Comments for Vox Sapiens

Comment on Marketing Myopia revisited by Richard Large

Richard Large — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:21:47 +0000

Indeed, size matters

Comment on Marketing Myopia revisited by Thai Boy

Thai Boy — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 06:34:47 +0000

Hey, have you seen the weirdest tax change in the new UK budget? It refers to cigarettes, which is why I thought readers of this blog post might be interested. Apparently, from a tax perspective, cigarettes are maximum 8cm long. For every additional 3cm (or part thereof) the tax authorities will charge for an additional cigarette. So cigarettes between 8cm and 11cm are considered to be two tax cigarettes, cigarettes between 11cm and 14cm are three tax cigarettes, and so on.

Comment on Has SAP missed a trick? by TheVoice

TheVoice — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:07:44 +0000

Quick update. Today (June 11th, 2010) the Financial Times Deutschland reports that Software AG recognises that it would be a good acquisition target for SAP

Karl-Heinz Streibich said that the Software-AG-Stiftung foundation, that owns 30% of Software AG, could be open to selling if the offer price was “outstanding” and the timing was good. He also said that Software AG would be a good fit for SAP.

And this comes only a day after the SAP CEO stated that the company was on the lookout for bigger acquisitions.

Original German story here:

http://www.ftd.de/it-medien/computer-technik/:uebernahmeplaene-software-ag-dient-sich-kaeufern-an/50125030.html

Software AG dient sich Käufern an

Der Chef von Deutschlands zweitgrößtem Softwarehaus bringt sein Unternehmen selbst für Übernahmen ins Spiel – voraussgesetzt, es lasse sich ein “hervorragender Preis” erzielen. Das sorgt für neue Spekulationen über eine Konsolidierung der Softwarebranche …

Comment on Toy-woe-ta by The importance of thorough research | Vox Sapiens

The importance of thorough research | Vox Sapiens — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:22:20 +0000

[...] here at Vox Sapiens we actually discussed this matter in a previous post. The post Toy-woe-ta – Looks like a business school case study in the making was published in January this year. We don’t name the exact date when the issue regarding [...]

Comment on Google breakup? Wrong target again by Tweets that mention Google breakup? Wrong target again | Vox Sapiens -- Topsy.com

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:56:10 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Vox Sapiens. Vox Sapiens said: Consumer watchdog asks DOJ to breakup Google? Wrong target !! See http://blog.voxsapiens.com/2010/04/26/google-breakup-wrong-target-again/ [...]

Comment on Marketing Myopia revisited by Tweets that mention Marketing Myopia revisited | Vox Sapiens -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention Marketing Myopia revisited | Vox Sapiens -- Topsy.com — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 14:59:01 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Vox Sapiens. Vox Sapiens said: Blue Ocean vs. Five Forces HBR: http://bit.ly/92nKF1 @addthis – compare to http://bit.ly/dd5nx6 [...]

Comment on Lawyers and the real world again by finance personal software

finance personal software — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:17:25 +0000

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Comment on Bankers’ bonuses – wrong target by TheVoice

TheVoice — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 08:20:52 +0000

Well I think there are shades of grey here. There was a dearth of knowledge of the banking business and financial markets in many of the failed businesses. Adam Applegarth, chief executive at Northern Rock, was not a banker. Nor was Andy Hornby, chief executive at HBOS. Maybe bankers are not required to keep a steady ship, maybe the ship can steer itself with a poorly-directed crew. But when the seas get rough? And when keeping a steady ship, can non-bankers scan the horizon for signs of storms brewing? Northern Rock was destroyed by a liquidity crunch, not a profitability problem – it did not make huge losses, it had the problem that it had lent money to homeowners for many years but was borrowing a large proportion of that money on a short term basis. So when it was not possible to borrow …

For me, the argument that the tripartite authorities did not require liquidity stress tests just does not hold water – that is exactly the response of somebody who is not embedded in the industry. Every risk consulting firm presents (potential) clients with a business risk model that includes liquidity risk. Everybody in the industry knows that it exists.

Comment on Bankers’ bonuses – wrong target by Stuart

Stuart — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:08:28 +0000

And what about the “exit bonuses” (i.e. golden parachutes)? Shouldn’t people get upset about them? I am angry that the people at the top completely failed but were rewarded for it.

Comment on An Overview of Annuities by pay day advances

pay day advances — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:12:58 +0000

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Comment on The obligations of a debt rating agency by online stock trading

online stock trading — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:10:20 +0000

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(Note, links edited to remove possibility that this is spam instead of a genuine comment)

Comment on The obligations of a debt rating agency by Rick Williams

Rick Williams — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:18:55 +0000

A sorry story indeed. This reminds me of the problems in the dot.com boom when analysts were saying one thing in public and another in private. Maybe this story is illuminating - it suggests that these hedge fund managers knew the real value of the MBSes.

Comment on GM’s intellectual property smokescreen? by TheVoice

TheVoice — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:38:02 +0000

VoxSapiens update:

This 16 September Reuters article – http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE58G0AD20090917 – includes a very interesting admission that the suppliers are getting the upper hand …

“The fact is the balance of power has somewhat shifted,” General Motors Vice President Carl-Peter Forster told a dinner Wednesday evening that was organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany on the occasion of the Frankfurt auto show.

The head of GM in Europe and the likely candidate to run Opel said carmakers needed to reevaluate their strategy.

“We all had the vision that the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) should just assemble bits and pieces, do a little bit of marketing, a little bit of design and all the rest would be done by suppliers,” he said.

“That was a nice vision. It sounds very lean, but the profit making opportunity is also shifting to the ones that have the technological knowhow. That is in very many cases now the supplier industry,” the GM Europe president told the dinner.

Comment on GM’s intellectual property smokescreen? by motormouth

motormouth — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:11:57 +0000

Geely is in the news again about this issue. Reuters reports that Geely is talking to Magna about a partnership for Opel. So both Ford and GM might be concerned about Geely taking IP to China.

Comment on Here comes the “Nano Tax” by TheVoice

TheVoice — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:49:40 +0000

@RickWilliams – Yes, I suspect that Tata might be missing a trick here. We need to expect some increase in price due to – stricter emissions test requirements, stricter crash test requirements, higher transportation costs, and higher local costs/wages for sales/marketing (and maybe CKD/SKD assembly?). But a near-doubling in price takes the Nano out of its own market segment and into the bottom of the segment occupied by the cheaper Dacias, the Kia Picanto, etc.

Comment on Here comes the “Nano Tax” by Rick Williams

Rick Williams — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:19:18 +0000

The Indian price for the Nano is indeed radical, but the suggested Nano Europa pricing is far less radical. I am not sure that the Nano will have as much impact in Europe as it does in India and the rest of the third world.