Waseem Sayegh

Today the stock of New Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, went down by 2.59%. Bloggers have jumped the gun to claim that this drop is due to Fox News snubbing Ron Paul. This has been mentioned here and here. Let me break the news to you, MOST stocks are down today. Competitors to Fox News such as Viacom, CBS and Time Warner are down 3.12%, 3.05% and 1.33% respectively. The S&P index, which is a good indicator of the market, is also down 1.44%. Now Ron Paul can only be behind News Corp’s stock going down and the whole market going down only if he’s also behind the $100 oil barrel. I personally cannot stand watching Fox News, but please do not blow things out of proportions.

This report was compiled to provide KPMG with guidelines to handle scenarios that were outlined by Mr. Colin Sharman, UK Senior Partner at KPMG. These scenarios include What KPMG might do if:

1. it were to become obliged to formally separate the accounting function from the consulting function
2. consultants demand more work/life balance

Following the suggested action plan will ensure that KPMG maintains its position as a major enterprise in a swiftly changing global business environment.

Click here to download the report

While Bombardier has strong cash flows, we believe that it has low quality of earnings, because these cash flows diverge significantly from its reported earnings:

• Its inventory valuation and cost of sales involve very large “program estimates”. If these estimates change by even 1%, the resulting difference is about 30M. Furthermore, they appear to be managing their excess over average production cost account (EOPAC) to smooth income.
• They appear to have taken a “big bath” when they restructured in 2003-2004, creating “restructuring reserves” and expensing special items in such a way as to smooth earnings.
• Bombardier has an aggressive revenue recognition policy with its airplanes. While its competitors only recognize revenue when the plane is delivered. Bombardier often recognizes it when the customer gives signoff on “interior fitting”.

While Bombardier is able to meet its short term obligations, it nevertheless has a bad credit rating. Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s have both rated Bombardier as being slightly below investment grade. Part of the reason for this is Bombardier’s very high level of long term debt, as compared to the industry average.

Furthermore, Bombardier has a very low operating profit margin, and seems to be relying on its high asset turnover. Given the steep global competition that Bombardier faces, many analysts are predicting that it will continue to lose market share. After all, its direct competitor, Embraer, is more liquid, much more profitable, and significantly less indebted than Bombardier.

Due to the aforementioned reasons, we recommend that Investa Group sell off its current holdings in Bombardier.

PDF version includes complete report.

Chebba is a song written by Khaled. The song was re-recorded and released in several of Khaled’s studio albums including Kutché and N’ssi N’ssi. Cover versions of the song were recorded under the title “Eshebo” by Alabina and Etti Ankri. The following is my best attempt to write and translate the lyrics of the song. Note, different recordings have subtle differences.

Original Arabic lyrics:

يا شابه يا شابه … يا شابه يا بنت بلادي
يا شابه يا شابه … يا شابه يا بنت دواري
وآي حواجبك مقرونين … عينيك نايمين
وآي و منين تضحك خيتي … و يبان لي الضوء
وآي إلي فيك يكفيك … فيك دعوة الوالدين
وآي ما نزيدش نعشق … راني تعديت ما سبق
وآي حواجبك مقرونين … قالوا ملكمين
وآي المحنه اللي نبغيها … راها باينه
وآي عليك ما قد نصبر … أميره للعمر

Latin Transliteration:

Ya shaba ya shaba … ya shaba ya bint bladi
Ya shaba ya shaba … ya shaba ya bint duwari
Waye hawajbik makrooneen … aineek naymeen
Waye o mneen tidhak khayti … wi ybanli el-daw
Waye eli feek yikfeek … feek da’wat el-waldeen
Waye ma nzidsh na’shak … rani ta’deet ma sbak
Waye hawajbik makroneen … kalo milkmeen
Waye el-mehna eli nibgheeha … raha bayna
Waye a’leek ma kad nusbur … amira lilo’mer

English Translation:

