Managing decline
| Zombie companies totter on for ages, until the wintry blast of a recession finishes them off, says Mick James, Top-Consultant.com’s management consultancy columnist. It's always news when a major UK retail chain goes under, but the recent collapse of HMV has received more than its share of attention. That's probably because a more than reasonable share of the business journalist population are exactly like me: middle-aged men with a dangerous weight of vinyl in the attic and an equal amount of nostalgia for a misspent youth. ................................ Nor does the consultancy model lend itself easily to the business of the dignified exit. It is easy to see how Wearealldoomed & Co might struggle to attract clients and staff. Perhaps we need a new type of corporate raider, an even more depressing version of Hanson, if that is possible. In the meantime, administration it is, and administration is in many ways a wonderful thing, but like so many things in life it usually comes as too little too late. The “creative destruction” that lies at the heart of capitalism ends up being a little too destructive: zombie companies totter on for ages, until the wintry blast of a recession finishes them off. And people talk about recessions like they were bad things… |
No comments:
Post a Comment