When a prosperous company buys a struggling company you have to wonder what they're really buying.
Here's how to think about it. A company is defined as the sum of three values: resources, processes and priorities (RPP). Everything of value can be classified into these three categories.
So the question for the Microsoft Nokia deal is "What is Microsoft buying?"
Resources? Sure, there is IP and a team. But the chances are that not all the team members will be kept on. See what happened to Motorola after it was acquired by Google.
Processes? Absolutely. Microsoft needs device development processes desperately. They may seem a commodity but it turns out that running great hardware businesses is hard, very hard.
Priorities? Here we have to pause. To acquire Nokia's priorities means acquiring its business model – its belief system. Perhaps they will be discarded and they're not valued. Perhaps, as is often the case, the acquirer becomes allergic to the new priorities.
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Life is joy, death is peace, but the transition is very difficult.