Summary of Reading Material
I agree with Jim Collins and his assessment that acquisitions excite a firm. It fills half of the staff with electricity and enthusiasm and the other half with resentment and dread. I’ve lived through one and know this first hand. Our firm bought a transportation firm to break through a new market for the company. This maneuver was in direct contrast to Jim’s findings. Transportation was not the center of our Hedgehog Concept and we had no momentum to build with. We tried to create the flywheel instead of accelerating it. I guess we were one of the contrast companies. We tried to diversify our way to success to increase growth and this failed miserably. We could not buy our way to greatness.
Over the last 20 years we have built a reputation as a world-renowned engineering firm capable of solving complex problems …show more content…
In the upcoming weeks we will begin the budgeting process. As you can see from the graph, there is potential for additional profit in our portfolio by acquiring Wilbur Smith and using our existing staff to do the water management for the existing Wilbur Smith clients. This investment in the firm will make our existing employees more utilized without incurring additional costs. While we might not make as much profit working on transportation projects, the Earnings Before Taxes are almost as high as our “bread and butter” water work. The Hedgehog study we did proved that water services is where we should put our money. Taking advantage of the Flywheel effect, we can use our momentum in water and tackle a new set of clients who are not using us for their water services. This is the right decision and it’s the right time to make this purchase. We have plenty of momentum in our water business and this acquisition should spring board our existing staff, making them more productive with no additional
I agree with Jim Collins and his assessment that acquisitions excite a firm. It fills half of the staff with electricity and enthusiasm and the other half with resentment and dread. I’ve lived through one and know this first hand. Our firm bought a transportation firm to break through a new market for the company. This maneuver was in direct contrast to Jim’s findings. Transportation was not the center of our Hedgehog Concept and we had no momentum to build with. We tried to create the flywheel instead of accelerating it. I guess we were one of the contrast companies. We tried to diversify our way to success to increase growth and this failed miserably. We could not buy our way to greatness.
Over the last 20 years we have built a reputation as a world-renowned engineering firm capable of solving complex problems …show more content…
In the upcoming weeks we will begin the budgeting process. As you can see from the graph, there is potential for additional profit in our portfolio by acquiring Wilbur Smith and using our existing staff to do the water management for the existing Wilbur Smith clients. This investment in the firm will make our existing employees more utilized without incurring additional costs. While we might not make as much profit working on transportation projects, the Earnings Before Taxes are almost as high as our “bread and butter” water work. The Hedgehog study we did proved that water services is where we should put our money. Taking advantage of the Flywheel effect, we can use our momentum in water and tackle a new set of clients who are not using us for their water services. This is the right decision and it’s the right time to make this purchase. We have plenty of momentum in our water business and this acquisition should spring board our existing staff, making them more productive with no additional