Over the past five-odd years German business network Xing has been a beacon of stable management in a sea of instability.

In the same period the auction platform eBay.de was the opposite: senior management came and went almost on a monthly basis.

When the eBay boss changed ship to Xing in January this year, I wondered out loud whether this might spell the end of stable management for Xing. Last week the first senior Xing manager jumped ship – a short six months after the new boss got on.

The manager responsible for income source development Davide Villa (previously CEO of Monster in Germany), resigned and joined his wife’s business in Switzerland. Villa had been with Xing for roughly a year.

Could I have been right in my observation? Could there, in fact, be a link between the new boss and edgy, unhappy managers?

There seems to be no end to the flow of good news from courts around the world for online auction platforms. Here is another big breakthrough for eBay (and indirectly Naspers). A French court decided brand manufacturers must work with auction platforms to get a handle on the counterfeit (fakes) problem.

The court decided in favour of eBay (and all other auction platform operators)! In short: Brand-owners cannot prescribe to sellers of their products which sales channels they may use – and which not. 

For the background to this, read this article of mine. 

I’ll report more comprehensively on the decision as reported in this morning’s FTD later today.

Today is a big day for eBay (and South Africa’s media group Naspers) in Europe.

A German court will rule in a case, which could rob eBay in Germany (and other European countries) of lots of turnover, if the decision goes the wrong way. [Read on]

Is going smaller the next big thing in the world of eBay-type auction platforms? 

If I must guess, I’d say ‘yes’. Look at this interesting post on Examiner.com.

The boss has left, but the zig-zag management style of German auction platform eBay remains. Look here for the background to that remark. [Read on]

Naspers got an unpleasant Christmas present in Norway this week: eBay launched a new auction platform (www.ebay.no), which will make an already crowded market for auction platforms in this Scandinavian country even more crowded. [Read on]

Swiss-based Richemont, the second biggest luxury goods manufacturer in the world, opened a new office of International Government Affairs in Brussels. The physical address: 109 Avenue Henri Jaspar, 1060 Brussels. [Read on]