Business Management Archives - Page 7 of 13

Feb42013

Quincy Florida - The Town of Secret Coca-Cola Millionaires

How Quincy, Florida Became a Town of Secret Coca-Cola Millionaires

Case Studies & ProfilesBy Joshua Kennon February 4, 2013 25 Comments

In the 1920s and 1930s, a banker named Pat Munroe in the small town of Quincy, Florida noticed that even during the depths of the Great Depression, otherwise impoverished people would spend their last nickel to buy a glass of Coca-Cola. With good returns on capital, and a once-in-a-century valuation so low that the business was trading for less than the cash in the bank, “Mr. Pat”, as he was called, encouraged everyone he knew to buy an ownership stake in the firm. He would even underwrite bank loans, backed by Coca-Cola stock, for his responsible depositors to encourage people to acquire equity.

Jan112013

A Case Study of an Investment in The Hershey Company

Case Studies & ProfilesBy Joshua Kennon January 11, 2013 Leave a comment

I thought it might be useful to look at another great American enterprise that everyone knows, that has been part of many investor’s portfolio for decades, and is often ignored: The Hershey Company.

A 26-Year Case Study of an Investment in General Mills

Case Studies & ProfilesBy Joshua Kennon January 9, 2013 13 Comments

Update: This post originally covered a 25-year investment case study of General Mills. Since I am publishing it a few days into the new year, we can look at an additional year of data (all of fiscal 2012) so I modified the figures and compound annual growth rates to account for that extra year, stretching…

Dec162012

Radical Simplicity

Business StrategyBy Joshua Kennon December 16, 2012 11 Comments

Radical simplicity. The phrase that has been on my mind, constantly humming in the background almost ceaselessly, for the past three or four weeks is “radical simplicity”. It’s the last thought on my mind when I fall asleep at night, and the first thing I think about when I wake up.

Nov162012

Hostess Brands Destroyed By Mismanagement and Union Short-Sightedness

Case Studies & Profiles, In the NewsBy Joshua Kennon November 16, 2012 37 Comments

I’ve made no secret of my love of employee-owned businesses. If you want to find the best working conditions, the highest pay, the best employee benefits, and the most cohesive strategies, all else equal, you are going to find them working for a company that has no outside shareholders and is instead owned by the…

Nov52012

Remember To Use Cartograms for Business, Political, and Socioeconomic Data Analysis

Business Strategy, Politics, Religion & CultureBy Joshua Kennon November 5, 2012 7 Comments

With less than 10 hours to go before the polls open for the 2012 Presidential election, I thought it would be a good time to remind you about the importance of using cartograms to study business, political, and socioeconomic data. Cartograms should be a constant tool in your intellectual toolbox that you utilize to overcome…

Nov12012

Disney Buys Lucasfilms Darth Vader and Mickey Mouse

The Walt Disney Company Adds Lucasfilm To Its Stable of Investments for $4.5 Billion

Case Studies & Profiles, StocksBy Joshua Kennon November 1, 2012 5 Comments

As you probably know by now, The Walt Disney Company has acquired Lucasfilm Ltd. in a $4.5 billion deal. The studio owns franchises such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Half will be paid in cash and the other half will be paid in newly minted shares of the company, diluting the existing owners. However, the terms are so favorable that, frankly, it looks like George Lucas took a much lower price than he could have gotten elsewhere solely to have Disney protect the brand, given the latter’s reputation and massive resources. Not even including the cash that Lucasfilm itself produces, Disney could pay for the acquisition in less than 6.7 months using the money generated by its vast empire.

Nov12012

The Wisdom of the Grandpa Simpson Strategy

Business Strategy, PsychologyBy Joshua Kennon November 1, 2012 2 Comments

It is remarkable how much more enjoyable your life can be when you refuse to participate in situations that you know are going to end poorly, or work with people in environments that you know are going to cause problems. When you see something like this on the horizon, employ the Grandpa Simpson strategy. In…

Oct82012

A 20-Year Case Study of an Investment in the Starbucks IPO

Case Studies & Profiles, StocksBy Joshua Kennon October 8, 2012 14 Comments

I’ve done case studies in the past of slower growing, highly profitable businesses such as Clorox, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and Colgate-Palmolive among them. We’ve also discussed case studies of some initial public offerings, such as an investment in Tiffany & Company twenty-five years ago. I thought it might be interesting to look at another…

Oct72012

Nestle Headquarters Stock Investors from Google Earth

A Case Study of Nestlé SA Shareholder Returns With and Without Dividends Reinvested

Case Studies & Profiles, StocksBy Joshua Kennon October 7, 2012 18 Comments

If you bought $100,000 worth of Nestlé common stock on the first day of trading in 1991, you would, as of October 7th, 2012, own 14,306 shares. At 60.40 CHF per share, this is a market value of 864,082.40 CHF. Translated back into United States dollars, that is $929,718. On top of the $929,718 in stock you own, you would have collected years of cash dividends. How much? Let’s take a look at the whole picture.