Reasons for Frequent Failure in Mergers and Acquisitions: A Comprehensive Analysis

Straub, Thomas; Jarillo, Prof. Dr. Dr. José-Carlos

This is an important book. The topic is important, and Dr. Straub approaches it with a new approach. In fact, one could say that the book’s importance stems from its lack of disciplinary focus, relying instead on a holistic understanding of the phenomenon. Too often, academic research is pursued within a narrowly defined academic “field”, necessarily blinding researchers to realities whose essence is inter-disciplinary. This is typically the case with research on Mergers & Acquisitions, making most of the “findings” relatively unimportant for practice. Yet M&A are a crucial part of business development. It is evident that companies’ long-term success is at least partially dependent on their strategic actions. And these are often shaped in practice by merger and acquisition activity. Thus phenomena as varied as globalization, value-chain optimization, or product diversification are often implemented as M&A operations. In no few cases, M&A activity constitutes the company’s strategy. If, as noted above, strategic moves do have an impact on lo- term success, it follows that M&A activities are at the core of many business successes… and failures. As such, they play an important role in the development of the whole society: wealth is created (or destroyed) mostly by companies. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the phenomenon is its very high failure rate.

Details

Published by: Deutscher Universitätsverlag

Publication Date: 2007-07-26

Format: Paperback

ISBN-13: 9783835008441

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-8350-9637-0

Dimensions: 210cm x148cm

Pages: 227