch
James Welch uses Wells Fargo as a banking industry case example to examine corporate recovery. He makes the case that to move beyond self-inflicted reputational damage and regain sales, successful turnaround companies have embarked on a four-step corporate recovery process centred on four key words: Replace, Restructure, Redevelop and Re-brand. He sees Wells Fargo as a recent addition to these recovery stories.
Exclusive
The importance of effective leadership during a turnaround
- Article
- 01 Jan 2022
- Lawrence Gardner
Sometimes the simplest things make the biggest differences. Turnaround consultant Lawrence Gardner explains why the most successful company turnarounds are built on strong leadership. He outlines the specific aspects of leadership that must be displayed to achieve positive results at struggling businesses.
Exclusive
How recent insolvency reform in the UK impacts business valuations
- Article
- 01 Sep 2021
A look at how the new UK Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act (CIGA) 2020 is likely to impact a business valuation conducted for purposes of insolvency. The article covers the valuation elements which are likely to require more preparation and support than in the past, including providing more scenario analysis to aid the court and additional stress-testing of discounted cash flow (DCF) analyses and scenarios.
Exclusive
'Capita has been by far my most challenging turnaround'
- Article
- 28 Jun 2021
- Ben Gartside
Executive Jon Lewis - once crowned "the turnaround king" - was brought in to fix outsourcer Capita, amid a broad crisis in outsourcing that led to the collapse of Carillion. In this article he discusses the turnaround plan he has pushed forward at Capita, focusing on making efficiency savings of $50m a year. He is also keen to help his employees embrace hybrid and flexible working models that have been introduced due to the pandemic, which has allowed Capita to reduce office space.
Exclusive
Virgin Active restructuring to set high street precedent
- Article
- 10 May 2021
- Owen Sanderson
Virgin Active is using the new UK 'super scheme' restructuring law, introduced in 2020 to try to bind landlords and other creditors alike into accepting writedowns. Virgin Active is trying out the new law for restructuring property leases - which retailers previously almost always used the 'Company Voluntary Arrangement' (CVA) process for. If Virgin is successful, this could open the door to more companies using the 'super scheme', rather than CVAs.
Exclusive
Reasons start-ups fail
- Article
- 01 May 2021
- Tom Eisenmann
Harvard Business School Professor Tom Eisenmann shares some of the research findings from his book, Why Startups Fail, in which he identifies recurring patterns behind start-up business failure. He focuses on the two most common avoidable reasons where he believes start-ups go wrong: Good Idea, Bad Bedfellows and False Starts.
Exclusive
Buyouts push companies to the limit. Or over it.
- Article
- 07 Oct 2019
- Lauren Coleman Lochhner, Eliza Ronalds-Hannon
The article reports on the issue of private equity in the retail industry. It mentions how leveraged buyouts add to a company's debt, the number of companies that wind up filing for bankruptcy, and how changes in retail trade have made the buyouts of such companies less desirable.
Exclusive
Thomas Cook's death is pure Ernest Hemingway
- Article
- 24 Sep 2019
- Chris Bryant, Andrea Felsted
Chris Bryant analyses the demise of Thomas Cook. He finds that, to borrow a phrase from Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Cook went bankrupt gradually - then suddenly. The travel company was struggling not only with rapidly changing consumer habits but difficulties with its capital structure and financial reporting.
Exclusive
Thomas Cook's creditors have the right to feel outraged
- Article
- 23 Sep 2019
- David Fickling
David Fickling considers the path chosen by Thomas Cook's directors - rather than entering insolvency proceedings, the company went straight to creasing trading and liquidation. He highlights that in a typical business insolvency, administrators try to keep the business trading so that unsecured creditors can swap their debt for equity and minimize their losses.
Exclusive
Central intelligence
- Article
- 17 Sep 2018
- Rick Popley
How one business reduced costs and increased revenue during the 2008 recession. The article focuses on how the operations director improved operational efficiency with employee training and centralised business strategy.
