Why do Mergers and Acquisitions sometimes Fail to Produce Anticipated Results?

When two companies decide to combine forces in a merger, the papers are shouting about it. Why are companies in industries ranging from telecommunications to financial services to retail looking to merge? And why do mergers and acquisitions sometimes fail to produce anticipated results?

What is meant by the term M&A, Mergers and Acquisitions? And is a successful M&A more of a fairy tale than reality?

To clarify why M&A can fail, I mainly stress what key points one should keep in mind in order to have better chances of success and why businesses should go green if they want to be successful!

Definitions
M&A is a generic term that can be broken down and defined more technically. We talk about a merger if an agreement between equals is made to combine their operations. However consolidation would mean that a new firm is created after a merger, and both acquiring firm and target firm shareholders receive shares in this firm.

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Why Entrepreneurs Hate Business Planning

Most entrepreneurship programs are organized around the development of a business plan. This is understandable because the first thing entrepreneurs are asked for when they apply for a bank credit or venture capital is a business plan. So let’s check out why entrepreneurs hate business planning.

If no business planning, what then?

They make use of opportunities that arise and adapt their approach continues to the market responses. Saras Sarasvathy, a key trainer in VentureLab International, called this the “Effectuation” approach as opposed to the usual “Causation” approach in which business planning plays an important role.

Her findings are more and more recognized at entrepreneurship support centers across the world as also shows on the website of the well-recognized French educational and research institution Educaix.

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The Myth of Generation Y

Conventional wisdom suggests that Generation Y, also known as Millenials also known as Generation Einstein following the book of Boschma and Groen, are among other things Media Smart. So let’s see what it is all about, the myth of “Generation Einstein”.

“Since they were babies, they have been confronted with the media – they understand advertising and have become the ultimate experts. They only need to see the advertisement to know what the marketing strategy of the company is”.

I do not know where such ideas are founded on but my impression is that they are based more on fiction than on facts. For sure the millennials have grown in a media-dominated society but their media smartness is limited since they are heavily exposed to one medium only, namely the Internet: they watch much less TV, read almost nothing on paper (except maybe their school textbooks) including newspapers and they listen much less to the radio than their parents.

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Energy Efficiency Can Save You Money

Energy efficiency has become a topic that is discussed quite often amongst the general populace and at the government level. The focus on this topic is because of the crucial importance it has over the quality of life experienced by future generations, and because of the fact that everyone can do something to contribute. So let’s check out how Energy Efficiency can save you money.

There are new energy-efficient appliances that use far less energy in achieving the same objective, and there are building materials that can greatly reduce fuel consumption.

Although the topic of energy efficiency has been spoken about for quite some time now, it has to be said at the outset that the vast majority of homes are still grossly inefficient when it comes to energy consumption. Not only do people typically use incandescent light bulbs in their homes, but they are also careless in their use and leave lights on in rooms when no one is using them.

They will typically put far more water in a kettle than they are actually intending to use, resulting in a waste of unnecessary electrical power. Usually, the heating system will be set too high, leading to more power being used than is actually needed.

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Clayton Christensen Quotes

Clayton Christensen often attends events related to the newest management research developments. Many sessions of the entrepreneurship division and the technology and innovation management division are focused on high-tech entrepreneurship & business development. So let’s take a look at a few remarkable Clayton Christensen quotes.

Using value creation modeling to estimate the possibilities of creating a business in the future with certain products, is the way to go. Jim Anderson, professor of marketing, Kellogs business school, Chicago trains our entrepreneurs to make better assessments of their financial value. See also this TEDxBoston video with Professor Clay Christensen:

His work also fits the norms of Clayton Christensen being well based on strong theories and developed into practical modeling of value creation and gender-related developments in market networks. But now, let’s take a look at some quotes from Clayton Christensen he shared when he was awarded the innovation award of the technology & innovation division for his career.

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