M
Mars
Guest
As I predicted when I first heard that Magic sold out to Hasbro, the Mother company has finally seen fit to engulf the baby company. Big fish eats little fish. Who wins?
For starters, don’t think for a minute that Peter Adkinson’s resignation was voluntary. He was forced out, as was always the plan. For Peter to say otherwise is to deny himself significant compensation for his “retirement.” The alternative to not resigning was to be fired.
Do I know this to be a fact? No. It is only opinion. But as a person with an MBA and as a student of Business History and capitalism in general, I know this to be generally the case. If I were a betting man, I’d bet on it.
The question remains: Is this all bad? I don’t know. I hope not. We’ll see.
But I know this, and I hope you do too:
The ONLY responsibility a CORPORATION has is to its shareholders, and to no one else.
No one else. No one.
That means maximizing profit. Period. And nothing else.
So how would you, as a potential CEO, maximize profits?
Two ways, and usually (it is hoped) a combo of the two:
a) Increase revenue
b) Cut costs
Unfortunately for most of us, it is Cutting Costs that has been the byword at the highest levels of business in the last twenty years, ever since the accountants took over business. This has led to a lowering of quality all around, and is NOT a good thing, unless you are a CEO, his lawyer, an accountant, or a shareholder. Employees and customers be damned, as long as the spin is spun sufficiently enough to keep them “in the game”.
So, how do you cut costs?
1) Lay off workers.
Done. Workers cost money, not primarily from salaries, but from benefits. Saves a whole lot of money. Also increases stock price. Not always, but usually.
2) Cut down on the Pro Tour.
Done. Pro Tours are expensive. Do they bring more revenue? That’s a hot issue, and I’m not going to touch it for now. Suffice it to say that “truth” is not important. The only thing that matters is what Hasbro believes.
3) Delete The Invational.
It’s entertaining, but incredibly expensive. Expect this to go, and if it doesn’t, it’s because Hasbro Execs like to take vacations disguised as business trips to exotic locations. If it stays though, forget Asia. Hawaii and The Bahamas are much closer.
4) Decrease quality of cards.
I expect this.
5) Mainstream Magic
Not on your life. Have you hardcopy printed out The Rules of Magic lately? It’s a quarter inch stack. Even Portal is too complicated for mainstream.
Nevertheless, “the worst of all possible worlds”, in my opinion, would be this:
New sets are no longer printed. The Pro Tour is dead. You want Magic? Go to Toys’R’Us, and buy the box. Two sets of 80 standard cards, each the size and card quality of Uno cards in an attractive box (with hologram!) that sells for $80.
The COST of the above scenario would be minimal. And that makes accountants happy. And that’s when I’ll quit Magic and start playing Legend of the Five Rings. And I hope that never happens.
The only thing I can think of is to fire off e-mail like crazy to Hasbro. It will probably do little good, but it might. After all, the Star Trek series was to be dropped after 2 years until a flood of snail mail protests brought it back for a third and final year.
Are you as pissed off as I am? Then do it.
Here is a webpage that allows you to ask questions of Hasbro Investor and Media Relations, to Karen Warren, Senior Vice-President of Investor and Media Relations. Fill out the form and comment at will. Fire away! They say its Privacy protected. I just filled in my name and e-mail address, and the message was sent. The message, in case you were wondering, was “Why is Hasbro hurting Magic: The Gathering, a wonderful game, and WotC?”
Vote early and often, and register your disgust. I have.
http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/i...11947&layout=7&item_id='\inforeq\inforeq.html
Thanks for listening.
[Edited by Mars on 12-16-00 at 03:25 PM]
For starters, don’t think for a minute that Peter Adkinson’s resignation was voluntary. He was forced out, as was always the plan. For Peter to say otherwise is to deny himself significant compensation for his “retirement.” The alternative to not resigning was to be fired.
Do I know this to be a fact? No. It is only opinion. But as a person with an MBA and as a student of Business History and capitalism in general, I know this to be generally the case. If I were a betting man, I’d bet on it.
The question remains: Is this all bad? I don’t know. I hope not. We’ll see.
But I know this, and I hope you do too:
The ONLY responsibility a CORPORATION has is to its shareholders, and to no one else.
No one else. No one.
That means maximizing profit. Period. And nothing else.
So how would you, as a potential CEO, maximize profits?
Two ways, and usually (it is hoped) a combo of the two:
a) Increase revenue
b) Cut costs
Unfortunately for most of us, it is Cutting Costs that has been the byword at the highest levels of business in the last twenty years, ever since the accountants took over business. This has led to a lowering of quality all around, and is NOT a good thing, unless you are a CEO, his lawyer, an accountant, or a shareholder. Employees and customers be damned, as long as the spin is spun sufficiently enough to keep them “in the game”.
So, how do you cut costs?
1) Lay off workers.
Done. Workers cost money, not primarily from salaries, but from benefits. Saves a whole lot of money. Also increases stock price. Not always, but usually.
2) Cut down on the Pro Tour.
Done. Pro Tours are expensive. Do they bring more revenue? That’s a hot issue, and I’m not going to touch it for now. Suffice it to say that “truth” is not important. The only thing that matters is what Hasbro believes.
3) Delete The Invational.
It’s entertaining, but incredibly expensive. Expect this to go, and if it doesn’t, it’s because Hasbro Execs like to take vacations disguised as business trips to exotic locations. If it stays though, forget Asia. Hawaii and The Bahamas are much closer.
4) Decrease quality of cards.
I expect this.
5) Mainstream Magic
Not on your life. Have you hardcopy printed out The Rules of Magic lately? It’s a quarter inch stack. Even Portal is too complicated for mainstream.
Nevertheless, “the worst of all possible worlds”, in my opinion, would be this:
New sets are no longer printed. The Pro Tour is dead. You want Magic? Go to Toys’R’Us, and buy the box. Two sets of 80 standard cards, each the size and card quality of Uno cards in an attractive box (with hologram!) that sells for $80.
The COST of the above scenario would be minimal. And that makes accountants happy. And that’s when I’ll quit Magic and start playing Legend of the Five Rings. And I hope that never happens.
The only thing I can think of is to fire off e-mail like crazy to Hasbro. It will probably do little good, but it might. After all, the Star Trek series was to be dropped after 2 years until a flood of snail mail protests brought it back for a third and final year.
Are you as pissed off as I am? Then do it.
Here is a webpage that allows you to ask questions of Hasbro Investor and Media Relations, to Karen Warren, Senior Vice-President of Investor and Media Relations. Fill out the form and comment at will. Fire away! They say its Privacy protected. I just filled in my name and e-mail address, and the message was sent. The message, in case you were wondering, was “Why is Hasbro hurting Magic: The Gathering, a wonderful game, and WotC?”
Vote early and often, and register your disgust. I have.
http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/i...11947&layout=7&item_id='\inforeq\inforeq.html
Thanks for listening.
[Edited by Mars on 12-16-00 at 03:25 PM]
