国外MBA作业：兼并和收购在全球市场的拓展

兼并和收购在全球市场的拓展
Mergers and acquisition to expand in global markets

在现代世界中，商业市场已经变得非常激烈，越来越多的竞争和不断上升的客户之间的意识，因为企业必须是灵活的，，适应性和有效性，以满足快速变化的业务需求和客户的需求，并增加股东财富。这些跨国公司应对这种情况是通过兼并和收购在全球市场的拓展。
跨境并购已成为多年来非常流行的趋势。1990年有发生了巨大的并购，如戴姆勒-克莱斯勒公司和埃克森美孚美孚产生了巨大的影响，对全球行业及其竞争环境和其他人已经在下面讨论。并购也有很多不同的类型，如纵向、横向、逆向、集团等，并购的类型取决于企业对企业的需求和对企业的需求。并购是为了获得战略优势。

In the modern world, business markets have become highly intense with increasing competition and rising awareness among the customers due to which the businesses have to be flexible, adaptive, and efficient in order to cater to the quick changing business needs and customers wants and to increase shareholders wealth. One way these MNE's are responding to this scenario is through mergers and acquisition in order to expand in the global markets.

Cross border mergers and acquisitions have become very popular trend over the years. In 1990's there were giant mergers that took place such as the DaimlerChrysler and Exxon Mobil which had a huge impact on the global industry and its competitive environment and others that have been discussed below (Armstrong, 2006). Mergers also are of many different kinds such as vertical, horizontal, reverse, conglomerate and so on, the type of merger depends from business to business and their needs. Mergers are done in an intention to gain strategic advantage.

There are the push and the pull factors that drive the companies towards internationalization. These are basically all those factors that make internationalization attractive to any MNE or make the domestic market less attractive. Push factors include intentions to spread the risks, the economic conditions, bulk buying, saturation of domestic markets, a rise in taxes in the domestic market or any other strategic plan (Daft, 2001). Whereas the pull factors include factors such as sharing the expertise and knowledge and forming a new management, high profits and unexploited consumer markets and there could be many other reasons. Whatever the reasons may be behind the merger but it has been over all that mergers and acquisitions improve the chances of success for multinationals at a much faster pace. As we move on we will be discussing each of the many reasons for this international growth strategy.

Existence of synergies 存在协同效应
When two companies work together then there are many benefits that they can share together that are financial, expertise, less duplication of ideas, both can cover up for each other's weaknesses and utilize the strengths that they have , these and many such advantages can result in increased efficiency (Irfan, 2009). However the firms need to realize the synergies and try to make the most out of them by proper planning and implementation. This realization can only be achieved by selecting companies on the basis of value addition and commonality in functions.

Pursuing global markets 追求全球市场
The share price of publicly traded MNE is very important as it reflects the performance of the company and its market earning and both these things are very important for the long term growth of the company. In order to achieve the target of higher share price the management has to work hard to lower down the inventory costs, improve customer satisfaction, invest in the promotion of the brand, manage the supply chain efficiently and manage clear lines of communication in the business as these factors will contribute towards the overall success of the company. But in addition to the above mentioned factors the global markets seem be to more attractive from the growth perspective due to the various attractive opportunities offered by them therefore these MNE's tend to invest into foreign markets (Gombeski, 2008).

Multinationals constantly look for emerging markets all around the world for investment purposes because these companies provide for growth opportunities in new markets and new opportunities. Along with those firms which recently got privatized. An example of this would be when the healthcare industry in Brazil and China was growing than it attracted a lot of investment from the US health care industry too (Daft, 2001).

Global competitiveness 全球竞争力
All the successful and leading companies all around the world try to integrate their operations globally to strengthen their market position through growing in international markets. This increases the competency of the company and also makes survival easier in the new market. Example of this would be General Motors which has strengthened its presence in the major automobile industries in the world due to which it is in a better position to compete globally.

Nearness to the market can reduce many costs as imports of raw material costs will be much lower relatively and hence reduce the overall production costs therefore it is one of the very important factor as part of many companies growth strategies. For some firms nearness to the markets also helps to meet the just in time model of production.

