Whether you’re raising first-round venture capital or cultivating shareholders in a public company, investors need to understand the business model – and drawing a picture of it may help – suggests Cliff Illig, co-founder and vice chairman of Cerner Corporation, a mid cap healthcare IT company listed on NASDAQ.
Illig told a meeting of entrepreneurs last [...]
Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley offers insights on the job of a CEO in the May 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review. Since we as communicators work on the CEO’s supporting staff, the piece also sheds light on the job of an IR professional.
Lafley draws heavily on Peter Drucker’s view of the chief executive:
The [...]
April 23, 2009 – 11:06 am
As investor relations people, we don’t generally talk about “politics.” But all the fears about nationalization of big banks, a federal takeover of automakers and so on have captured the market’s attention.
In fact, political events – writ large to include wars and all sorts of government or anti-government disruptions – are huge influences in the [...]
Transparency is “in” again, big-time. But what transparency should look like in ongoing conversations with investors isn’t always clear.
McKinsey & Co. consultants Robert Palter and Werner Rehm outline a sensible strategy in “Opening Up to Investors” in the January ‘09 McKinsey Quarterly. It begins with not hiding in tough times:
As the credit crisis sorts itself out, one outcome investors and [...]
March 16, 2009 – 10:52 am
In turbulent times it’s not changing strategies - but staying the course - that builds a strong corporate reputation, according to this year’s “World’s Most Admired Companies,” in the March 16 Fortune.
What quality wins respect for firms like Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Toyota, Google, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, FedEx, Southwest Airlines, GE and Microsoft - [...]
Most investor relations people have run into fund managers who aren’t satisfied with the tables in the 10-Q. Donning green eyeshades, these investors want to slice and dice operating cash flows, cost of capital, and returns on capital in pursuit of … well, their own metric.
They’re after some version of a shareholder-oriented performance measure known [...]
As a word lover, I’m always intrigued by the latest buzzwords, names for new technological or social phenomena, and so on. So here comes The Wall Street Journal with “Decremental? Fitting Word for Ugly Times.” The story helped start Monday off as a very - well, decremental day for anyone interested in the market.
“Decremental,” it seems, has [...]
February 23, 2009 – 6:10 pm
So the bear market reasserts itself. In an ugly two weeks, the S&P 500 finally breaks below its 750-ish autumn low, back to 1997 levels. Bad news echoes and re-echoes. We’re on Financial Bailout 3.0 or 4.3 or … well, big banks almost want to be owned by Uncle Sam. Automakers swoon. Fear rules. President Obama puts Joe Biden [...]
January 29, 2009 – 1:53 pm
A couple of Boston Consulting Group gurus urge companies to “Seize the Advantage in a Downturn” in the February 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review - and investor relations is part of their story.
After listing actions management can take to maximize cash and working capital, reduce costs, and drive revenue, authors David Rhodes and Daniel [...]
