Merger, Acquisition, and International Strategies

Choose two (2) other public corporations in an industry with which you are familiar – one (1) that has acquired another company and operates internationally and or one (1) that does not have a history of mergers and acquisitions and operates solely within the U.S. Research each company on its own Website, the public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR database (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml), in the University’s online databases, and any other sources you can find. The annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these questions.

Write a five (5) page paper in which you:

1. For the corporation that has acquired another company, merged with another company, or been acquired by another company, evaluate the strategy that led to the merger or acquisition to determine whether or not this merger or acquisition was a wise choice. Or, for the corporation that has not been involved in any mergers or acquisitions, identify one (1) company that would be a profitable candidate for the corporation to acquire or merge with and explain why this company would be a profitable target. Justify your opinion.
2. Analyze the five (5) forces of competition to determine how they impact the company.
3. For the corporation that operates internationally, briefly evaluate its international business-level strategy and international corporate-level strategy and make recommendations for improvement.
4. For the corporation that does not operate internationally, propose one business-level strategy and one corporate-level strategy that you would suggest the corporation consider. Justify your proposals.
5. Select two (2) corporate governance mechanisms used by this corporation and evaluate how effective they are at controlling managerial actions.
6. Evaluate the effectiveness of leadership within this corporation and make at least one (1) recommendation for improvement.
7. Assess efforts by this corporation to be a responsible (ethical) corporate citizen and determine the impact these efforts (or lack thereof) have on the company’s bottom line. Provide specific examples to support your response.
8. Use at least three (3) quality references.