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The post liberalization period was of mergers and acquisitions and still it is continuing as a strategic driver for market dominance, geographical expansion, leverage in resource and capability acquisition, competence, adjusting to competition. M&As are strategic alliances. People Management plays a critical role in M&A. People issues like staffing decision, organizational design, etc., are most sensitive issues in case of M&A negotiations, but it has been found that these issues are often being overlooked.

The ability to succeed in a merger depends entirely on the people who are driving the business - whether they have creativity, capacity to innovate and ability to execute, and more importantly, whether they can do these things collaboratively. To ease the merger transition and make sure the pieces fit together as seamlessly as possible, the HR should take the initiatives in management, recruitment, structure, retention, and managing cultural change. In a merger, the employees should be put in a position to see easily that there was value in their daily work lives. It is more important for the employees to be able to say that they understand why this is happening. To achieve this understanding in the employees, the company's HR executive minimize their conventional functions as administrators and payroll experts in favor of more proactive roles as coaches and profit consultants.

M&As are strategic alliances. In a merger, two companies join together and create new entity. In an acquisition, one company acquires sufficient shares to gain control of the other organization.

Strategic Drivers of M&A

Market Dominance
Companies merge in order to gain economies of scale and control over distribution channel.

Geographical Expansion
Companies use acquisitions to extend geographical reach and global market share through new market entry.

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* Contributed by -
Mercy Samuel,
MBA from University of Rajasthan, Jaipur,
Currently, working as Faculty in Advent Institute of Management Studies, Udaipur.