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German trade increasingly flows through Dutch and Belgian ports. A case study in how geography, vessel size and hinterland connections decide port competitiveness.
Hamburg and the Port Problem: Why German Trade Flows Through Rotterdam
German trade increasingly flows through Dutch and Belgian ports. A case study in how geography, vessel size and hinterland connections decide port competitiveness.
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Container shipping alternates between historic profit and losses that kill carriers. A case study of ordering lags, alliances and how shippers should contract against the cycle.
Hapag-Lloyd and the Container Cycle: Feast, Famine and Why It Repeats
Container shipping alternates between historic profit and losses that kill carriers. A case study of ordering lags, alliances and how shippers should contract against the cycle.
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European airlines consolidate by collecting flags, not merging them. A case study of traffic rights, slots, the state rescue and where airline profit actually sits.
Lufthansa: The Airline Group Model and What the Rescue Really Bought
European airlines consolidate by collecting flags, not merging them. A case study of traffic rights, slots, the state rescue and where airline profit actually sits.
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A state postal monopoly used its declining core to buy its way into global logistics. A case study in network density economics and acquiring capability rather than revenue.
Deutsche Post DHL: From Postal Monopoly to Global Logistics
A state postal monopoly used its declining core to buy its way into global logistics. A case study in network density economics and acquiring capability rather than revenue.
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German rail is spending records and running later than ever. A case study in deferred maintenance, network saturation and why repair makes performance worse first.
Deutsche Bahn: What Thirty Years of Deferred Maintenance Actually Costs
German rail is spending records and running later than ever. A case study in deferred maintenance, network saturation and why repair makes performance worse first.
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Metro spent fifteen years selling every consumer business it owned to focus on wholesale. A case study in portfolio exits, customer stickiness and delivery economics.
Metro: What Happens When a Retail Conglomerate Sells Everything
Metro spent fifteen years selling every consumer business it owned to focus on wholesale. A case study in portfolio exits, customer stickiness and delivery economics.
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One partnership carried a modest revenue share and an outsized profit share, and then ended overnight. A case study in creative dependency and brand recovery.
Adidas After the Split: What a Billion-Euro Dependency Actually Cost
One partnership carried a modest revenue share and an outsized profit share, and then ended overnight. A case study in creative dependency and brand recovery.
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dm pays above-market wages and has lower unit costs than competitors who do not. A case study in turnover economics, store autonomy and everyday low pricing.
dm and the Anti-Discount Model: Paying More to Sell for Less
dm pays above-market wages and has lower unit costs than competitors who do not. A case study in turnover economics, store autonomy and everyday low pricing.
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Europe's biggest retailer is building a sovereign cloud platform. A case study in converting internal infrastructure into external businesses under permanent private ownership.
Schwarz Group: How Europe’s Biggest Retailer Became a Cloud Provider
Europe's biggest retailer is building a sovereign cloud platform. A case study in converting internal infrastructure into external businesses under permanent private ownership.
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Hard discount is Germany's most successful retail export, and it works by subtraction. A case study in interdependent cost removal and private label economics.
Aldi: The Discount Model That Exported Itself Everywhere
Hard discount is Germany's most successful retail export, and it works by subtraction. A case study in interdependent cost removal and private label economics.
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Europe runs on American cloud infrastructure and has spent a decade trying to change it. A practical analysis of the legal issue, sovereign regions and real options.
Digital Sovereignty: Why Europe Keeps Trying to Build Its Own Cloud
Europe runs on American cloud infrastructure and has spent a decade trying to change it. A practical analysis of the legal issue, sovereign regions and real options.
kurums.com
Rocket Internet copied proven models into unserved markets and was criticised for it. A case study in venture building, demand risk and why the arbitrage window closed.
Rocket Internet and the Clone Factory: Was It a Real Business Model?
Rocket Internet copied proven models into unserved markets and was criticised for it. A case study in venture building, demand risk and why the arbitrage window closed.
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Two European platforms, one playbook, opposite outcomes. A case study of why marginal cost structure decides whether scale creates advantage or just consumes capital.
Zalando and Delivery Hero: What European Platform Economics Really Look Like
Two European platforms, one playbook, opposite outcomes. A case study of why marginal cost structure decides whether scale creates advantage or just consumes capital.
kurums.com
Wirecard's €1.9bn passed auditors, regulators and index committees. A case study of how four independent controls failed in the same direction, and what to check instead.
Wirecard: How a Missing €1.9 Billion Passed Every Control
Wirecard's €1.9bn passed auditors, regulators and index committees. A case study of how four independent controls failed in the same direction, and what to check instead.
kurums.com
SAP destroyed its own licence revenue to build a subscription business, and it worked. A case study in transition economics, switching costs and agent pricing.
SAP: How a Legacy Software Company Became Europe’s Most Valuable
SAP destroyed its own licence revenue to build a subscription business, and it worked. A case study in transition economics, switching costs and agent pricing.
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Germany builds wind in the north and consumes power in the south. A case study of redispatch, curtailment costs and why grid access now decides industrial location.
