For people familiar with the NFL, Randy Moss is an entirely familiar name. He is a deep threat receiver who gives nightmares to cornerbacks and safeties whenever he is on the field. As a player for the Patriots, he was a favorite target for quarterback Tom Brady. The Patriots had great success with Moss on their team.
In October of 2010, in what came as a surprise move to many, the Patriots traded Moss to the Minnesota Vikings (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2010/10/patriots-finalize-trade-of-randy-moss-to-vikings/1). Moss was considered by many to be the Patriots best receiver. Why on Earth would he be traded? Well, the Patriots wouldn't extend his contract, and Moss--feeling a little underappreciated as a result--asked to be traded after Week 1. Also, it was more beneficial to the Patriots to trade him while they could still get something in return rather than letting him become a free agent at the end of the season.
This all makes sense, I suppose, but the really confusing turn of events was when, after just 4 GAMES with the Vikings, Moss was traded again. The NFL isn't like European Soccer where players get sent on loan to other teams on a somewhat regular basis. Players like Moss don't get traded very often at all, but to be traded after a mere quarter of the regular season--after a team made a sacrifice to acquire him, no less--was mind-boggling.
I look at the trade of Randy Moss as a merger-acquisition arrangement. Well, it's more like an acquisition than a merger, but the point still holds true. Randy Moss certainly had the skills to fit in with the Vikings (and provide Hall-of-Fame-lock QB Brett Favre with a deep threat), he was a hard worker, and had just as strong of a desire to win as the Vikings. What was the problem? Minnesota couldn't absorb or control Randy Moss' ego. It was the purest of style/culture misfits. Under Bill Belichek's system of winning-is-everything-and-we-work-hard-or-die-and-we-are-a-one-unit-team, Moss was controlled by the iron gaze of Hoodie Bill and the demands of paired up with an equally talented team. In Minnesota, for whatever reason, the system was a little different, and Moss' huge ego inflated unchecked. Deciding he couldn't handle it any more, the head coach of the Vikings had Moss traded after a glorious 4 weeks in which the Vikings were 0-4.
Get the right people on the bus, kick the wrong people off. Make sure that cultures will align in a merger or acquisition.
What is Moss saying now, from Tennessee? He wants to be back in New England.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
311 Day
Or, in other words, my post due March 11.
As we've talked about the 7 S's this week, I've thought about the company I used to work for--GCom2 Solutions--and what happened with them when they were acquired by Bowne.
GCom was a mutual fund administration software company, and Bowne was a printer. Bowne figured that by acquiring GCom, it could attain the skillset and technology necessary to both prepare the regulatory financial statements AND then print them off and mail them for the client. It was a sort of vertical integration (to an extent)--but not necessarily a true one since GCom already had printing facilities and Bowne and GCom had very little--if not ZERO--previous work agreements.
Shortly after Bowne made the acquisition, half of GCom's employees were let go--those that were involved in the redundant printing operation. This certainly didn't do a whole heck of a lot for employee morale, and after several rounds of layoffs, Bowne is a shell of what it once was in the pre-acquisition days, and the handful of GCom holdovers (out of what used to be 200+ people) are just pure programming people.
Why didn't the acquisition work? Well, as someone who was close to the situation to some extent, I'd have to say that an important consideration is the culture, fostered by GCom's President who was forced to quit shortly before the sale of the company. His personal connection with countless of the employees who were nervous about the safety of their jobs would have gone a long way toward facilitating a less painful merger. He was in a position of trust--retaining him would have been in Bowne's best interest. He could have helped merge GCom into the Bowne culture. However, the powers that be at Bowne and GCom decided they didn't care for that option. Bowne went into a death spiral because it had bet the ranch on acquiring GCom.
What do I learn from this? STYLE MATTERS. Make sure cultures are compatible.
As we've talked about the 7 S's this week, I've thought about the company I used to work for--GCom2 Solutions--and what happened with them when they were acquired by Bowne.
GCom was a mutual fund administration software company, and Bowne was a printer. Bowne figured that by acquiring GCom, it could attain the skillset and technology necessary to both prepare the regulatory financial statements AND then print them off and mail them for the client. It was a sort of vertical integration (to an extent)--but not necessarily a true one since GCom already had printing facilities and Bowne and GCom had very little--if not ZERO--previous work agreements.
Shortly after Bowne made the acquisition, half of GCom's employees were let go--those that were involved in the redundant printing operation. This certainly didn't do a whole heck of a lot for employee morale, and after several rounds of layoffs, Bowne is a shell of what it once was in the pre-acquisition days, and the handful of GCom holdovers (out of what used to be 200+ people) are just pure programming people.
Why didn't the acquisition work? Well, as someone who was close to the situation to some extent, I'd have to say that an important consideration is the culture, fostered by GCom's President who was forced to quit shortly before the sale of the company. His personal connection with countless of the employees who were nervous about the safety of their jobs would have gone a long way toward facilitating a less painful merger. He was in a position of trust--retaining him would have been in Bowne's best interest. He could have helped merge GCom into the Bowne culture. However, the powers that be at Bowne and GCom decided they didn't care for that option. Bowne went into a death spiral because it had bet the ranch on acquiring GCom.
What do I learn from this? STYLE MATTERS. Make sure cultures are compatible.
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