EulBooz To The Corporate World

History of Lehman Brothers

Timeline

1840–1859

The history of Lehman Brothers parallels the growth of the United States and its energetic drive toward prosperity and international prominence. What would evolve into a global financial entity began as a general store in the American South. Henry Lehman, an immigrant from Germany, opened his small shop in the city of Montgomery, Alabama in 1844. Six years later, he was joined by brothers Emanuel and Mayer, and they named the business Lehman Brothers.

1850 Henry, Emanuel and Mayer Lehman founded the Firm in Montgomery, Alabama.

1860–1869

The Civil War disrupted the Lehmans’ business. When hostilities ended, the brothers moved north and concentrated their operations in New York, where they helped establish the Cotton Exchange.The post-war period witnessed the rapid growth of railroads, sparking the transformation of the nation from an agrarian to an industrial economy. At the time, Lehman Brothers’ future merger partner, Kuhn, Loeb, was underwriting much of the financing for railroad construction.Railroad bonds represented a significant advance in the development of capital markets. Their affordable price attracted a great number of individual investors and Lehman Brothers, recognizing a trend, expanded its commodities business to include the sale and trading of securities. The Firm also moved into the area of financial advisory, which provided the foundation for underwriting expertise.

1960–1979

By the 1960s and 1970s, many of Lehman Brothers’ clients were expanding overseas. To meet their financial needs, the Firm opened an office in Paris in 1960, followed by a location in London in 1972 and Tokyo in 1973. This growing international presence was enhanced by the merger with Kuhn, Loeb.With continued advances in electronics and information technology in the 1970s, Lehman Brothers worked with leading players such as IBM, Digital Equipment Corporation and Loral.

1880–1889

During the vigorous economic expansion of the second half of the 19th century, Lehman Brothers broadened its expertise beyond commodities brokerage to merchant banking. Building a securities trading business, they became members of the New York Stock Exchange in 1887. Setting the stage for future global growth, Jacob Schiff, a Kuhn, Loeb partner, led the Firm to establish investment-banking relationships in Europe and Japan.

1980–1989

In the 1980s, Lehman Brothers played an important role in the dawn of the Information Age, helping fund such companies as Intel and new technology businesses of the period, which later became the leading players in the high-tech revolution.During the robust merger and acquisition activity of the 1980s, Lehman Brothers advised companies such as Chrysler, American Motors, General Foods, Philip Morris and Hoffman-LaRoche on expanding domestic and international operations.In the mid-1980s, breakthrough research in the life sciences introduced the biotech era, revolutionizing the healthcare industry. Lehman Brothers assisted a number of new businesses in obtaining the capital needed to fund research and development. A leading advisor to the healthcare sector, the Firm worked with major pharmaceutical companies during the international consolidation and globalization of the industry.

2002

Lehman Brothers moves into its new global headquarters in Midtown Manhattan.The Firm establishes the Wealth and Asset Management Division*.Lehman Brothers executes the largest financial services IPO in history for CIT Group, and the largest European leveraged buyout in history for KKR and Wendel Investissement.

2004

Lehman Brothers moves to its new Asia headquarters in Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills.The Firm advises on two of the top five announced Mergers & Acquisitions transactions worldwide: Cingular Wireless’ acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services; and Sprint’s acquisition of Nextel Communications.Lehman Brothers executes the largest capital markets transaction in the history of the U.S. utility industry for Pacific Gas & Electric and the largest IPO globally in 2004 for Belgacom SA.The Firm posts record financial results, including best-ever net revenue, net income, and earnings per share. The Firm increases its dividend by 33%.Assets under management at the Firm’s Investment Management Division rise to a record $137 billion.

2007

Lehman Brothers ranks #1 “Most Admired Securities Firm” by Fortune.Achieves record net revenues, net income and earnings per common share (diluted) for the fourth consecutive year based on record results in all three business segments.Acts as financial advisor on largest-ever M&A transaction in financial institutions sector: $98 billion acquisition of ABN AMRO by a consortium of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Fortis.*#1 dealer on the London Stock Exchange by annual trading volume for the third year in a row.

About Lehman Brothers

Lehman Brothers, an innovator in global finance, serves the financial needs of corporations, governments and municipalities, institutional clients, and high net worth individuals worldwide. Founded in 1850, Lehman Brothers maintains leadership positions in equity and fixed income sales, trading and research, investment banking, private investment management, asset management and private equity. The Firm is headquartered in New York, with regional headquarters in London and Tokyo, and operates in a network of offices around the world.