The Grid Is the Bottleneck: Why German Wind Farms Get Paid Not to Run
Germany builds wind in the north and consumes power in the south. A case study of redispatch, curtailment costs and why grid access now decides industrial location.
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Germany now subsidises industrial electricity toward five cents per kilowatt hour. How the differential scheme works, who qualifies, and why it expires in 2028.
Germany’s Industrial Electricity Price: How the 5-Cent Scheme Actually Works
Germany now subsidises industrial electricity toward five cents per kilowatt hour. How the differential scheme works, who qualifies, and why it expires in 2028.
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Siemens Energy nearly collapsed on turbine defects, then boomed on grid equipment. A case study of spin-off risk, guarantee dependency and long-cycle equipment demand.
Siemens Energy: From Wind Turbine Crisis to Grid Equipment Boom
Siemens Energy nearly collapsed on turbine defects, then boomed on grid equipment. A case study of spin-off risk, guarantee dependency and long-cycle equipment demand.
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Uniper was correctly hedged against price risk and completely exposed to supply risk. A case study of counterparty non-performance and a multi-billion nationalisation.
Uniper: How a Matched Book Became a Multi-Billion Nationalisation
Uniper was correctly hedged against price risk and completely exposed to supply risk. A case study of counterparty non-performance and a multi-billion nationalisation.
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Two rival utilities stopped competing and swapped assets instead. A case study in vertical integration, regulated versus merchant returns and why separation created value.
E.ON and RWE: The Asset Swap That Redrew German Energy
Two rival utilities stopped competing and swapped assets instead. A case study in vertical integration, regulated versus merchant returns and why separation created value.
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Reinsurance is the business of losing enormous sums occasionally without failing. A case study of the capital-driven cycle, secondary perils and the limits of insurability.
Munich Re and the Business of Pricing Catastrophe
Reinsurance is the business of losing enormous sums occasionally without failing. A case study of the capital-driven cycle, secondary perils and the limits of insurability.
kurums.com
Allianz built a trillion-euro asset manager and lost a fortune on a bank. A case study in which adjacencies work and why customer overlap is not capability overlap.
Allianz and PIMCO: How an Insurer Became an Asset Manager
Allianz built a trillion-euro asset manager and lost a fortune on a bank. A case study in which adjacencies work and why customer overlap is not capability overlap.
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Germany has 1,400 banks because two of its three pillars are not trying to make a profit. A case study in how ownership structure shapes credit availability.
The Three-Pillar System: Why Germany Still Has 1,400 Banks
Germany has 1,400 banks because two of its three pillars are not trying to make a profit. A case study in how ownership structure shapes credit availability.
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Deutsche Bank restructured continuously for fifteen years. A case study of why cost programmes could not fix a structural revenue problem, and what finally did.
Deutsche Bank: Why the Restructuring Never Seemed to End
Deutsche Bank restructured continuously for fifteen years. A case study of why cost programmes could not fix a structural revenue problem, and what finally did.
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UniCredit assembled half of Commerzbank's voting rights and still could not win. A case study of European banking consolidation and why cross-border deals stall.
Commerzbank vs UniCredit: Europe’s Most Political Takeover Battle
UniCredit assembled half of Commerzbank's voting rights and still could not win. A case study of European banking consolidation and why cross-border deals stall.
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The White House wants to preempt state AI laws; the Senate voted 99-1 against a broad version of that idea. Here is where AI compliance obligations actually stand in August 2026.
AI Regulation in 2026: Inside the Federal-State Preemption Fight Businesses Can’t Ignore
The White House wants to preempt state AI laws; the Senate voted 99-1 against a broad version of that idea. Here is where AI compliance obligations actually stand in August 2026.
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California SB 642 closes the loophole employers used to post negotiation-anchored salary ranges. Here is what the 'good faith estimate... upon hire' standard actually requires.
California SB 642 Explained: The New ‘Good Faith’ Pay Transparency Standard for 2026
California SB 642 closes the loophole employers used to post negotiation-anchored salary ranges. Here is what the 'good faith estimate... upon hire' standard actually requires.
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The U.S. invoked Section 338 against Canada for the first time in nearly a century, adding a 50% duty on select imports from August 19, 2026. Here is what procurement and trade-compliance teams need to do now.
Section 338 Tariffs on Canada: What Procurement Teams Must Do Before August 19, 2026
The U.S. invoked Section 338 against Canada for the first time in nearly a century, adding a 50% duty on select imports from August 19, 2026. Here is what procurement and trade-compliance teams need to do now.
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One of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies has never listed. A case study in self-funded research, animal health as a cash engine and the real cost of independence.
Boehringer Ingelheim and the Case for Staying Private in Pharma
One of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies has never listed. A case study in self-funded research, animal health as a cash engine and the real cost of independence.
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Merck is listed, 350 years old and still family-controlled through a partnership structure that makes takeover impossible. A case study in control, capital and its costs.
Merck KGaA: The 350-Year-Old Family Company That Listed Without Losing Control
Merck is listed, 350 years old and still family-controlled through a partnership structure that makes takeover impossible. A case study in control, capital and its costs.
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