When domestic markets become saturated then MNE's tend to explore other emerging economies for sustained profits and reduce risks. An example of this is Wal-Mart which is expanding in the European and Asian markets. This enables to rely on other markets in case of low demand in the domestic markets, therefore might be the most suitable option as it will be fast and will help boost the performance of the company (Gottfredson, Puryear & Phillips, 2005).

Resource acquisition and technology 资源获取与技术
MNE's acquire other firms in order to get control over their supplier's quality and effectiveness. Besides that it is very important to find low cost suppliers in today's high intense business competitions and price wars. Here are horizontal mergers that take place in order to strengthen the position in the same industry. The developing countries tend to give many resource advantages which are not available in other regions such as labor is very cheap in this part of the world which leads to lower production costs which can be used to increase the competency of the company (Gombeski, 2008). Other than that in the developing countries the laws and regulations are much relaxed then the developed nations. This helps the company to operate with less pressure.

Many MNEs also merge with international companies in order to take advantage of the developed technology that the other firm may have and can be beneficial for the progress of the MNE. This also gives an opportunity to share the technological expertise and other valuable resources that are not available in the domestic market or available at a much higher costs (Robbins & Judge, 2004).

Diversification and Economies of Scale 多元化与规模经济
MNE's make efforts to grow in the international markets because they want to strategically follow their home country competition and then take this to another level abroad and increase their international presence and market share, dominate and diversify their risk portfolio at the same time. Examples of such companies are Pepsi and Coke who have made it international and have a huge market share especially Coke; it is the world's largest soft drink manufacturer (Wessels, 2006).

Mergers and takeovers leads to a rise in the production and output of the organization. As the size of the business further increases the business purchasing and distribution costs also increases, other than that there are more chances of focusing on specialization. All these added benefits lead to economies of scale that is the fall in the average cost price and a rise in demand and profitability (Gugler & YurtoÄŸlu, 2008). As the price will go down the competency will rise and demand too. The exchange rate might be lower in the expanding country as compared to the domestic. This can have a positive impact on the organization as costs can be lowered down. This may be because the input cost will be cheaper in the invested country leading to a lower expenses and rise in profits.

Financial Advantages 金融优势
In some countries governments offer special incentives for the MNE's to come and invest in their markets due to the many benefits that these multinationals bring to their economy such as employment, knowledge, experience, development and better products at cheaper prices. The types of incentives given by the government can be tax exemptions and no import duty on import of raw material, infrastructure and so on. Therefore the MNE's in order to take advantage of the benefits given to them invest in the new market. Sometimes companies merge in order to have access to the funds that the new firm will offer them as they may be suffering from cash shortage.

Apart from all the above factors MNE's prefer to go for mergers and acquisitions as compared to establishing a new firm in the new market altogether. This is because it is a much faster approach and you can see the returns coming in very fast. Other than that forming a new company or setting up a new plant will be very costly therefore acquisition are a quick and easy way to acquire a brand name and other logistics advantages otherwise it's a very long procedure to make a place in a new market and there is no guarantee as the existing competition can be very strong and not let the MNE establish all over again in the new region, sometimes governments also provide safety to the domestic firms to country foreign competition, therefore in order to avoid these firms go for a merger. An appropriate example would be of Wal-Mart who entered the Japanese market by buying a domestic competitive in order to lessen the strain of starting from the scratch. There is also reason for choosing a domestic competitor for a merger because it already has a customer base so a merger enhances its position in the market; consumers also prefer buying from these big stores because they know that a large multinational will be able to give them discounted rates (Donna, Prestwood & Schumann, 2003).

Moreover choosing a domestic competitor in an international market will reduce the competition in the market as there will be fewer firms to overtake this way and compete with. The existing domestic firm will be established and very well aware of the local working conditions and therefore understand it in a better way and hence will be able to meet the changing consumer needs and as the merging company will have an experienced management who will be aware of the changing consumer needs of the people of their country, this experience and knowledge is very important for an inexperienced international company that has no local experience (Grayson & Hodges, 2004). All this will add to the competitive advantage of the MNE become its competitive advantage.

Post Merger challenges 合并后的挑战
Post merger integration is an important phase of the entire process as there is interaction and sharing of strategic capabilities and major structural changes tend to take place. Only a successful integration of both the firms can lead to the creation of the value. Post merger situation comes with a lot of opportunities, expectations and complexities and decision making that has to be done. The impact of a merger or acquisition can be seen as soon as it takes place as the owner ship of the company changes to new leaders. Not all the companies that merge together are successful. There are high probabilities of failure of MNEs and their international plans due to the challenges that the management has to confront while running the organization due to which the initial decision can end up being a disaster for the MNE financially as well as strategically (Keller, 2000).