Young girl, young girl … my town’s young girl
Young girl, young girl … my neighborhood’s young girl
Your eyebrows are coupled … your eyes are sleepy
Oh brothers, when she smiles … I see the light
Oh, you have everything … you have your parent’s hopes
Oh, I will not love anymore … [*** not understood ***]
Your eyebrows are coupled … [*** not understood ***]
Oh, that’s the problem that I want … it’s obvious
Oh, I can’t wait anymore … she’s forever a princess

Video:

Something intriguing happened to me the other day, while I was browsing the Internet I saw the huge void between the Western and Middle Eastern cultures. I was browsing cbsnews.com, an American news Website, and my eyes were glued to the streaming video of the Iranian president’s interview on “60 Minutes ,” a television newsmagazine. The interview was filled with political rhetoric, though behind all of that was the void. In the right hand corner was the CBS reporter grilling the Iranian president with his American style investigative journalism. In the left hand corner was the Iranian president starting his interview with a Persian poetic tone by saying: “It’s in the afternoon of an autumn day. We’re in the open air in a garden. And the air is pleasant. And fall, little by little, is settling in, mixing with the summer breeze.” Both the president and the reporter were a perversion of two distinct cultures that when put together only differences could be noticed. From our reading material, one can say that the interview would have had less of a sparring tone had both sides been close to agreement or one of the sides crossed over and behaved in accordance to the other side’s culture.
Can one easily change cultures? Can culture be situational where a person can switch to another culture in an instance? In this paper, we will explore these questions and more in a context of an organization and learn more about culture and when to change it.

Effective negotiation skills are an essential tool for any business person in today’s global environment. Despite the abundance of available research, many experienced business people rely on their instincts and innate qualities, which often combine both effective and ineffective techniques. Mr. Anthony Chamy correctly identifies preparation as an essential component to a successful negotiation. Anthony also identifies his BATNA and reservation point; however, he lacks a little in the area of identifying interests, positions, targets for both himself and the other parties and BATNAs and reservation points of the other parties. Anthony correctly identifies the importance of building trust and a strong relationship through the use of knowledge-based trust techniques. Further, Anthony employs effective techniques when dealing with negative emotions from the other parties. By adding the techniques described herein, Anthony can generate more value and more positive outcomes in the negotiation process. The negotiated outcomes will allow Anthony to fully realize his interests and priorities while at the same time creating value for the other parties.

In the case “Organizational Transformation in a Taiwanese Company” Eva Chen, the agent of change, has a huge task ahead of her to transform YUAN Group’s culture into one that makes it a serious global competitor. From the case one can deduce that the YUAN Group is an organization in its midlife that embodies the personality of Mr. Pan, YUAN Group’s CEO. Mr. Pan’s personality is that of a “father figure” that “cares for his employees very much”. YUAN Group’s culture focuses on human interaction and compassion amongst employees. For example, management was always present at employee’s functions and employees would mingle in the company’s annual outing. (continue reading…)

A photo of smoggy Dubai is used as a background in a Flash advertisement on Cbs.com to promote Honda’s environment friendly Civic GX. Dubai is considered by some to be the Las Vegas of the Middle East, but when it comes to smog it’s the Los Angeles of the Middle East.

McKinsey & Company, the firm that governments and large companies consult when facing growing pains, is facing difficulties with handling its own rapid growth. The case “McKinsey & Company: Managing Knowledge and Learning” chronicles the evolution of McKinsey’s attempts to capture its associates knowledge to effectively apply it to clients’ problems. At the core of the case is a simple problem definition: How can McKinsey & Company develop, capture and leverage knowledge in service of its clients worldwide? After all, knowledge is the single most important asset McKinsey & Company has. (continue reading…)

On July 7, 2005, I invited 6 of my best friends to Rachid Taha‘s concert at Paradise Boston (formerly known as M80). After the concert we went back stage. Here are the photos of Rachid Taha’s concert.