Friday, August 8, 2008

A student's call for a short research interview

Integration Experts -- please heed this note from Stephen Mix, an MBA student:

I am working on my final thesis for my MBA and the title is "Strategies and techniques for maximising post-m&A synergies". The premise is that, beyond financial engineering, the key source of value creation in an M&A deal is the realization of synergies between the two firms.

I've been reading about how the integration seems to be the 'make-or-break' stage. Key areas I've highlighted in my literature review are:
* How the motives for a merger/acquisition determines the integration plan
* Difficulties integrating two cultures
* The need to have clear communication
* Setting up integration teams
* How quickly the acquirer implements the integration plan
* How to effectively transfer knowledge and resources between the two
* The need for companies to be flexible during the integration stage - providing 'slack' in budgets and targets to allow managers to respond to unforeseen events as they occur.
* Identifying key employees/employee retention/incentives etc.
My research is going to involve a 'meta-analysis' of many case studies to draw commonalities and conclusions, with interviews of practitioners providing insight and emphasis.

At this stage I am looking for people to interview who can draw on their experience to discuss what works and what doesn't etc.

Any help is appreciated!

Regards,
Stephen (You can reach Stephen through Linkedin)

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