Exclusive
Revised Corporate Governance Code: what you need to know
- Article
- 01 Sep 2018
- Amy Austin
The article examines whether the 2018 Corporate Governance Code of Great Britain will be able to prevent corporate failures with the introduction of changes such as the provision to encourage greater engagement of the board and the nine-year rule for directors on the company board. Topics covered include flexibility offered by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) for the enforcement of the Code, succession planning and development of a diverse board, and excessive executive pay. * For full article please contact the Library. *
Exclusive
High street faces its year of the CVA as stores' shutters go up
- Article
- 31 Mar 2018
- Deirdre Hipwell
Although it is called a "company voluntary arrangement", historically no company has entered this form of insolvency process except as a last resort. But CVAs are increasing in numbers, even if they end up merely delaying full administration. A CVA should ideally be used as part of a wider solution to facilitate a turnaround of a business.
Exclusive
Making a living is never recession proof, but your mind is
- Article
- 01 May 2015
- Nar Bustamante
A carpentry business owner shares how he grew his business during the recession of 2008-2012, through investing in a showroom and tapping into people's desire to spend money on their homes.
Exclusive
Starting and growing a venture at a time of economic crisis - practical legal and policy considerations
- Article
- 01 Sep 2014
- Cherry Wun-Mei Cheung
Cherry Wun-Mei Cheung busts some of the daunting myths surrounding developing a business during a recession, providing an overview of the relevant rules for entrepreneurs.
Exclusive
Persimmon
- Article
- 01 Mar 2014
- Mike Killoran
Leading UK housebuilder Persimmon was shaken to its foundations by the global recession. But a determination to keep buying land and hold on to key managers has seen the company soar again. Group financial director Mike Killoran explains the strategy behind the recovery.
Exclusive
Closing time
- Article
- 31 Jan 2014
Landlords suffering rent arrears may have further problems if their tenants' businesses go into administration. There is some hope if the administrators continue a business but Peter Walker explains that much may depend on whether rent is payable in advance or in arrears.
Exclusive
Honeywell's CEO on how he avoided layoffs
- Article
- 01 Jun 2013
- David Cote
David Cote, the chief executive officer of consumer goods company Honeywell, discusses his financial strategy for his company during the 2008 economic crisis. Cote adopted the strategy of asking employees to take temporary unpaid leaves of absence rather than instituting a layoff policy.
Exclusive
LBOs in difficulty
- Article
- 01 Jan 2010
- Rod Cork, Mark Santoni
The article discusses the restructuring of the capital and debt financing structure of companies and their subsidiaries which are under leveraged buyout (LBO) financing in France. It states that a LBO debt financing involves senior secured debt financing and mezzanine debt financing. It mentions that a prompt analysis of problems facing leveraged managements buy-out is essential to preserve value for stakeholders and add new money to restructure the business. It discusses the traditional framework for achieving a consensual restructuring in French LBOs through the appointment of a mandataire a...
Exclusive
Cost leadership for the current challenge
- Article
- 01 Nov 2009
- Allen I. Schiff, Jonathan B. Schiff
A discussion of how companies can become cost leaders amid challenging economic conditions. Cost leaders seek to achieve low costs and high quality without sacrificing attention to customers. Skills necessary to becoming a cost leader include project management, critical thinking and activity-based cost management.
Exclusive
Survive the recession by managing cash
- Article
- 01 Nov 2009
- Stephen R. Goldberg, Mary J. Phillips, James H. Williams
In the current banking and credit environment, managing cash is seen as critical to surviving the recession and positioning companies for a turnaround. The authors examine the best expert advice on managing cash during a downturn, for five key areas of a business.
Exclusive
New mindset for growth during crisis
- Article
- 01 Jun 2009
- Bruce Harreld, Donald L. Laurie
The authors consider how firms can grow amid a troubled economy. Times of crisis present new opportunities and companies need to develop the forward-thinking mindset that prepares them to take advantage. Although many firms instinctively resort to cost reduction when the economy weakens, these efforts need to be carefully considered, as
the dollars saved may be more than offset by diminished employee morale and lost opportunities for future growth.
Exclusive
Need cash? Look within your business
- Article
- 01 May 2009
- Kevin Kaiser, David S.Young
The authors explore six common mistakes that companies make in managing working capital. Correcting them could free up enough cash to make the difference between business failure and survival.
Exclusive
Keeping profits up in a down economy
- Article
- 01 Mar 2009
- Hugh Pinkus
A short advice article with some practical ideas on how firms can maintain profitability during an economic downturn.
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