Business + Strategy had an article that made a case for closer interaction between the healthcare and the financial industries. In trying to connect some dots, here are my quick thoughts on the same.
- Both these industries have to get competitive.
- Both of these industries have to wake up to the concept of RFID.
- Both of these industries have enormous paper trails that should be made electronic, which of course there are genuine impediments that they face in the form of legal regulations, county requirements, etc.
- Both of these industries have to necessarily have systems that are integrated in nature.
- Both of these industries have enormous impact on people’s lives. One impacts how well a person lives and the other impacts if a person lives.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Inefficiency at it's Best
Some things never cease to amaze me. A perfect example is Estonia’s efforts at selecting a national fish. Never mind if people eat it, never mind if fishermen fish for it. This is the perfect example of a callous waste of resources. The fact that this issue was marked by an emotional debate, online poll, charges of voter fraud and parliamentary debate astounds and worries me at the same time.
I would understand if for establishing an identity, they built the next wonder of the world, if they built the most modern hospital or school. But if a fish is supposed to bring identity to nation, wouldn’t you wonder what kind of an identity that would be?
I would understand if for establishing an identity, they built the next wonder of the world, if they built the most modern hospital or school. But if a fish is supposed to bring identity to nation, wouldn’t you wonder what kind of an identity that would be?
Monday, June 11, 2007
Inviting Companies…
For years now, states have been inviting companies to set up shop in their states. The obvious reason is to invigorate the economy by creating jobs. But lately, the states have been providing incentives to companies with a clawback provision.
What this means in simple language is that of a company is bought over or has a change in the market geography, there would have to be a payback from the company to the states to the tune of the exact incentives the companies received to make the move more attractive.
Did cities such as NYC, SFO, and the other commercial capitals of the world become so by offering incentives to the companies to do business there and now with every other state offering some incentives, are we going to see a growth of such cities? And, if for some reason, a company has to move, it would have to do so at the peril of angering state officials and paying huge amounts that they received before? Well, if it means that states will dictate where a company does business, which is most definitely bad business, it is the complete antithesis of pure capitalism and free market economy. If businesses are bound by state incentives, are we making these businesses more inefficient? If this is such a big consideration, it is the eternal cost arbitrage chase.
What this means in simple language is that of a company is bought over or has a change in the market geography, there would have to be a payback from the company to the states to the tune of the exact incentives the companies received to make the move more attractive.
Did cities such as NYC, SFO, and the other commercial capitals of the world become so by offering incentives to the companies to do business there and now with every other state offering some incentives, are we going to see a growth of such cities? And, if for some reason, a company has to move, it would have to do so at the peril of angering state officials and paying huge amounts that they received before? Well, if it means that states will dictate where a company does business, which is most definitely bad business, it is the complete antithesis of pure capitalism and free market economy. If businesses are bound by state incentives, are we making these businesses more inefficient? If this is such a big consideration, it is the eternal cost arbitrage chase.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Acquisitions
You know how they encourage businesses about sticking to their core strengths. It is also referred to the hedgehog concept from Jim Collins’ Good to Great. So, when I read about Lehman Brother’s acquiring Archstone-Smith Trust and now Morgan Stanley’s recent acquisition of Investa Property Group of Australia, I start to question the hedgehog concept.
Are we seeing some kind of vertical acquisitions? Are banks looking at all the money that an individual spends over a lifetime and if that part of the value chain offers significant profit margins, they want to capture it? Or, are we seeing an attempt at diversification? Are banks getting into the real estate industry? Or, the type of business/industry does not really matter as long as the profit margins justify the transactions. So, then what makes a good acquisition target for a bank? That’s the topic for another time.
On a side note, it would seem that anytime I said I wanted to work in a specific industry was all for naught. I might as well have worked in any industry and probably would have ended up working for a bank.
Are we seeing some kind of vertical acquisitions? Are banks looking at all the money that an individual spends over a lifetime and if that part of the value chain offers significant profit margins, they want to capture it? Or, are we seeing an attempt at diversification? Are banks getting into the real estate industry? Or, the type of business/industry does not really matter as long as the profit margins justify the transactions. So, then what makes a good acquisition target for a bank? That’s the topic for another time.
On a side note, it would seem that anytime I said I wanted to work in a specific industry was all for naught. I might as well have worked in any industry and probably would have ended up working for a bank.
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