The human element : the impact of mergers and acquisitions on organizations and people

The concept of this thesis emerged from my own experience of mergers and acquisitions in which I had been involved over the past 20 years. Companies make acquisitions, mergers, or joint ventures for technology or geographical reasons, or to consolidate a market. The companies have to find a way to integrate the two organizations, and typically they face the challenges of combining different business philosophies, visions, leadership styles, and technology innovation management that have developed and manifested over an extended period of time of time. The motivation for the most companies to get involved in acquisitions is to maintain the growth rate, get access to new ideas, and processes that will provide a lasting benefit for the organization. In the thesis, I will examine the difficulties of the integration of one entity into another. Often, companies are acquired for their people's talent and expertise. The cultural and human aspects, however, are not a major consideration during the overall due-diligence process. I conclude that the extremely high failure rate of more than 50% for mergers and acquisitions is a result of the negligence of a formal cultural and human due-diligence process, and a "human capital balance sheet" needs to become a part of the process.