Change is one of the major challenges itself that the management has to overcome in order to make the merger work out successfully (Kotler & Lee, 2005). The entire process is going to be stressful and the leaders of the company will have to make core decisions at this moment. Cultural integration is one of the most important challenges confronted by most of the companies. When two companies merge together coming from different backgrounds then there are several issues that the management has to address such as there could be clash between the corporate cultures of the two organizations which will include the values and attitudes of the people at work or the language barrier that have to be dealt with is important and takes time to settle in (Margarella, 2009).

Every organization has its own set of norms, values and culture which supports the other functions of the company and helps it to meet the organizational goals. Example if a European firm merges with an Indian firm that there will be vast changes in the cultural values of the two, therefore changes will be necessary (Robbins & Judge, 2004). The employees of the company are used to the old practices and do not absorb in so easily into the new structure calling for restructuring by the management. The management will have to realize the synergies and focus on their achievement through strategic planning and setting targets. The success factors of both the organizations will have to be integrated for high gains. There has to be the element of trust and based on that all the information should be exchanged.

Sometimes firms try to downsize and in this process the employees are laid off leading to high level of resentment and dissatisfaction among the existing workers and a feeling of job security, high absenteeism and low commitment to work (Daft, 2001). Many employees lose the authority they used to have and therefore switch to other jobs. Generally it has been seen that there is a fall in the production of the company as a result of such a change and low morale.

Usually organizations are mainly focusing on the financial aspect of such a merger and neglect other factors such as communication and motivation of the employees and workers resistance to the change. The management has to ensure that the employees gradually accept the change and incorporate the new working culture in their work and are satisfied with their job by providing opportunities and a comfortable and a secure working environment (Mathis & Jackson, 2006). The new leadership will have to revise the culture of the company and come up with their own set of policies which will be communicated to the employees. Another post merger issue for the leadership is knowledge management in internationals mergers. This will be the implementation of a successful information system;this hold especially true for those firms which are IS sensitive. There could be a lot of pressure on the management on that time and as it's a large organization a failure in this can adversely affect the company's operations.

Then there are other issues that the MNE will have to resolves that is government intervention, pricing, economic conditions of the country and favoritism which may create further challenges for the company. Some of the examples of MNE's that ended up into either a merger or takeover are as follows along with their experiences and challenges the management confronted due to the change in the organization (Stimpson, 2009). There are many successful firms that have got into mergers and have been able to achieve their goals as well. However here are few companies that got into a merger and there post merger concerns.

Mergers 合并
ArcelorMittal Merger
In 2006 a merger took place between two of the giants of the steel industry that is Arcelor and Mittal integrating into the world's largest steel company. Like any other merger or acquisition the challenges faced by this giant came as no surprise to the management. They had to deal with several post merger issues such as sales, marketing distribution and so on. After the merger the companies defined a certain set of goals in which the most important was to accelerate the profits and growth of the company (Daft, 2001). However before the merger Mittal had a different approach to growth as it focused more on the quality and productivity. Later the formation of the management integration team was another issue as roles has to be assigned to employees and the teams had to be built where the cultural differences had to be seen as the two companies came from different backgrounds, language and culture.

The assigned management teams had to meet the expectations of the new leadership and their goals and then develop communication plans accordingly. Employees were concerned throughout this process as to how this merger would be affecting them.

Amtek Auto and Triplex-Kelton Group (UK) merger in 2007
Special efforts were made by the company to engage the employees and communicate with them clearly so that cultural issues could be resolved in the initial stage in order to avoid resentment among the employees.

Sona Group (Gurgaon, India) and ThyssenKrupp (Germany) takeover in 2008
In this case the Sona group had to face the challenge of unionized workforce of ThyssenKrupp which was reluctant for the change as they feared their jobs due to the turnover. However the management took it slow by communicating with the employees and formed a team to look into differences in culture and the performance of employees over a period of time before the organization took any substantial structural change the employees were convinced and prepared for it (Irfan, 2009).