Mergers, acquisitions and global empires

the long version

Companies that have acquired other enterprises through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have in essence become entities that are akin to the global "empires" of history. In this book, the author weaves a unique narrative that looks at both empires of business created from M&A and global empires from world history in an attempt to answer the question: why do certain empires endure for long periods while others collapse in a short space of time. Empires formed from M&A or conquest have a hierarchical relationship of control and domination by a single authority or centre that can be described as a "parent company" or a "mother country" over another group of people based in a periphery that can be described as a "subsidiary company" or "colony." Given their similarities in development and structure, the author argues from looking at examples of empires in Western and Asian history as well as major M&A cases that long enduring empires created from M&A and global empires have a common cultural trait; their practice of "tolerance" within their organizations/societies. While there are books on the topics of M&A and empires, at present there is no single text that examines the impact of culture on both. This book is intended to fill such a void and provide hints and suggestions to those practitioners of M&A as well as students of business and history who want an accessible, non-technical narrative on what makes empires, whether they are of the nation or of M&A endure and prosper.