Consulting in mergers and acquisitions: Interventions spawned by recent trends

Mergers and acquisitions occur frequently in organizations, but rarely achieve their desired financial and strategic objectives. Personal experience gained in more than 50 corporate combinations shows that many factors account for the dismal track record of mergers and acquisitions, including underestimating the multitude of integration issues and problems that arise as organizations come together and the pervasiveness and depth of human and cultural issues triggered in a combination. These dynamics have been found in combinations involving organizations of all sizes, in all industry sectors and across international boundaries. Reviews the human, organizational and cultural dynamics affecting mergers and acquisitions, and reports recent trends influencing interventions to enhance merger and acquisition success. Describes consulting approaches and methods required to minimize employee stress, management crisis and culture clash and to enhance the desired financial and strategic results of mergers and acquisitions.