In today's economy we are seeing the fruits of an industry, driven by stock holders (greed) vs. value (stewardship). These companies; because of the high margins they received at one time, did not feel that their course of action would catch up with them; but it did, thus the correction in the market or the crash of 2008.
There is nothing worse than feeling the stress of Guido, (venture capitalists, investors) calling in their portion of the pie or dictating company decisions based on the desire for gain without the contribution of value (i.e. innovation or the creation of new markets). These types of pressure scream high margins, low morale or loyalty within the company. When you have low morale in the organization it's only a matter of time until it seeps down to the customer level. So the alternative is to merge with another company because growth is to slow, which often leads to borrowing more from the loan sharks.
Original Article: The Business Coach: A Venture in Capital
