Joining Forces: Making One Plus One Equal Three in Mergers, Acquisitions, and Alliances FROM THE PUBLISHER
This essential guide reveals a proven strategic process for doing a deal right. It shows executives and managers how to manage the transition to consolidate strength, increase competitiveness, and meet the combination's business objectives. Drawing insight from successful real-world combinations, Joining Forces delineates the transition process in four key business components - strategy, organization, culture, and people. It candidly uncovers the issues in each of these areas and persuasively shows how to identify and attain true, productive synergies within them so that combined organization can become much greater than the sum of its parts.
SYNOPSIS
Entrepreneurial companies are discovering significant strategic advantages when they merge or align business processes. Joining Forces covers the three key components of a successful transition: hardware, software, and people.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
The "one plus one equal three" of the subtitle is the authors' way of signaling that they are focusing here on business combinations that aim to "build some strength or capacity greater than that present in the partners as independent organizations." Marks (From Turmoil to Triumph) and Mirvis (coauthor of Managing the Merger), both management consultants, cover the basics of preparing for a successful combination of businesses in the form of a merger, acquisition or alliance. In their straightforward approach, they discuss the need for due diligence at the outset, and they explain that there must be a lot of psychological work to communicate clearly what is going on to all concerned and to ensure that the companies joining forces can peacefully coexist. Why the need for such careful planning? Because, the authors point out, "more than three quarters of corporate combinations fail to attain projected business results." Succeeding parts of the book take readers through the steps of building a new culture for the combined organizations and reaping the rewards of the union. This insightful guide should aid all managers involved in joining forces. (Feb.)
Booknews
Reveals a proven strategic method for managing successful mergers, acquisitions, and strategic alliances, drawing insight from real-world successes. Delineates the transition process in areas of strategy, organization, culture, and people, and shows how to deal with common problems and issues. For executives and managers. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.