The Worst Governance
>>Ever<<
A time magazine article by Victor Luckerson on Wednesday shows how ebay is considered the most poorly managed (major) company , also known as a poor governance. An activist by the name of Carl Icahn regularly fights with the tech CEOs. The main topic of the fighting lies within the chat service of Skype. See, the problem was when Marc Andreessen sold Skype to Microsoft. Icahn believes it could have easily been sold for more (the selling price was 8.5 billion). It turns out that Andreessen wasn't the one who sold Skype in the first place. The facts and contracts were poorly handled. Arguments still continue, and it will be pressed again in a follow-up in the month of April. There are also debates on the Paypal system, another ebay service.
I'll let you form your own ideas about this, boys and girls. For me, ebay's management seems hectic and chaos is never good for a company; not good for most things for that matter. You have Icahn jabbing at flaws in the company, to what extent?
Well, in all honesty, he is not only making the public aware of this, but also to the company itself. (An important thing to take note of is that Carl Icahn is also a major investor, so this type of interaction can be justified by the value of the investment).
Icahn in the end is helping ebay slap itself into shape. A behavioral criticism (in moderation, as everything should be) can be a positive aid, and ebay currently needs it.
So the other aspects of the economy; what about them? We've been learning demand--as we all have nailed so far--so mismanagement can apply. Say the use of ebay as an auction site goes down. What could this be from? If the consumer's expectations go down, and maybe they find a substitute website, ebay will suffer a loss. This loss can hurt the investment of Icahn's business: Icahn Enterprises. The investors for HIS business will be hurt, and it will chain down, affecting a large portion of the economy.
So helpful tip before you go: get organized, hire people to keep that organization, and keep those people working efficiently. You will be a happier person (financially)