Investment Banking

Lehman Brothers’ Investment Banking Division provides comprehensive financial advisory and capital raising services to corporations and governments worldwide. Lehman Brothers takes an integrated approach to client coverage, organizing bankers into industry, product and geographic groups. This structure provides clients with bankers who have industry- and geography-specific expertise across all investment banking products. The Firm’s bankers work with product specialists in M&A and Capital Markets to help clients meet their strategic and financial objectives.

Investment Management

At Lehman Brothers, we believe that our clients — whether institutions, individuals, or families — require more than the right advice, investments, and services. Our clients also require a profound and fundamental commitment to their long-term success. That is the extra value we provide.This commitment, built into the fabric of our culture and our organizational structure, provides access to the experience and expertise of all our people. It can be seen in our drive to create exciting investment opportunities and innovative solutions. It is reflected in the significant ownership position that our employees hold in our Firm. It is underscored by the fact that our employees, and the Firm itself, often invest in the same products as our clients, demonstrating that our mutual interests are aligned. For over 150 years we have leveraged all the resources of our Firm to build productive, enduring partnerships with our clients. This steadfast commitment, with proven results, provides our clients with the trust and confidence they need to invest with us.

Fixed Income

Lehman Brothers holds a prominent position as one of the world’s leading Fixed Income franchises. The Firm has built an unrivaled reputation marked by excellence in execution, research and product innovation. Our franchise combines superior trading and execution capabilities with top-ranked research and indices, and our global distribution network is uniquely suited to meet the complex financing and investment needs of its clients.In 2007, our Fixed Income business continued to partner with clients on some of their most important transactions (see link at right for selected recent transactions).

Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy

Lehman Brothers was founded in 1850 by two cotton brokers in Montgomery, Ala. The firm moved to New York City after the Civil War and grew into one of Wall Street’s investment giants, despite period brushes with death. On Sept. 14, 2008, the investment bank announced that it would file for liquidation after huge losses in the mortgage market and a loss of investor confidence crippled it and it was unable to find a buyer. Lehman’s slow collapse began as the mortgage market crisis unfolded in the summer of 2007, when its stock began a steady fall from a peak of $82 a share. The fears were because the firm was a major player in the market for sub prime and prime mortgages, and that as the smallest of the major Wall Street firms, it faced a larger risk that large losses could be fatal. As the crisis deepened in 2007 and early 2008, the storied investment bank defied expectations more than once, just it had many times before, as in 1998, when it seemed to teeter after a worldwide currency crisis, only to rebound strongly. Lehman managed to avoid the fate of Bear Stearns, the other of Wall Street’s small fry, which was bought by JP Morgan Chase at a bargain basement price under the threat of bankruptcy. Lehman and Bear Stearns had a number of similarities. Both had relatively small balance sheets, they were heavily dependent on the mortgage market, and they relied heavily on the “repo” or repurchase market, most often used as a short-term financing tool. But by the summer of 2008 the rollercoaster ride started to have more downs than ups. A series of write-offs was accompanied by new offerings to seek capital to bolster its finances. Read Lehman also fought a running battle with short sellers. The company accused them of spreading rumors to drive down the stock’s price; Lehman’s critics responded by questioning whether the firm had come clean about the true size of its losses. As time passed and losses mounted, an increasing number of investors sided with the critics. On June 9, 2008, Lehman announced a second-quarter loss of $2.8 billion, far higher than analysts had expected. The company said it would seek to raise $6 billion in fresh capital from investors. But those efforts faltered, and the situation grew more dire after the government on Sept. 8 announced a takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Lehman’s stock plunged as the markets wondered whether the move to save those mortgage giants made it less likely that Lehman might be bailed out.On Sept. 10, the investment bank said that it would spin off the majority of its remaining commercial real estate holdings into a new public company. And it confirmed plans to sell a majority of its investment management division in a move that it expects to generate $3 billion. It also announced its latest round of bad news — an expected loss of $3.9 billion, or $5.92 a share, in the third quarter after $5.6 billion in write-downs.By the weekend of Sept. 13-14, it was clear that it was do or die for Lehman. The Treasury had made clear that no bailout would be forthcoming. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Federal Reserve officials did encourage other financial institutions to buy Lehman, but by the end of the weekend, the two main suitors, Barclay’s and Bank of American, had both said no. Lehman had reached the end of the line.

