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turnaround strategy

Turn Around Series: Jerry Rawls, Finisar (Part 1)

Posted on Thursday, Mar 8th

I recently had the opportunity to talk with Jerry Rawls, the CEO and co-founder of Finisar, about his experiences during the past two decades. While technology companies are accustomed to volatile market places and constant change, Jerry guided Finisar through arguably the most volatile market environment in history. In this interview he takes us through

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Microsoft’s Growth Strategy Revisited

Posted on Thursday, Mar 8th

On April 10, 2005, almost immediately after I started this blog, I had written a piece called Microsoft’s Two Should-Be Acquisition Candidates, from the point of view of addressing the growth trends in the SME markets. The two candidates were: Autodesk (ADSK) and PayChex (PAYX). I have to pay close attention to Microsoft, since my

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Should Dell Acquire Palm?

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 6th

I wrote two pieces recently discussing potential turnaround strategies for both Dell and Palm. :: The world is moving to a place where the laptop needs to become much more than just a laptop. An integrated mobile device is in the cards, that is the combo PC-Phone-Music Box. May be, even Camera. Dell needs to

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USA Today’s Step Forward

Posted on Monday, Mar 5th

I wrote Newspapers, Roll Up! last week. Today, USA Today, one of Gannett’s (GCI) top holdings, announced a massive overhaul. From Steve Rubel’s piece: “The notable additions include: reader comments on every story, the ability to create a profile page that can be shared with others, citizen journalist photos, story tagging and digg-like recommendation buttons.”

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Leapfrog’s Turnaround Strategy

Posted on Thursday, Mar 1st

Leapfrog (LF) seems to be in desperate need of a turnaround. Given how good a brand it has, this is a sad state of affairs. The company has had a recent CEO change, and I am happy to see that the new recruit comes from the Online world. My own thesis on Leapfrog is that

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Eric Jackson’s Yahoo Plan B

Posted on Monday, Feb 26th

The full plan is here. My writings on the topic are here and here. More than the Plan B itself, I find fascinating the fact that a shareholder who owns only 45 shares can generate this much momentum to catch the attention of a Fortune 500 company. Terry Semel delivered a fantastic first turnaround on

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Eric Jackson’s Yahoo Turnaround Push

Posted on Friday, Feb 23rd

I guess I am not the only one rooting for the Yahoo turnaround. Read Eric Jackson’s story here. :: The group’s nine-point plan calls for Terry Semel to be replaced as chairman and chief executive, citing “strategic missteps” that include his failure to acquire Google Inc. in 2002. The plan also faults Semel for loss

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CAD / PLM Shuffles

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 20th

There have been several changes in the CAD / PLM market in the last year, with UGS being purchased by Siemens for $3.5 Billion, and with Dassault reducing its dependence on IBM Global Services. Both moves are surprising, since I don’t at all, see any synergy between Siemens and UGS, and the IBM-Dassault partnership was

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