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Before a Merger, Consider Company Cultures Along with Financials

Harvard Business Review

Doing a stakeholder analysis to understand the additional challenges from political, regulatory, union, and community sources to be expected in the wake of a merger. It is an “outside-in” analysis that can be undertaken in parallel to all the financial negotiations.

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It’s Never Been More Important for Big Companies to Listen to Local Communities

Harvard Business Review

Managers who don’t understand the concerns of the communities in which they operate will spend more time defending the company against angry stakeholders than building positive relations with members of the community whose support is critical to their success. Too often, these tasks are pushed off to consultants.