Business Strategy - merger and acquisition - Essay Example

On the other hand, increased competition is likely to persuade firms to explore various channel alternatives available to them in an attempt to extend their coverage. For Able Corporation, identification of new opportunities may or may not mean their giving up their traditional lines of distribution. Much depends on whether the new system is seen as being innovative. If the firm sees potential benefits accruing from adopting a distribution system which does not fit with those currently used by competing firms in the market, it is likely that they will test these in conjunction with the tried and tested methods currently under use.

Mergers and acquisition policy is undoubtedly the most radical growth strategy open to management in that it represents a deliberate attempt to change the nature of the business. Acquisition policy can be further classified into backward, forward and horizontal integration. Acquisition policy occurs when the new business is related in some way to the old one. Firms have sought to gain greater control over the source of raw materials or the supply of components by some form of backward integration.

The main strategy for Able Corporation is to improve its market position and increase market share based on the strategy developed by the President. The new strategy is a logical development of the solutions and corporate vision adopted by the President. Today, Able Corporation needs a strong partner to compete on the market and Walden International will help it to increase market share and remain competitive (Bridges 2003).The second step is to show financial and business opportunities proposed by the merger with Walden International.

Investment decisions should be carefully examined by both firms because investment are long run decisions where consumption and investment alternatives are balanced overtime. There are many similarities between short-run and long-run decision making, for example, the choice between alternatives, the need to consider future costs and revenues and the importance of incremental changes in costs and revenues but there is the additional requirement for investment decisions that, because of the time scale involved, the time value of the money invested must be considered.

The time scale also makes the consideration of uncertainty and inflation of even greater importance than when considering short-term decisions. That is why the strategic investment planning process is a series of logical steps that have to be worked through in order to arrive at a logical 'common format' for the implementation of strategy and marketing plan (Sterman, 2000). Taking into account financial statements of Able Corporation it is evident that the company cannot "capture greater share in the two growing segments of the power tool market" without strong business partner.

Also, it is important to take into account that "top management has come to realize that it seriously miscalculated the underlying financial health and market position of Able Corporation" (case study). The third step is to persuade the President that the super-ordinate goal of most businesses is survival and this may only be achieved by pursuing strategies of growth. While it is difficult to