Mergers and Acquisitions
There are several reasons for M&A. M&A has been widely used in developed economies as a growth strategy and is now increasingly getting accepted by Indian businesses as a critical tool of business strategy. It is increasingly becoming the order of the day in businesses especially in rapidlyevolving businesses like information technology, telecommunications, business process outsourcing as well as in traditional businesses. Indian businesses are also rapidly using
To survive in today’s marketplace, a company cannot afford to choose between low costs on the one hand, and high quality, innovative technology, quick delivery, or high variety on the other. A hybrid strategic approach is needed, teaming high quality or the latest technology with a strong cost position.
Mass customization is the perfect way to bridge the gap between cost pressures and customer-specific requirements. This strategy combines customer-specific products
and services with the efficiency of mass production. The customer who previously bought a standard product can now walk away with a tailored solution. Similarly, companies that traditionally produced custom-made solutions can still manufacture to order, but on a large scale, thanks to powerful new processes and product structures. Naturally, this cuts costs. Furthermore, mass customization provides the basis for successful customer relationship management (CRM)
Change Management and Organizational Culture
Organizational cultures are neither uniform nor static. They evolve over time, and so it seems reasonable to posit that all cultural systems will exhibit continuous, incremental changes punctuated on occasion by more episodic, radical change (Watzlawick et al., 1974; Weick and Quinn, 1999). Mergers and acquisitions represent sudden and major change and generate a great deal of uncertainty (Davy et al., 1988). How change occurs within organizations will be influenced by the fact that cultures are underpinned by deep assumptions that are patterned and shared (Schein, 1992). Sathe and Davidson (2000) suggest that evidence clearly supports the fact that culture change consists of
Information Technology
IT can and must continue to become more business-centric.
1) Improve communications. IT must communicate with the business in terms that are clear. Ratherthan talking in terms of MegaBytes and Gigahertz, IT needs to talk in term of Return on Investment (ROI), competitive advantage and other metrics used by business. By communicating with the business, IT can better understand the needs of the business. It is not the job of the business leaders to know
Diversification in Developing Countries
Many developing countries, including some of the poorest, have achieved significant export diversification over the past two decades, spurred by changes in technology and investments in infrastructure. Chandra, Boccardo, and Osorio (2008) observe that some degree of export diversification, as measured by the Herfindahl index, has been widespread: almost 60 percent of the developing countries diversified
