- Email: [email protected]
Bidders & targets: Mergers and acquisitions in the U.S.
Book Useful, brief, readable Self-Development j& Managers series published by Routledge (1990) includes: Efictive Problem Solving, DAVE FRANCIS, 128 pp., Managing Change, 101 pp., Thriving on Stress, JANE CRANWELL-WARD, 135 pp. All at A6.99.
Bidders G Targets: Mergers and Acquisitions in the U.S., LEO HERZEL and RICHARD W. SHEPRO, Basil Blackwell (1990), 523 pp., A50.00. The authors are lawyers and they provide an analysis of the best strategies and traps from the standpoints of both bidders and targets primarily from that viewpoint. Essential reading for anyone involved in that highly risky and controversial area. Of course there is more to the subject than legal niceties, but any corporate strategy (not a word mentioned in the index!) needs to include expert legal advice. One reason why merchant banking fees are now so high. Given the current level of legal complications it is surprising that there are any mergers and take-overs, but not surprising that so many are defined as failures in retrospect. Insights into seven major U.K. take-over battles provided by Mega-Merger Mayhem: Takeover Strategies, Battles and Controls, S. J. GRAY and M. C. MCDERMONT~, Paul Chapman (1989), 166 pp., A12.95. Essential reading for those involved in this traumatic area but, in the end, success comes down to exploiting economics of scale and/or asset (facility) reorganization; both subjects hardly mentioned. Another book, that looks at what happened 5 years on, would be invaluable.
The UnemployedFlow, W. W. DANIEL, Policy Studies Institute (1990), 243 pp., A24.95. The first striking finding of this U.K. based research report was how quickly most people found new jobs; but analysis of their subsequent experiences over the following year revealed the second major finding: Most of that group tended quickly to lose or leave their jobs again. As a result the group that was prone to recurrent unemployment was also the group most likely to receive low pay increases when in work. In other words the long-term unemployed are more deprived than any other group of people who depend for any time upon social benefit. In contrast the leaders in the wage race were skilled workers in the middle age ranges employed in the corporate and large firm sector. A useful academic study, relevant for policy makers, but a pity there was not a chapter on what the author thinks could be done to improve the situation.
Reviews
125
East is important, but there is much more to understanding its destiny than is contained in this thick volume. A similar conclusion can be drawn of Among the British: An Outsider’s View, RICHARD CRITCHFIELD, Hamish Hamilton (1990), 496 pp., A17.99. Based on 300 interviews undertaken over 1988. The Thatcher legacy left to John Major is: what do we change and what should be preserved. Insights into how much needs to be done, and how hard it is to achieve in practice, is contained in The Enterprise Years: A Businessman in the Cabinet, LORD YOUNG, Headline (1990), 338 pp., Al6.95. This volume also illustrates the importance of ‘who you know’; a subject (rightly or wrongly?) rarely mentioned in the strategy literature. What is really going on inside the U.K. is usefully and thoroughly analysed in British Social Attitudes, 7th Report, Edited by ROGER JOWELL, SHARONWITHERSPOONand LINDSAY BROOK, Gower (1990), 333 pp., A32.00 hard, Al6.95 soft. Including chapters on ‘Self-employment and the Enterprise Culture’ and ‘Individualism’. Also relevant is a study: Thatcher’s Children: What 16-1%year-olds Want from their Working Lives, The Stapleford Partnership (1990), ,&125.00 (full version, which includes both nationwide and regional analyses, 155 pp.; abbreviated version of only the nationwide analysis 55 pp., &76.00). One conclusion of this survey was that money is not necessarily of interest for its buying power in terms of simple goods and services, what the great majority wanted from money was the prospect of independence and an opportunity to lead their own lives. Other publications that provide useful insights into the demographic state of Britain, together with likely changes, are: Changing Places: Britain’s Demographic, Economic and Social Complexion, A. G. CHAMPION, A. E., GREEN, D. W. OWEN, D. J. ELLIN and M. G. COOMBES, Edward Arnold (1987), 144 pp., A9.95; and Contemporary Britain: A Geographical Perspective, A. G. CHAMPION and A. R. TOWNSEND, Edward Arnold (1990), 310 pp., A12.95.
Business Handbook A18.95.
1991,
Personnel
Today
(1990),
212 pp.,
Contains seven brief features on personnel issues, then 175 pages of listings of thousands of U.K. based organizations in: Personnel; Personnel Administration; Recruitment; Training; Conferences; Employee Relations; Employee Benefits; Relocation; Equipment & Services; and Sources of Information. Useful for those requiring that information.
The Total Business Plan: How to Write, Rewrite, and Revise, PATRICK D. O’HARA, John Wiley (1990), 288 pp., A47.45. Pact& Destiny: The Rise ofthe East, ROBERT ELEGANT,Hamish Hamilton (1990), 533 pp., Al7.99. The author has covered Asia for 30 years as a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times and Newsweek. This is a distillation of that experience. Full of the results of interviews, long on description, but short on perception. Little sympathy for the Japanese: ‘The Japanese are unlikely to attain empathy with the rest of the human race for some time. Nor will they soon feel the concern for the environment and for other species of animals that is rising in the West.’ (p. 169) With even worse to come (p. 507): ‘Japan is nosing out American firms as it transforms the British Isles into the offshore base for its assault on the European Common Market.’ Certainly the rise of the
A step by step guide to the entire business planning process; incorporates the use of spread sheet analysis, word processing and computer graphics. Based on the extensive experience of the author in reseaching and writing business and marketing plans for numerous startup ventures and businesses seeking borrowed capital, particularly in the U.S.