NON RATIONAL DECISION MAKING 

Non Rational Model:

The non-rational models of managerial decision making suggest the information gathering and processing limitations make it difficult for managers to make optimal decisions.

1. The satisfying model, developed in the 1950’s by Novel Prize winning economist Herbert Simon, holds that managers seek alternatives only until they find one that looks satisfactory, rather than seeking the optimal decision.

a. Bounded rationally it is the ability of managers to be perfectly rational in making decision. b. actual decision making is not perfectly rational because of:

1. Inadequate information

2. Time and cost factors3. The decision maker’s own misperceptions or prejudices

4. Limited human memory The incremental model holds that managers make the smallest response possible that will reduce the problem to at least a tolerable level. 

The garbage-can model of decision making holds that managers behave in virtually a random pattern in making non-programmed decisions

 Group Decision Making: A. Decisions on all levels of organization are frequently made by groups. Group Decision Making has several advantages and disadvantages over individual decision making. 

1. Some advantages of group decision making include:

a. Groups bring more diverse information and knowledge to bear on the question under consideration.
b. An increased no. of alternatives can be developed.
c. Greater understanding & acceptance of the final decision are likely.
d. Members develop knowledge and skill for future use.
2. Group Decision Making has several disadvantages when compared to individual decision making.
a. Group decision making is more time consuming.
b. Disagreements may delay decisions and cause hard feelings.
c.. The discussion may be dominated by one or a few group members.
d. Groupthink is the tendency in cohesive groups to seek agreement about an issue at the expense of realistically appraising the situation. B. Managers can enhance group decision-making processes by taking steps to avoid the pitfalls of group decision making. 

1. Individuals should be involved only if they have information and    knowledge relevant to the decision.

2. The composition of the group should reflect the diversity of the broader workgroup.

3. Two tactics are available to avoid group-think.

a. Devil’s advocate is individuals who are assigned the role of making sure than the negative aspects of any attractive decision alternatives are considered.

b. Dialectical inequity is a procedure in which a decision situation is approached from two opposite points of view. 

THE CREATIVITY FACTOR IN DECISION MAKING

Innovation is important to organizational success in the market place. 

A. Creativity versus Innovation.There is a difference between creativity and innovation. 

1. Creativity is the ability to combine ideas in a unique way or to make unusual associations between ideas.

2. Innovation is the process of taking a creative idea and turning it into a useful product, service, or method of operation.

You have to see the writing on the wall. It is a must for Entrepreneurs to learn picturizaton if he/she is too achieve any kind of success. Goals must be seen in the mind’s eye in order to stimulate progression. A person will not chase something he/she can’t grasp or visualize. Most people don’t believe in ghost and a goal without vision is just that. Goals without vision are only dreams, fantasies and illusions they’re no more than wishful thinking. .

 The belief system must have something to grasp and hold on to. It must see the goal in all its entirety and believe it can be accomplished. Visualization validates the possibility and turns it into a reality. If you can’t see it, you can’t do it. It’s as simple as that. That’s why so many people fail, their chasing an illusion that has not become a reality in their mind.

In order for the entrepreneur to do his/her best he/she must be able to look ahead and visualize the outcome. He/she must be able to project the outcome of their actions beforehand and act accordingly. To realize this, the entrepreneur must remember one all important thing and that is: the first business of any business, any organization, church, club, family, or individual is to not only survive, but to increase financially, mentally, spiritually, socially, and physically. Their goal must incorporate all the elements needed to bring it into focus and visualize it in the mind as completed. What a person can see ot he/she can achieve it.

Visualization also brings personalization to the goal or project. A person feels connected when he/she has painted a picture in the mind and is striving toward it. It’s like seeing the light at the end of a tunnel. If you couldn’t see the end, in only a short time you will give up. You will lose hope in the belief that the end is somewhere ahead. Without a clear picture of your goal, it is only a matter of time when the goal turns into desperation.

Entrepreneurs build a picture in their mind of their idea, turning it into an achievable reality. Their picture becomes a touchable thing that can be experienced. In their experience, they feel it, smell it, touch it and most of all, own it. It becomes theirs, as they embrace the reality of the visual influence.

Managers are the same in their responsibilities. They must also be able to visualize the outcome of a project before it begins. A good manager can convey or paint a picture to his/her team to motivate them into action. The team will only be motivated to the extent of the manager’s ability to picturize their goal. If they can see the logic and realize the value in their project, then they will accomplish it.

