Letter W

W

Whistle Blower: A sense of moral outrage may prompt people to expose wrong doing within an organization. A whistleblower is an employee, former employee, or member of an organization who reports misconduct to people or entities that have the power to take corrective action. Generally the misconduct is a violation of law, rule, regulation and/or a direct threat to public interest. Fraud, health & safety violations, and corruption are just a few examples. The vast majority of cases are based on relatively minor misconduct. The most common type of whistleblowers are internal whistleblowers, who report misconduct to a superior within their company. In contrast, external whistleblowers report misconduct to outside persons or entities such as lawyers, the media, law enforcement or watchdog agencies, or to other local, state, or federal agencies.
(See Business Ethics, Code of Ethics)

White Knight: An expression used to describe a company that comes to the rescue of a firm facing a hostile take-over bid from a predator. The white knight steps in with a counter-offer for the firm, thereby saving it from the predator. The term comes from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass (1871) in which Alice is captured by a red knight but then rescued immediately by a white knight.
(See Anti takeover Strategy)

Williamson, Oliver E: An American economist who, building on the work of Nobel prizewinner Ronald Coase, has become closely associated with the economics of transaction costs. Transactions can take place through markets or hierarchies. The mode chosen will depend on the amount of information available and the degree of trust between buyer and seller. Transaction cost theory has important implications for industrial organization, competition policy, corporate governance and employment relations. Transaction costs can affect make-or-buy decisions by companies.
(See Vertical Integration)

Willpower: Knowing is not enough. Unless managers get into action mode, knowing is of little use. Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal, mention in their book, “A Bias for Action”, that despite all their knowledge and competence, their influence and resources at their disposal, managers do not grab the opportunities to achieve something significant. Purposeful action requires energy and focus. Motivation alone cannot spur people to purposeful action. What is needed is willpower. Willpower is what enables managers to take action even when they are not inclined to do something. Managers with willpower overcome barriers, deal with setbacks and persevere to the end. Just as defensive reasoning can block learning, lack of will power can block action.
(See Knowing-Doing Gap)

Winner’s curse: A term often used in the context of a merger or acquisition. In their enthusiasm to close an M&A deal, companies may end up bidding very high. Though the deal is clinched, the win effectively turns out to be a curse. The high premium paid becomes difficult to justify. The end result is that shareholder value gets eroded.
(See Merger)