Technology Transfer: A Communication Perspective, FREDERICK WILLIAMS and DAVID V. GIBSON (Eds), Sage (1990), 302 pp., Al3.95. Discusses a number of questions: How do we identify or define
Bidders G Targets: Mergers and Acquisitions in the U.S., LEO HERZEL and RICHARD W. SHEPRO, Basil Blackwell (1990), 523 pp., A50.00. The authors are lawyers and they provide an analysis of the best strategies and traps from the standpoints of both bidders and targets primarily from that viewpoint. Essential reading for anyone involved in that highly risky and controversial area. Of course there is more to the subject than legal niceties, but any corporate strategy (not a word mentioned in the index!) needs to include expert legal advice. One reason why merchant banking fees are now so high. Given the current level of legal complications it is surprising that there are any mergers and take-overs, but not surprising that so many are defined as failures in retrospect. Insights into seven major U.K. take-over battles provided by Mega-Merger Mayhem: Takeover Strategies, Battles and Controls, S. J. GRAY and M. C. MCDERMONT~, Paul Chapman (1989), 166 pp., A12.95. Essential reading for those involved in this traumatic area but, in the end, success comes down to exploiting economics of scale and/or asset (facility) reorganization; both subjects hardly mentioned. Another book, that looks at what happened 5 years on, would be invaluable.
The UnemployedFlow, W. W. DANIEL, Policy Studies Institute (1990), 243 pp., A24.95. The first striking finding of this U.K. based research report was how quickly most people found new jobs; but analysis of their subsequent experiences over the following year revealed the second major finding: Most of that group tended quickly to lose or leave their jobs again. As a result the group that was prone to recurrent unemployment was also the group most likely to receive low pay increases when in work. In other words the long-term unemployed are more deprived than any other group of people who depend for any time upon social benefit. In contrast the leaders in the wage race were skilled workers in the middle age ranges employed in the corporate and large firm sector. A useful academic study, relevant for policy makers, but a pity there was not a chapter on what the author thinks could be done to improve the situation.
Reviews
125
East is important, but there is much more to understanding its destiny than is contained in this thick volume. A similar conclusion can be drawn of Among the British: An Outsider’s View, RICHARD CRITCHFIELD, Hamish Hamilton (1990), 496 pp., A17.99. Based on 300 interviews undertaken over 1988. The Thatcher legacy left to John Major is: what do we change and what should be preserved. Insights into how much needs to be done, and how hard it is to achieve in practice, is contained in The Enterprise Years: A Businessman in the Cabinet, LORD YOUNG, Headline (1990), 338 pp., Al6.95. This volume also illustrates the importance of ‘who you know’; a subject (rightly or wrongly?) rarely mentioned in the strategy literature. What is really going on inside the U.K. is usefully and thoroughly analysed in British Social Attitudes, 7th Report, Edited by ROGER JOWELL, SHARONWITHERSPOONand LINDSAY BROOK, Gower (1990), 333 pp., A32.00 hard, Al6.95 soft. Including chapters on ‘Self-employment and the Enterprise Culture’ and ‘Individualism’. Also relevant is a study: Thatcher’s Children: What 16-1%year-olds Want from their Working Lives, The Stapleford Partnership (1990), ,&125.00 (full version, which includes both nationwide and regional analyses, 155 pp.; abbreviated version of only the nationwide analysis 55 pp., &76.00). One conclusion of this survey was that money is not necessarily of interest for its buying power in terms of simple goods and services, what the great majority wanted from money was the prospect of independence and an opportunity to lead their own lives. Other publications that provide useful insights into the demographic state of Britain, together with likely changes, are: Changing Places: Britain’s Demographic, Economic and Social Complexion, A. G. CHAMPION, A. E., GREEN, D. W. OWEN, D. J. ELLIN and M. G. COOMBES, Edward Arnold (1987), 144 pp., A9.95; and Contemporary Britain: A Geographical Perspective, A. G. CHAMPION and A. R. TOWNSEND, Edward Arnold (1990), 310 pp., A12.95.
Business Handbook A18.95.
1991,
Personnel
Today
(1990),
212 pp.,
Contains seven brief features on personnel issues, then 175 pages of listings of thousands of U.K. based organizations in: Personnel; Personnel Administration; Recruitment; Training; Conferences; Employee Relations; Employee Benefits; Relocation; Equipment & Services; and Sources of Information. Useful for those requiring that information.
The Total Business Plan: How to Write, Rewrite, and Revise, PATRICK D. O’HARA, John Wiley (1990), 288 pp., A47.45. Pact& Destiny: The Rise ofthe East, ROBERT ELEGANT,Hamish Hamilton (1990), 533 pp., Al7.99. The author has covered Asia for 30 years as a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times and Newsweek. This is a distillation of that experience. Full of the results of interviews, long on description, but short on perception. Little sympathy for the Japanese: ‘The Japanese are unlikely to attain empathy with the rest of the human race for some time. Nor will they soon feel the concern for the environment and for other species of animals that is rising in the West.’ (p. 169) With even worse to come (p. 507): ‘Japan is nosing out American firms as it transforms the British Isles into the offshore base for its assault on the European Common Market.’ Certainly the rise of the
A step by step guide to the entire business planning process; incorporates the use of spread sheet analysis, word processing and computer graphics. Based on the extensive experience of the author in reseaching and writing business and marketing plans for numerous startup ventures and businesses seeking borrowed capital, particularly in the U.S.
Technology Transfer: A Communication Perspective, FREDERICK WILLIAMS and DAVID V. GIBSON (Eds), Sage (1990), 302 pp., Al3.95. Discusses a number of questions: How do we identify or define