Business strategy & operations

May 2019  |  SPECIAL REPORT: BUSINESS STRATEGY & OPERATIONS

Financier Worldwide Magazine

May 2019 Issue


While not hitting the heights seen in recent years, global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in 2018 was still substantial, with deals worth over $3 trillion agreed. Against a backdrop of sweeping technological change, corporate executives took advantage of record stock prices, buoyant consumer confidence and relatively low borrowing costs; however, a decline in fees took the edge off the boom in some cases. So, with 2018 having closed out with a string of mega-deals, whether 2019 proves equally robust is the question. M&A activity can be fickle, with the ever-present possibility that a stock or bond market shock may derail potential corporate tie-ups.

Q&A: Responding to ESG activism

FW moderates a discussion on responding to ESG activism between Alex Heath at Edelman and Peter Montagnon at the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE).

Strategy development: are you making the right trade-offs in the process?

IMD With organisations today facing numerous challenges, from digital disruption to consolidation and maintaining growth, leaders must take a serious look at their strategic options. During strategic reviews, which can take place at regular intervals or be...

Energising strategy through effective operations management

University of Melbourne The strategy of any business can be thought of in practical terms as defining what it does and what it does not do. But there is much more to it than that. Strategy defines our competitive position, our intent going forward, and the means for how we intend...

The benefits of putting ethics at the heart of company purpose

Institute of Business Ethics Culture is a hot topic at the moment, with the revised UK Corporate Governance Code requiring directors to understand their corporate culture and take steps to assure themselves that an organisation’s ethical values are embedded within the business...

What is the moral gauge for leaders?

Frank C. Bucaro, LLC Socrates and Plato both taught that knowledge and virtue are summed up in the phrase: if one knows what is right, then one will do what is right. Virtue is a kind of knowledge in that deeply ingrained habits guide one’s action. Therefore, the goal of the moral...

Safeguarding the corporate brand and reputation: prep, plan, repeat

Farrer & Co. In a digital world where corporates are subject to global scrutiny, reputation matters more than ever. In 2012, the World Economic Forum (WEF) found that on average over 25 percent of a company’s market value comes from its reputation. This presents...

Time for boards to take control of tech governance

University of Oxford Developments in information technology, such as Big Data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and distributed ledger technology, are ever more central to companies’ operations, strategy setting, risk management and compliance functions. What are the governance...

LIBOR no more: practical guidance on how to prepare for the phase-out of LIBOR

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP First, it was the LIBOR scandal. Then, negative LIBOR. But soon, it will be LIBOR, no more. Followers of the financial press may well feel that LIBOR is never out of the news. LIBOR could be phased out by the end of 2021 as part of a broader move away from interbank...

Analysing the emergence of state privacy laws and its impact on US businesses

Husch Blackwell LLP Over the last year, states have increasingly turned their attention to enacting far-reaching consumer privacy laws that will require businesses to provide substantial privacy rights to consumers. The push first began in California through the enactment of the...


CONTRIBUTORS

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

Edelman

Farrer & Co.

Frank C. Bucaro, LLC

Husch Blackwell LLP

IMD

Institute of Business Ethics (IBE)

University of Melbourne

University of Oxford


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