Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans: Monopolies of tomorrow

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Monopolies of tomorrow

This morning in the news, I read about the finalization of a merger - Men's Wearhouse acquiring Jos. A. Bank. In just the past few months:

Facebook has purchased WhatsApp
Omnicom & Publicis Groupe applied to merge
Office Max & Office Depot merged
American Airlines & US Airways are merging
Comcast is attempting to acquire Time Warner

These mergers and acquisitions are not all focused in one line of business; they are across various industries.

What does this mean for business when today's workforce has seen every big company attempt to become a monopoly? Apple, Google and Facebook already dictate a lot of the Internet and data marketplace. What will happen when companies continue to consolidate into mega-companies?

Sure, mergers are not new. And we know the FTC spends plenty of time investigating regulation and business effects before passing these joint agreements. But today's workplace knows something new and different than the notion that if you are a startup, you are not successful if you're not acquired for billions. While that remains true, it now applies to large companies. If you are an established company and are not investing in smaller businesses, big-scale partnerships or buying companies out, you are also not successful. We'll continue to see how these monopolies affect our future as employees, businesspeople and consumers.

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"The best thing to hold onto in life is each other."

-Audrey Hepburn

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." -Ghandi

"The more you do, the more you learn."

-a box of raisins

"The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves." -Ray Kroc

"Try not to become a man of success, but a man of value."

-Albert Einstein

"There is little success where there is little laughter." -Andrew Carnegie

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." -Ghandi

“Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand." -Mark Twain

“You are only as good as a journalist as the depth and breadth of your experiences as a human being.” -Lewis Diguid

"Ups and downs are part of all relationships." -another box of raisins

"Whatever you are, be a good one." —Abraham Lincoln

“If you want something done, ask a busy person.” –Lucille Ball

“Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it’s when you had everything to do, and you’ve done it.” –Margaret Thatcher

"A goal without a plan is just a wish."

“Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it.”

“Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.” -Jane Austen

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“Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.” -Albus Dumbledore

"Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection." -Mark Twain

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” –John Lennon

"Courtesy is the one coin you can never have too much of or be stingy with." -John Wanamaker

"Every experience, pleasant or unpleasant, is a lesson in disguise." -Carl Jung