Mergers & Acquisitions: A Critical Reader

Mergers and acquisitions remain one of the most common forms of growth, while presenting considerable challenges for the companies and management involved. Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures raise important issues for the stakeholders in those firms such as shareholders, managers and employees.

Moreover, they have wider implications for the economy, including the level of competition and employment. Most writing in M&A in the past has taken a functionalist perspective. What this new reader seeks to do is to draw on some of the classic papers in the area and to set them alongside some more recent alternatives, thereby providing a much more holistic overview of the subject, and reflecting the important organizational and behavioral aspects which have often been ignored in the past.

In addition to broad selection of papers, the book is structured clearly into two main sections covering pre-M&A and post M&A issues. These parts are each divided into a number of sections covering such issues as motives, planning, integration, communication and employees' experiences. This structure is supported by extensive commentaries by the editor, in addition to a full introduction to the collection as a whole.