Back to the Future: The reemergence of Strategic M&A
December 2000
GE wrestled Honeywell from the arms of United Technologies in October, while AOL and Time Warner hope to seal their merger deal this month. Both events underscore an important shift: Old-fashioned mergers and acquisitions may have surpassed "the Internet" on CEO's agenda. Indeed, The Street.com's Internet Sector Index has fallen fully 59% since its peak in March, while total market cap of acquired firms in the top ten M&A deals completed this year has already reached $650 billion, 46% ahead of the same measure for all of last year. M&A, clearly, has resurged.

Moreover, as deals like GE's and AOL's show, M&A has reemerged as a core strategic tool that not only can strengthen a company's competitive position, but also redefine an industry.

The Narrow Path To Victory for B2B Exchanges
October 2000
The hype is over for business-to-business exchanges. The true path to value is just emerging. Although stock marketplace darlings like Ariba and VerticalNet have seen their stock prices plummet 60% - 80%, the road to victory for these exchanges isn't closed, it's just narrow.

Are more strategic decisions in your company being made at the "frontline," i.e., by employees working in the field with customers?

B2C Survivors: Four Signs of Seaworthiness
August 2000
So is it time for the smart rats to leave a sinking ship? Is all B2C e-commerce going under?
A recent Bain study suggests the smartest rats will reserve judgment until they've checked out four signs of seaworthiness in their eCommerce ventures. These include their abilities to: sell products through multiple channels; use the Internet to improve the cost and means by which products move from suppliers, in-house and on to customers; create functions on their sites that engage customers and convert browsers to buyers; and offer unique products or services relative to established mass competitors.