Capitalize on Merger Chaos: Six Ways to Profit from Your Competitor's Consolidation and Your Own
- Book Review,
by Thomas M. Grubb
From Publishers Weekly
Although short on "how-to," and even shorter on firsthand accounts of success, this book describes six ways a company can benefit from consolidation within an industry. Consultant Grubb and New York University business school professor Lamb correctly point out that most mergers fail to generate a positive return to the shareholders of the merging companies. Thus, they argue, mergers present wonderful opportunities for competing firms to steal employees from the combined enterprise, to attack the marketplace while their competitors are focusing on joining forces, to jump-start internal change , to form joint ventures or strategic alliances with companies unaffected by the merger, to plan their own merger correctly and to rethink an entire business strategy in light of the competition. However, this slight book effectively raises more questions than it answers. For example, while good people are likely to quit or be downsized when companies join forces, how exactly does one attract them? Interviews with CEOs or senior executives who have followed the authors' strategies would have helped enormously. Instead, the authors rely heavily on secondhand sources, such as newspaper and magazine pieces, resulting in a book that serves as a useful checklist but offers little help beyond that. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Almost every book about business mergers focuses on how to make them work. Authors advise what factors to consider when looking for the best match or, more often, how to manage change when different or conflicting corporate cultures are brought together. Grubb and Lamb, though, target an entirely different audience--rivals of the merging companies. They suggest that the period of uncertainty and confusion that results when one's competition merges presents an opportunity that should be exploited. Grubb is a consultant specializing in "post-merger integration." Lamb is a New York University business professor who founded the Journal of Business Strategy. They detail six strategies that should be considered for taking advantage of weakened or distracted competitors, noting that 80 percent of all mergers fail. They recommend going after the other company's customers and best employees, and they advise creating business alliances with smaller comapanies. Grubb and Lamb also point out that businesses can learn from their foes' mistakes. David Rouse
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
Peter Lorange, President International Institute for Management Development A must read for today's strategic thinkers.
Book Description
Merger mania is at an all-time peak. Yet up to 80 percent of mergers fail because of culture clashes, mismanagement, and the chaos that ensues. Taking this failure rate into account, merger experts Thomas M. Grubb and Robert B. Lamb have written the first book that arms managers with strategies to exploit the many growth and profit opportunities created when competitors are coping with merger chaos. Grubb and Lamb show why firms miss huge financial opportunities when they stay passive while their competitors struggle in merger chaos. They present a fast-paced primer for action when your corporate rivals merge, based on six strategies: Attack your competitors when they are distracted by their mergers' turmoil and confusion. Create a "magnet strategy" to attract and hire your merging competitors' best people while their companies are in a state of merger shock. Use the threat to your firm's survival caused by giant competitors' mergers in order to jump-start your own internal change. Use multiple alliances, networks, licensing, franchising, or joint ventures -- instead of mergers -- to fuel explosive growth. Plan and execute your firm's fast-track mergers and acquisitions. Create a composite strategy by using two or more of the above strategies simultaneously to maximize your growth and profitability. The authors analyze winning strategies at AOL, General Electric, Dell, Ford, Cisco Systems, and Vodaphone as well as failures at Coca Cola, Boeing, Union Pacific, Compaq, and Sunbeam. The result is "must" reading for operating managers at all levels, investment bankers, and mergers and acquisition specialists.
Download Description
According to The Wall Street Journal, merger mania persists because companies believe that "only the truly massive will survive in worldwide competition". Yet a full 80 percent of mergers fail because of culture clashes and the chaos that ensues. Taking that failure rate into account, Thomas Grubb and Robert Lamb argue that companies waste valuable growth opportunities when they stand by passively while their competitors are involved in mergers or acquisitions. Here they present managers with a fast-paced primer for action when rivals merge, based on six strategies: -- Attack your markets while competitors are distractedSeek, attract, and hire the competition's best people-- Use the threat of your own extinction to galvanize internal change-- Create alliances with smaller competitive firms-- Institute your own fast-track mergers with other small firms-- Employ a composite strategy of two or more of the above simultaneously
Book Info
(Free Press) Arms managers with strategies to exploit the many growth and profit opportunities created when competitors are coping with merger chaos. Shows why firms miss huge financial opportunities when they stay passive. Analyzes winning strategies at AOL, General Electric, Dell, Cisco Systems, and Ford. DLC: Consolidation of merger of corporations.
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