Crisis as Expansion Opportunity

“On June 16, 1940, France collapsed. Britain stood alone, under constant air attack and threat of invasion, while Germany controlled all of Europe. “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties,” Churchill exhorted, “and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’”

“In these dark days the Prime Minister would be grateful if all his colleagues . . . would maintain a high morale in their circles; not minimising the gravity of events, but showing confidence in our ability and inflexible resolve to continue the war . . . whatever may happen on the Continent, we cannot doubt our duty, and we shall certainly use all our power to defend the Island, the Empire, and our Cause.”

“Immediately after 1974, this crisis began by unleashing over the ten following years an inflation rate higher than 10%, no longer nibbling then, but devouring established situations. The timber trade was naturally exposed. Francois Pinault took a hit like the others, but he managed to recover faster and in better shape than his competitors, much bigger than him, and to get carried by this unprecedented groundswell, conducive to active entrepreneurs. Those who understood that because of the crisis, nothing would ever be the same again. He also paid a hard price for the lesson. "You can't imagine what this man is capable of taking without even flinching," one of his collaborators told me back then.”

“This political shock could only further worsen things. So many opportunities surely for me who was in dire need to continue to expand. I was not mistaken.”

“After the administration began to prepare for war in the wake of the Nazi invasion of the Low Countries in the spring of 1940, Kaiser quickly moved from domestic concerns to war production. Kaiser also offered the administration alternative entrants in industries that hesitated to increase production; his belief in production as the "Fifth Freedom" fit both prewar and wartime administration needs. By the time Kaiser and Franklin D. Roosevelt developed a personal relationship during the war, the president appeared sympathetic to Kaiser's goals for a simple reason: they coincided with Roosevelt's.”

“In the summer of 1942, "fabulous" Henry J. Kaiser burst like a comet across the national sky. His West Coast shipyards had performed production miracles during the dark days of America's first six months in World War II, a time when merchant shipping across the Atlantic, a target of German submarines, was deemed the most crucial bottleneck to overcome for America's war effort. 1 He had made headlines for his magnesium enterprise and for the steel plant he was about to build, both of which provided the "arsenal of Democracy" with a West Coast alternative to sluggish East Coast producers. Kaiser was introduced at the National Press Club in July as "the modern”

“Napoleon made little effort to conceal his role-model as a lawgiver, civil engineer and nation-builder. ‘He reformed the calendar,’ he wrote of Julius Caesar, ‘he worked on the wording of the civil, criminal and penal codes. He set up projects to beautify Rome with many fine buildings. He worked on compiling a general map of the Empire and statistics for the provinces; he charged Varro with setting up an extensive public library; he announced the project to drain the Pontine marshes.’77 Although it is too early to say whether the institutions Napoleon put in place will last as long as Caesar’s, he clearly put down what he called ‘some masses of granite as anchors in the soul of France’.”

“‘I returned to France at a fortunate moment, when the existing government was so bad it could not continue. I became its chief; everything else followed of course – there’s my story in a few words.’ Napoleon on St Helena”

“"Out of crisis comes opportunity," Shelby remembers him saying. "A down market lets you buy more shares in great companies at favorable prices. If you know what you're doing, you'll make most of your money from these periods. You just won't realize it until much later."”

“In the savings and loan (S&L) debacle of the late 1980s,he looked for an investment angle. In his "Crisis Creates Opportunity" mode, he found an obvious beneficiary in Fannie Mae, a buyer and processor of home mortgages.In cities and towns across America, the same buccaneer spirit that inspired corporate raiders bankrupted hundreds of local thrifts.”

“The 2008 global financial crisis provided Chinese capital with the opportunity to acquire quality assets worldwide. In the automotive industry, there were numerous cross-border acquisitions, such as Nanjing Automobile Group acquiring the British Rover, Shanghai Automotive Group acquiring South Korea’s SsangYong, and BAIC acquiring Sweden’s Saab. The most famous of these was Geely’s acquisition of Volvo.”

“Starting in 2002, Li Shufu had been eyeing Ford’s Volvo. After several twists and turns, he finally achieved his wish eight years later. Li Shufu’s acquisition introduced him and Geely to the world. The changes brought to Geely by this acquisition were evident. Volvo’s three factories, more than 10,000 patents, and complete technology research and development system could feed back into Geely’s tech R&D, forming a balanced product line and complete manufacturing system. The change brought to Li Shufu can be described as “impact.” Volvo’s supply chain, employee training system, safety test center, large-scale testing grounds, and global sales and service network taught Li Shufu to use global business thinking, experiencing the art and wisdom of management in the conflicts and integrations of different cultures.”