By: Carlos Mondragón
Full-time Professor ITAM, School of Business
Despite being unfamiliar to the consumer market, Coltan is a mineral of such strategic importance in the industrial world that companies refer to it as the “indispensable magic dust.” Tantalite* and niobium are extracted from Coltan making it one of the most sought minerals since 1990 due to its unique features: rapid conductivity, resistance to strong electrical charges and high temperatures, capacitance (storing electric charges temporarily and releasing them when needed), and resistance to corrosion. Its main uses are in cellular phones, computers, electronic games, ballistic missiles, the aerospace industry, and intelligent weaponry. It is utilized in microprocessors, batteries, miniature circuitry, and capacitors. Coltan is so important that the Internet could not work without it.
Its price is as high as its demand. It is extracted in a primitive manner from open-pit mines since it is found in the subsoil less than a meter deep. Eighty percent of its world supply is found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the rest is found in Australia, Brazil, Thailand and far lesser amounts in Canada, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Rwanda.
By: Adalberto Mendoza
Paella’s Saffron
Valencian paella is without a doubt a dish worthy of a feast. In order to taste its richness, it must have the exact amount of ingredients of the best quality. Since its preparation takes time, care must be taken in integrating all the ingredients at the exact moment, because it is vital in order to achieve the desired result.
In a recent talk I had with Jacques Rogozinsky, Ph.D. in Economics, he explained that in order to achieve sustained growth in uncertain economic times, all the “ingredients” must be present in precise portions in order to achieve our desired outcome, and that one special ingredient “makes all the difference” between a common and ordinary rice recipe and a “delicious paella.”
Upon reflection on his economic theory, I immediately visualized the whole process involved in mergers and acquisitions, from its components in the beginning to the professional care, which is required in all its aspects, to a successful closing.
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