M&A to increase in 2016 as oil prices remain low
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Low oil prices to "force" M&A in 2016 (Wall Street Journal)
Companies that are "scrambling to maintain revenue as the price of oil dips below $40 a barrel" will seek out an increasing number of mergers and acquisitions in 2016, according to The Wall Street Journal.
"Deal values and volumes in the US oil and gas sector declined in 2015, but continued low oil prices should propel M&A activity in 2016," Vance Scott, an oil and gas leader for the Americas with accounting firm Ernst & Young, tells The Journal.
M&A activity is expected as an increasing number of companies divest assets or complete stock-for-stock deals in 2016.
"Finance chiefs should not expect oil to rise in the near future and provide another hedging opportunity," Scott tells The Journal. "We don't see those things recurring. If they don't happen again, there's not going to be that relief."
"CFOs may need to decide which assets to keep and which to divest and have deep insight into their cash flows," he adds.
A US Army colonel explains how to build trust up and down the corporate ladder (Kellogg Insight)
US Army Colonel Brian Halloran has served in various positions in the US Army.
He has learned that a good leader understands how to use "recognition and sensitivity, a healthy dose of pragmatism, and the ability to communicate effectively beyond the constraints of a leadership position," according to Kellogg Insight.
"When I get my assignment, I not only have to understand my mission," Halloran says. "I've got to understand my boss's mission — and my boss's boss's mission — and where my goals fit into that. What that does is it helps prevent me doing something that works great at my level but ends up causing a bigger problem for the overall organization."
The CEO of GE explains why his math degree is more useful than his MBA (Business Insider)
General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt said he uses his undergraduate math degree more routinely than his MBA from Harvard.
"I use my math major every day — I don't use the MBA quite as much," Immelt said at Business Insider's IGNITION 2015 conference on Wednesday.
"My intellectual curiosity goes more toward problem-solving than spreadsheets," he said.
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