Exam Essays

Directions

1. Essays- It is to your benefit to read the essay question twice to fully understand it and begin to think about it. Think, develop the logical sequence for your answer and then write your answer in 3 paragraphs directly answering the question in your first sentence, then using rationale to support your thoughts. You may use cumulative learning from Chapters 1-10, sources like “The Wall St Journal”, “Harvard Business Review”, scholarly sources you have researched, “Brain Refresh”, your Business Plan research to date, and our lecture notes and discussions.

2. Calculation- You may use your calculator to check your answer before you submit it. Show ALL steps.

3. Key Terms- Define and describe each term

4. Multiple Choice- One multiple choice question

Part 1. Essays

1. Describe three major challenges that firms integrating acquisitions are likely to face.

Operational, functional, strategic, and cultural differences are the major challenges that firms integrating acquisitions are likely to face. The reason for these differences are that the firms involved in a merger or acquisition have had a separate existence, separate histories, separate management philosophies, and separate strategies.

It was revealed that organizational culture is a factor identified as a potential catalyst to merger and acquisition success. According to the authors, cultures are an integral part of an organization. Some researchers believe that culture is to an organization is what personality is to an individual. During a merger or acquisition, the difficulty of modifying the culture of an organization to fit the other becomes quite salient. Thus, culture difference is seen as a major obstacle in the transition of mergers and acquisitions.

According to several studies, making mergers and acquisitions work is all about successfully combining the corporate cultures of the two organizations into one. When managers from both companies are aware...