During a recent meeting of 40 M&A professionals, I facilitated a discussion around the results of a 1999 KPMG study on the success of Mergers and Acquisitions in large companies. This study indicated that 83% of mergers and acquisitions fail to increase share holder value. The M&A professionals who participated in this discussion represented middle market mergers and acquisitions. Members of the group were asked three questions: (more…)

Large cash positions coupled with historically low interest rates make mergers and acquisitions an obvious strategic choice for companies to significantly improve their performance. As companies increase their Mergers and Acquisitions activity, there is a need for a well thought through program assure the successful integration of new companies with different cultures and business processes. It is reported by KPMG that (more…)

Management of a project, regardless of the specific intent and outcome, can generally be accomplished using fairly universal tools and techniques with a significant amount of focus and discipline.

A team approach has been shown to gain ‘ownership’ in the project and a consistent and uniform means of communication allows participants and stakeholders to stay abreast of the project by providing feedback to the team and the project leader(s). As a business leader, you frequently find yourself faced with the dilemma of having to define, justify, and implement a significant project or program, that at its conception, is generally just a collection of ideas, proposals, ‘back of the envelope’ calculations or benefits.

To bring these together takes the focus of a (more…)

During a keynote address at IIR’s Balanced Scorecard Forum, Robert Kaplan, a leading international business management guru, revealed “that less than 10% of formulated strategies are executed effectively” and an international survey indicated that consistently executing strategic objectives were in the top three concerns of CEO’s and corporate boards. Kaplan also added “that it is a well know fact that organizations who have a formal strategy execution process dramatically outperform the rest”. Effectively and consistently implementing corporate strategy requires all stakeholders to be aligned to those objectives, understand their role in achieving them and be accountable for effective implementation. If your company doesn’t have a formal process, then the hard work is figuring out what one looks like. A strategic execution process must (more…)