By George ILIEV
The advantages of staying private
Companies that stay private achieve two conflicting objectives: they can be as visible as they want to their customers but can hide strategic information from their competitors. A public listing on the stock market opens up a company for scrutiny by competitors, as the regular reporting to the stock exchange will disclose competitive information and strategic moves.
Lizards playing with colour
The male Iberian emerald lizard achieves the same double effect with the colouration of its head, according to recent research reported by The Economist. The bright blue colouring is iridescent:
- when seen from above (by a predator bird) it reflects the surrounding landscape and blends in with the environment;
- when seen from ground level (by other lizards), the blue stands out against the landscape, potentially attracting mating partners.
(Photo: Iberian emerald lizard. Source: Wikipedia)
Aircraft privacy intrusion
In a starkly competitive move, Boeing bought 17 new Airbus planes from Singapore Airlines in 1999 in order to replace the Airbus batch with Boeing planes and keep the Singaporean flag carrier a loyal Boeing customer. In addition to getting the planes delivered (to be resold to other airlines), Boeing also received all the technical documentation that goes with an Airbus plane, thus gaining competitive intelligence directly from the horse's mouth.
Competitors posing as customers to gain insight into their rival's business are not a new phenomenon. However, hawks have not yet cottoned on that they need to start hunting from ground level to catch a male Iberian lizard.
Further reading
The topic of how and why animals and companies operate in stealth mode is covered in my June 2014 blog post:
(Crickets give up chirping, spiders disguise as bird poo, companies slip under the radar to avoid corporate predators.)
