65 Acquisitions in a Year: Howden Continues to Bet on Volume
Howden closed 2024 with £3.01 billion in adjusted revenue and 65 acquisitions, prompting questions on its sustainability and growth strategy.
Archive: Strategy
All articles published in English, by date, category and author.
396 articles · Page 14 of 17
The Cockroaches of European Credit Are on the Wall
Europe celebrated improved credit metrics in 2025, but underlying data reveals troubling trends, especially for SMEs.
43,000 Fragments of Pottery and the Heritage Lesson Tourism Failed to Learn
The largest archaeological find of its kind lacks a market price. That's exactly the issue.
Natura Sold What Didn't Work and the Numbers Proved Them Right
Natura closed 2025 with nearly R$1 billion in net income and a 14.6% EBITDA margin. The result stemmed from discipline in divesting non-performing assets.
Tasaki Appoints Japanese Luxury Architect to Conquer the World
Naming an executive with four decades at Chanel Japan as global CEO is no PR stunt. It's a statement about the type of company Tasaki intends to become.
U.S. Public Debt: No Longer a Fiscal Problem, But a Mathematical Trap
As debt interest grows faster than the economy, the U.S. faces a mathematical challenge, not just a fiscal one. The Congressional Budget Office's projections reveal alarming trends.
Wall Street Bets on Prediction Markets, Redefines Macro Risk
Goldman Sachs explores Polymarket and Kalshi as Susquehanna hires specialized traders. Volume surged from $15.8 billion to over $63 billion in a year.
When Activism Forces a Restart Before Day One
Fortune Brands canceled its CEO appointment before the executive even started. This incident highlights unresolved governance issues within the company.
Uber Sold an Escape, Not a Ride
Uber's recent campaign cleverly provides cultural permission for a common behavior: leaving a party without saying goodbye, highlighting a consumer insight.
400 Million Barrels That Solve Nothing
The largest release of oil reserves in IEA history buys time, not safety. Companies that conflate the two will pay dearly.
The Highest Paid Jobs Are Most Exposed to AI, and Leaders Haven't Realized It Yet
Andrej Karpathy scored 342 occupations based on automation risk, revealing an uncomfortable correlation: higher salaries lead to greater vulnerability.
Bessent Negotiates with China as Tariffs Show Mutual Pain
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent leads talks with China ahead of the Trump-Xi summit, amidst rising tariffs and a sharp decline in trade.
Paris is Just the Prologue: What's at Stake in the Supply Chain between the U.S. and China
While headlines focus on diplomacy, companies relying on rare earth minerals or Chinese agricultural markets are already bearing the costs of uncertainty. The issue is not political; it’s mathematical.
Memories That Survive Space and What This Means for Their Industry
Avalanche and Infineon are not competing for semiconductor market share; they are redefining the boundaries of what constitutes a viable market, unnoticed by most executives.
BuzzFeed Burned $679 Million Building Audience for Others
BuzzFeed's CEO claims 'software is the new content' while the company racked up $679 million in losses. The issue lies in a flawed value chain.
Fertitta Bets $7 Billion on a Portfolio That’s Already Overburdened
Tilman Fertitta is poised to acquire Caesars Entertainment for $7 billion in equity, overlooking the company’s $11.9 billion debt load. The size of the bet is not the issue: the structure of the resulting portfolio is.
The Manager Who Manages 24 People No Longer Manages: He Fights Fires
Businesses have eliminated management layers to move faster. The result: an average manager with 12 direct reports spending 97% of his time on operational work.
Absorbing Costs Without Raising Prices: A Strategic Insight
While more than half of small businesses plan to increase prices, a handful of companies demonstrate that maintaining profitability without passing costs on to customers is the result of strategic decisions rather than corporate altruism.
Dick's Acquires Foot Locker, Analysts Adjust Their Models
Dick's Sporting Goods reported strong earnings, yet analysts lowered their forecasts, highlighting the complexities of growth through acquisitions.
Google Bets on In-House Silicon as the Market Rewards Chain Control
Leaks about the Pixel 11 Pro reveal a deeper trend: Google is constructing a hardware vertical that challenges its own business model. However, its portfolio isn't fully ready.
Paramount Absorbs BET+ and Exposes the Arithmetic of Niche Platforms
Three million subscribers versus eighty million. Maintaining separate infrastructure is not a strategy, it's a cost waiting to become a problem.
When Loyalty Programs Become a Friction Trap
The three major U.S. airlines are redesigning their mileage programs to work best only if you have their co-branded credit card.
WeRide Enters WeChat, Revealing Who Fuels Whose Growth
WeRide has solved its most costly problem: customer acquisition. The unanswered question is how much value remains for the company once Tencent adjusts the terms.
The Alumni Network as a Placement Machine in Consulting
The case of a USC Marshall senior heading to McKinsey reveals a replicable model: when the employment access channel is designed as relational infrastructure, branding shifts from marketing to conversion.