by Bruce | January 14, 2006 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, M&A, Partnership Structures, Strategy
Regular readers will know that I’m a firm subscriber to the Law of Unintended Consequences, which is also why I try to exercise consistency in analyzing "dynamic" and not just "static" effects of a proposal. Clarification: The...
by Bruce | January 12, 2006 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, M&A, Partnership Structures, Strategy
End of an era? Peter Cornell’s decision not to stand for re-election as global head of Clifford Chance certainly feels that way, although as we’ve argued before, his timing is impeccable. Now comes an interview with The Lawyer in which Cornell...
by Bruce | January 8, 2006 | About the Site, Adam Smith Himself, Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Just Plain Interesting, Knowledge Management, Leadership, M&A, Partnership Structures, Strategy, Technology strategy
"Adam Smith, Esq." is honored and delighted to host Blawg Review #39; I consider myself in excellent company given the distinguished and talented people who have hosted Blawg Review in the past. This week we celebrate: Epiphany: n. ...
by Bruce | January 7, 2006 | Articles, Compensation, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, M&A, Marketing, Partnership Structures, Strategy
Legal Times is asking, "What Five Questions Will Law Firms Face in 2006?" I’d like to suggest there’s really only one question, and these "five" are each just facets of the same phenomenon. Their five: More merger mania? Soaring...
by Bruce | December 30, 2005 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, M&A, Strategy
Is the merger wave going as strong in the UK as it is here? And if so, should we blame it on the Yanks? In a new survey of 85 of the 125 largest firms in the UK, four out of five of the managing partners or executive directors responding reported that they had...
by Bruce | December 30, 2005 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, M&A, Strategy
At the intersection of strategic decision-making and human shortcoming is behavioral economics, which teaches that a host of biases, such as overoptimism about the likelihood of success, the "principal-agent problem," and undue loss aversion, combine to form...