Comments on: How Mergers and Acquisitions May Actually Narrows the Scope of Innovation http://www.techiteasy.org/2010/01/15/how-mergers-and-acquisitions-may-actually-narrows-the-scope-of-innovation/ A Technology and Business Weblog provided to You by a Global Group of Friends. Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:44:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: uberVU - social comments http://www.techiteasy.org/2010/01/15/how-mergers-and-acquisitions-may-actually-narrows-the-scope-of-innovation/#comment-6040 uberVU - social comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:50:35 +0000 http://www.techiteasy.org/?p=2719#comment-6040 <strong>Social comments and analytics for this post...</strong> This post was mentioned on Twitter by vincentvw: How Mergers and Acquisitions May Actually Narrows the Scope of Innovation http://ff.im/-el2j5... Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by vincentvw: How Mergers and Acquisitions May Actually Narrows the Scope of Innovation http://ff.im/-el2j5...

]]> By: cecil http://www.techiteasy.org/2010/01/15/how-mergers-and-acquisitions-may-actually-narrows-the-scope-of-innovation/#comment-5789 cecil Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:28:09 +0000 http://www.techiteasy.org/?p=2719#comment-5789 Great post Anand, thanks. It reminds me this one from Jason Fried : Big Companies are where small companies go to die : <a href="http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1197-big-companies-are-where-small-companies-go-to-die" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1197-big-companies...</a> Great post Anand, thanks.

It reminds me this one from Jason Fried : Big Companies are where small companies go to die : http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1197-big-companies...

]]> By: Georgia http://www.techiteasy.org/2010/01/15/how-mergers-and-acquisitions-may-actually-narrows-the-scope-of-innovation/#comment-5774 Georgia Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:30:53 +0000 http://www.techiteasy.org/?p=2719#comment-5774 black. yes they are bad! and they slow down fast moving companies in fast moving markets.__well explained Anand!__This is why in my view, Finance is beginning to become creative and go beyond M&As : take the recent agreement between Yahoo + Microsoft = Love for 5years and then renegotiate, for example . __Which seems to me stg like audience sharing+B2B adv model+top exec outsourcing.__would love to read stg on the phenomenon. black. yes they are bad! and they slow down fast moving companies in fast moving markets.__well explained Anand!__This is why in my view, Finance is beginning to become creative and go beyond M&As : take the recent agreement between Yahoo + Microsoft = Love for 5years and then renegotiate, for example . __Which seems to me stg like audience sharing+B2B adv model+top exec outsourcing.__would love to read stg on the phenomenon.

]]> By: Vincent van Wylick http://www.techiteasy.org/2010/01/15/how-mergers-and-acquisitions-may-actually-narrows-the-scope-of-innovation/#comment-5711 Vincent van Wylick Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:06:30 +0000 http://www.techiteasy.org/?p=2719#comment-5711 First of all, nice topic (a whole series of them)!  Regarding M&As, it is clear that too much consolidation in any market will represent a barrier to innovativion, especially from the smaller players. That said, two factors should be considered, I think. Are checks & balances in place that allow for innovativion to happen, and is every technology worthy of innovativation?  Where the latter is concerned, it is also important to differentiate between incremental innovation and the disruptive kind. For incremental innovation, there is eventually the law of diminishing returns; at some point technology becomes commoditised and it makes sense to focus on efficiency, of which consolidation is one of several means.  For disruptive innovation, there is the argument that an overly consolidated market is bad. In the long term, maybe, the large players become commodities or complacent, leaving room for a disruptive player to emerge.  There is also the question of timing. Innovation can generally not be forced. Famous examples of when it did happen (General Electric, IBM, Google, etc.) all happened during time when there was a void, inefficiency, or another kind of large opportunity. Consolidation alone wouldn't prevent innovation to happen, as long as monopolies don't occur (which is why we have checks & balances).  Is M&A bad for innovation? My answer is, bearing that there is a legal system that prevents unfair business practices, innovation will always occur. Usually in the most unexpected places, which is what makes this area so fun! :)  First of all, nice topic (a whole series of them)! 

Regarding M&As, it is clear that too much consolidation in any market will represent a barrier to innovativion, especially from the smaller players. That said, two factors should be considered, I think. Are checks & balances in place that allow for innovativion to happen, and is every technology worthy of innovativation? 

Where the latter is concerned, it is also important to differentiate between incremental innovation and the disruptive kind. For incremental innovation, there is eventually the law of diminishing returns; at some point technology becomes commoditised and it makes sense to focus on efficiency, of which consolidation is one of several means. 

For disruptive innovation, there is the argument that an overly consolidated market is bad. In the long term, maybe, the large players become commodities or complacent, leaving room for a disruptive player to emerge. 

There is also the question of timing. Innovation can generally not be forced. Famous examples of when it did happen (General Electric, IBM, Google, etc.) all happened during time when there was a void, inefficiency, or another kind of large opportunity. Consolidation alone wouldn't prevent innovation to happen, as long as monopolies don't occur (which is why we have checks & balances). 

Is M&A bad for innovation? My answer is, bearing that there is a legal system that prevents unfair business practices, innovation will always occur. Usually in the most unexpected places, which is what makes this area so fun! :)  

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