Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) have become the order of the day with companies trying hard to manage their presence in this competitive globalized world of business.

In today's corporate world, one inevitable topic of discussion in most of the boardrooms is that of "Mergers and Acquisitions". Whether in times of boom or bust, M&As continue to be the preferred option for businesses that seek rapid growth and more importantly, they are ideal for those businesses that want a change in the rules of the game in their sector. M&As help big and small players alike. Generally, we find that it is the mega deals, which receive all the attention and limelight from the media, whereas there are thousands of medium-sized companies, particularly of niche players, who use this route to help themselves develop their specialist and innovative capabilities.

Growth through acquisition plays a very important role in the success of many companies, especially in the new economy. It is true that acquiring is much faster than building. And speedspeed to market, speed to positioning, and speed to become a viable companyis absolutely essential in the new economy. In order to understand the importance of mergers and acquisitions in today's corporate world, one needs to understand how such a deal would be termed as "successful" or "unsuccessful". There are various parameters, which can determine the success or failure of a merger or an acquisition. The parameters, generally, comprise of the reasons themselves, which are apparently stated for undertaking such an activity by the company.

A number of studies were conducted after a host of failures in M&As for the past two decades. The studies initially focused on pre-acquisition issues, like whether failure can be attributed to inflated prices or poor strategy. Although these factors are important, the conclusion of a majority of studies revealed that post-acquisition factors were more critical determinant of success. According to a worldwide survey of companies in 1998/99 by Watson Wyatt, a consulting firm, retention of talent (76%), communication (71%) and integration of cultures (67%) were rated as the three most critical activities in a company's integration plan.

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