Awesome article questioning if Google is new Microsoft. Google has not been able to build new businesses outside of search. It has tried but failed again and again… Actually on that front Microsoft has many Billion+ dollar businesses other than Windows and Office, there is SQL Server, SharePoint, XBox… Good article.
Investors are starting to ask such questions as how the search engine will cope with the social-networking onslaught
One of the justifications that Google (GOOG) provided for former Chief Executive Eric Schmidt’s move into the chairman role and the reemergence of co-founder Larry Page as CEO was the need to become more flexible by speeding up decision-making at the search giant.
Bloomberg Businessweek magazine looks at that issue in a new cover story on the company, which describes how Google is trying to save itself from "the ossification that can paralyze large corporations." But what if Google’s biggest problem isn’t a lack of flexibility or the speed of its decision-making, but a fundamental cultural inability to create new lines of business that can keep the company growing? What if it’s just a gargantuan one-trick pony?
Amazing what couple of years make in the industry. Ford and GM are back in action and Toyota is now struggling. Good to see US Auto industry recovering. A good decision my Obama government to invest in very important sector.
Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) — Toyota Motor Corp.’s U.S. vehicle sales fell in 2010 while industrywide sales rose 11 percent and every other major automaker reported gains. Ford Motor Co. moved up to second place behind only General Motors Co.
Ford displaced Toyota as No. 2 in the U.S. with 1.97 million vehicles sold in the year, up 17 percent from 2009, compared with Toyota’s sales of 1.76 million cars and trucks. GM retained the top spot with U.S. sales of 2.22 million vehicles, an increase of 7 percent. Deliveries in December accelerated to the fastest pace of the year
Our soon ending year, 2010, has been fascinating. I’ve had the good fortune to move to a new place (Singapore), which has served as a springboard to experience different cultures and do work in countries like the Philippines and South Korea. I’ve also had the chance to experience the world of venture capital investing through the small fund that our team in Singapore manages on behalf of the Singapore government.
Very interesting article from McKinsey. I have been working in integration space for almost 15 years now and the article is spot on. You cannot have a successful M&A without an integration strategy of IT systems.
Understanding the strategic value of IT in M&A
Many mergers don’t live up to expectations, because they stumble on the integration of technology and operations. But a well-planned strategy for IT integration can help mergers succeed.
Exhibit: Often, more than half the synergies available in a merger are strongly related to IT.
Sidebar: Key questions for Day One
With the number of mergers and acquisitions expected to rise over the next few years, many companies are looking for ways to improve their M&A skills—especially their ability to assess and integrate target companies successfully. We’ve all heard about deals where the stars seemed aligned but synergies remained elusive. In these cases, the acquirer and target may have had complementary strategies and finances, but the integration of technology and operations often proved difficult, usually because it didn’t receive adequate consideration during due diligence.
Happy New Year, starting the year with great talk by Barry Schwartz.. What Barry is saying is so true in corporate life too. Sometimes companies make too many rules, they need to make it possible for employees to use their wisdom.
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Sr. Program Manager at Microsoft for XBox Live and MBA from UNC Chapel Hill.
Good to see US Auto industry recovering. A good decision my Obama government to invest in very important sector. 
