Dr. McKaskill offers practical advice on acquisitions strategies
Dr. McKaskill has produced over 50 short videos to help entrepreneurs develop successful acquisition strategies. Listed below are a small selection of these.
An Introduction to Acquisition Strategy
This video sets out the program for case studies and insights. My personal experience in business and academic life supports this pragmatic view of how to buy a business.
Focus on your constraints (1)
In developing a growth strategy, find out what is holding you back and then focus your acquisitions on those constraints.
Watch out for cultural mis-match (4)
Different businesses have different ways of doing things and this can cause considerable problems in merging business units.
Don't overestimate the benefits (32)
Too often acquirers are overly optimistic of the outcomes of an acquisition. Inevitably they will fail to achieve their objectives.
Managing personal transitions (35)
Each individual will have to deal with their own uncertainties, loss of friends and changes to their situation. Acquirers must deal with this on an individual basis and not at a macro level.
You need to set and manage expectations (39)
The rumors and misinformation will start as soon as there is a sniff of a sale. You need to quickly take control and manage the expectations.
Why do you need to do due diligence on the target firm (46)
You need to examine inherent problems, review the possible change of ownership and work out if you can properly exploit the potential.
Integrating culture and process (48)
Two key factors to consider in integration are culture and process. Where either is different, considerable delays and costs will be incurred in merging operations.