The need for picturization applies to any profession or accomplishment. Goals need to be pictured as something real or they have no meaning to the mind. In today’s world the saying is, “put your head around it”, which simply means, visualize it.

Because people are influenced by past events, the mind plays a huge part in future accomplishments. People look at anything they have no experience with as unobtainable. In order to break that notion they have to put up the argument of possibility in their mind. If they can see the possibility of success, they can move toward it. If they can’t picturize success, they will abandon the idea altogether.

Picturization is not just a snap shot, but it is activating all the senses to form a complete experience of the coming event. You can feel it, smell it, taste it, see it and most of all bring it into an experience. Have you ever gone shopping for a new car? Oh the smell of that new interior, the feel of the new seats, the vibrations from the sound system, the sight of the shinny paint and chrome build a desire in the mind to own it. You can see yourself driving in the country or going to a friends house to show it off.

Visualization turns goals into reality in the mind. See the world as a place of possibilities where you can see the future and have faith it can come true. At work, share your vision with coworkers. At home build shared visions of life and how you and your mate will spend it. Success comes to those who can and do visualize it.

Can you understand and speak English? How important for a person to know how to speak English? Should it be a must for everyone to engage himself on it?

Language is an avenue of transmitting one’s thoughts to other people. It is an avenue because it is a medium used to carry out or disseminate the information and to b e understood by others.

We live in a world of words. This is especially true for college students who have to face words everyday. As a college student, one must listen efficiently to lectures or demonstrations, read notes, participate in class discussions and activities, do paper works etc.

Language is embodied in the said activities…English language which is widely used as a medium of instruction that is being used specifically for courses which has something to do with communication.

Exclusive schools such as De La Salle University, Ateneo De Manila University, University of the Philippines etc.,are some of the Universities that focuses on English literacy.And a lot of public schools nowadays practices English as their medium language.

On the other hand a lot of businessman and entrepreneurs are using this medium of communication especially when they are competing globally.As we can see English is really such an important way for us to communicate with everyone.In the business World with different languages, English is more accepted language to be used for communicating within a certain conferences.From this certain insights, one must learn how to be articulate in English and confident enough to speak up.

But it doesn’t mean that when we practice English language we don’t love our own native language. Instead we are just giving a way for ourselves to be well equipped for Globalization.

By: Liza Bugarin  II-BSBM 

Creating a brand is more than just having a name and an identity, more than just having a trade mark and having a catchy phrase it is about putting all of these components together and making them work for you.

Branding Strategy Firms Putting Everything In Place

Knowing the branding concepts available for your use is a good thing, but its application to your specific case is another story. The key in any branding strategy is in knowing what solutions apply to your case, and eliminating those other approaches that may just add to your expenses with less return in the end.

Branding strategy firms provide you with services that free you from the hassle of gathering company and market data, analyzing results, and studying better ways to make your branding solutions work. With branding strategy firms, your company can concentrate on things it does best, like manufacturing operations or service operations, and leaving the marketing aspect to them.

Here are some of the branding strategy firms:

Killian Advertising

They offer branding services as company naming, product naming, advertising, and many more.

The James Group

This branding strategy firm offers sales moment brand positioning, business and product naming, advertising campaign, customer and competitor research, customer value analysis, etc.

Keen Branding

This company involves itself in brand name creation, brand positioning, corporate and brand logo creation, name stylization, brand launch and implementation planning, brand & product strategies, programs, and lots more.

Branding Strategy Firms The Advantage

Branding strategy firms can help you in coming up with the appropriate branding solutions for your company. Your issue on company’s branding is no easy task. It involves time and the use of funds and this holds true whether you should decide to do this internally in your company, or if you get the services of a branding strategy firm.

The advantage though with having branding strategy companies to do this specific aspect of your business is that they have under their belts the specialized knowledge on branding concepts and the valuable experience in coming up with successful branding strategies.

Branding strategy firms will be able to provide you with the best way to take a comprehensive approach to your branding and marketing needs. You wouldnt want your strategy to be uncoordinated and without focus not only will the consumers be lost on the main position you are trying to establish in the market eventually you will be lost as well on the direction you are taking.

Branding strategy firms know the value of every detail involved and will provide for an integrated and comprehensive approach that will be able to communicate your branding message effectively to the consumers minds & hearts, and subsequently resulting to your company being positioned appropriately in the market.