Selling lemons and Caveat Emptor

Hi friends,

There are two unrelated matters, under discussion of late, that bring up the question of what constitutes selling of lemons, or rather, mis-selling !

1) Tens of thousands of crores are pouring into mutual fund houses, and valuations are weird...advertising screams at you that it fine to invest in mutual funds , but do disclaimers in small print really work towards preventing ill informed investors from casually putting in  hard -earned money into all kinds of schemes including NFOs being aggressively marketed by fat commission earners in the garb of "advisers" ?  Does Caveat Emptor work here?  Is  a mutual fund a FMCG product that can be marketed based on perception manipulation?

2) Two leading pharma companies' long standing battle regarding the circumstances under which one bought the other's business has entered crucial stages of arbitration. It is the contention of one that the other suppressed vital information at the time of sale.  What is the real scope of due diligence and what exactly is to be vetted by a due diligence provider? Warranties and disclaimers are aplenty, but is there more to these than meets the eye? What is the process control during due diligence and how much dependence can be placed on it? Does morality have  a role in a M and A transaction? Does Caveat Emptor work here too ? While legal pundits will hammer out a solution surely, what are the generic lessons from this case?

Stakeholder mismanagement

What is common between these three cases?

1) A microfinance company gets itself pushed into a corner and the entire industry gets badly affected

2) An industry leader has a prolonged period of uncertainty arising out of the CEO calling it quits

3) A mass media project fails to meet release deadlines due to unexpected constraints coming up

Well, those actually familiar with these cases know....a plain and simple issue of stakeholder mismanagement by the management.

Stakeholders are not always only the easily visible ones like regulators, employees, society etc.
Often, they are hidden and it takes some foresight to anticipate their moves.

Just as human choices are rarely entirely rational , stakeholder interactions with management need not necessarily be issue based and clinical.

While it is certainly possible to recognize expanded spheres of influence and take proactive action to negate negative outcomes, one major issue is ego. And reason and ego rarely share the same bed !

The new area of editing and hacking !

Hi friends,

Yet another fascinating subject relates to the tinkering of one's own genome !

Genome engineering, or biohacking or gene hacking !

Yes, techniques to make precise and targeted changes to one's DNA, in order to achieve specific objectives, mainly to cure certain ailments, are getting more refined.

As usual, ethical issues will come up, but then, are these voluntary "self'-modification" procedures significantly dissimilar to trying out newer and newer drugs , with due approvals, to improve outcomes of treatment ?  

The revivalist effort !

Hi friends,

Well, here is one more attempt to revive my blogging after a few failed ones at revival !😃

I read an article today about why power corrupts so many people. An interesting insight offered, based on research, was that power corrupts the vulnerable, that is to say, it strikes those who are already having a proclivity, albeit latent, towards what can be termed as deviant behavior.

Sadly, if one goes by the rash of recent disclosures and accusations against highly powerful people in different walks of life, and if one takes into account innumerable instances closer home, one is tempted to conclude that an overwhelming percentage  of people have pre-existing tendencies to get corrupted, and assuming powerful positions liberates them from bondages of propriety to reveal their true colours !

Welcome your comments