Business Strategy and evolution

Really lovely post from Stumbling and Mumbling that links the mico aspect of firm strategy with the more macro elements of the business cycle.

"It’s not just change in the environment over time that can lead to maladaption, corporate death and downturns. A similar problem occurs when businessmen move from one environment to another. For example, the market in sportswear selected in favour of Mike Ashley’s ruthless cost-cutting. But that strategy when applied to Newcastle United proved less successful*. Or to take a more outlandish example, the market selects in favour of property developers who “restructure” their debts and dodge taxes. But it’s not so clear that such strategies are a good way of handling the government’s finances."

I would like to emphasis this link between some of the inefficiencies at the micro level and their implications at the marco sphere more fully, just as the new economic thinking takes issues like political power and distributions and uses them to enhance understanding of some micro interactions.

‘Blockchain could be totally transformative for fund industry’ — FT.com

FT reports survey that suggests that ‘Blockchain could be totally transformative for fund industry’:

"According to a survey of 125 asset management professionals across fund houses, custodian banks and consultancies, blockchain is expected to be a very disruptive force within the fund industry.

Asked which areas of financial technology will have the biggest impact on the fund industry, 42 per cent of those polled listed blockchain, while 43 per cent nominated big-data analytics, where large sets of information are analysed to uncover market trends or other useful information.

In contrast, only a fifth listed robo-advisers, which provide automated online investment services."

Investors fear a summer of discontent — FT.com

Investors fear a summer of discontent — FT.com: "“Sell in May and go away” is one of the most overused clichés in markets commentary. But, like so many clichés, it contains a kernel of truth — and investors are right to be nervous ahead of this summer."



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EU referendum: “remain” on course for clear victory – The Politics Counter

EU referendum: “remain” on course for clear victory – The Politics Counter assess the EU polls and the discrepancy between the telephone polls and those conducted on line. There is a good discussion of polling issues.

"The reason why our leading polling companies are so good, so often is that they go to great lengths to make their samples match the country’s population – by age, gender, region, social class, past vote and so on. Usually this process generates accurate results. But sometimes it doesn’t, either because the silent, unpolled, majority, differs from the poll-friendly minority in some way that is not captured even by the smartest demographic sampling – or because of “mode effects”, in which the way a poll is conducted prompts some respondents to conceal their true feelings."

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Get Ready for High-Frequency Lawyers - Bloomberg View

Get Ready for High-Frequency Lawyers - Bloomberg View: Machine-driven optimisation.

"Picture supply chains managed by algorithms, with purchasing contracts adjusted at high frequencies in response to constant flows of data about sales, shipping times, manufacturing costs, and so on. Imagine demand shifting back and forth across continents at close to the speed of light, switching small-batch production and shipping orders from one bidder to the next. Instead of high-frequency traders, imagine high-frequency lawyers, adjusting contracts to reward contractors appropriately for tiny improvements in efficiency, using sophisticated statistical analysis to figure out whether performance is being driven by outside conditions or by the contractor’s skill and effort. Of course, in this sci-fi vision, the contractor will also be a robot, using equally sophisticated procedures to optimize its payment relative to its cost."

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