题目内容
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The proposed merger of two pharmaceutical groups failed because
A．major shareholders were opposed.
B．there was a-fall in the demand for their products.
C．there were problems combining their areas of expertise.
D．an issue of personal rivalry could not be resolved.
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According to the e-mail, why was a merger proposed？
A．To improve Hartford"s productivity.
B．To benefit from new technology of Greenleaf Company.
C．To take advantage of Greenleaf"s facilities.
D．To receive more grants from the local government.
What is the purpose of the e-mail？
A．To notify employees of a successful merger.
B．To report the company"s record sales.
C．To announce a change in business plans.
D．To introduce a new company lawyer to board members.
•For each question (13-18), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.
Achieving a successful merger
However attractive the figures may look on paper, in the long run the success or failure of a merger depends on the human factor. When the agreement has been signed and the accountants have departed, the real problems may only just be beginning. If there is a culture clash between the two companies in the way their people work, then all the efforts of the financiers and lawyers to strike a deal may have been in vain.
According to Chris Bolton of KS Management Consultants, 70% of mergers fail to live up to their promise of shareholder value, not through any failure in economic terms but because the integration of people is unsuccessful. Corporates, he explains, concentrate their efforts before a merger on legal, technical and financial matters. They employ a range of experts to obtain the most favourable contract possible. But even at these early stages, people issues must be taken into consideration. The strengths and weaknesses of both organisations should be assessed and, if it is a merger of equals, then careful thought should be given to which personnel, from which side, should take on the key roles.
This was the issue in 2001 when' the proposed merger between two pharmaceutical companies promised to create one of the largest players in the industry. For both companies the merger was intended to reverse falling market share and shareholder value. However, although the companies' skill bases were compatible, the chief executives of the two companies could not agree which of them was to head up the new organisation. This illustrates the need to compromise if a merger is to take place.
But even in mergers that do go ahead, there can be culture dashes. One way to avoid this is to work with focus groups to see how employees view the existing culture of their organisation. In one example, where two global organisations in the food sector were planning to merge, focus groups discovered that the companies displayed very different profiles. One was sales-focused, knew exactly what it wanted to achieve and pushed initiatives through. The other got involved in lengthy discussions, trying out options methodically and making contingency plans. The first responded quickly to changes in the marketplace; the second took longer, but the option it eventually chose was usually the correct one. Neither company's approach would have worked for the other.
The answer is not to adopt one company's approach, or even to try to incorporate every aspect of both organlsations, but to create a totally new culture. This means taking the best from both sides and making a new organisation that everyone can accept. Or almost everyone. Inevitably there will be those who cannot adapt to a different culture. Research into the impact of mergers has found that companies .with differing management styles are the ones that need to work hardest at creating a new culture.
Another tool that can help to get the right cultural mix is intercultural analysis. This involves carrying out research that looks at the culture of a company and the business culture of the country in which it is based. It identifies how people, money and time are managed in a company, and investigates the business customs of the country and how its politics, economics and history impact on the way business is done.
According to the text, mergers can encounter problems when
A．contracts are signed too quickly.
B．experts cannot predict accurate figures.
C．conflicting attitudes cannot be resolved.
D．staff are opposed to the terms of the deal.
Google Closes In on DoubleClick Deal
Score one for Google. The Federal Trade Commission ruled Dee. 20 that it would not block Google's (GOOG) proposed＄3.1 billion acquisition of leading online ad-serving and tracking firm DoubleClick. The 4-1 decision in Google's favor marked a major win for the Web search Goliath, which is battling to expand its considerable share of the ＄30 billion online advertising market beyond tiny text ads related to Web queries.
But Googie can't claim victory yet. The European Union's antitrust commission still needs to sign off on the merger before Google can begin incorporating DoubleClick into its business. That may not happen without Google agreeing to certain conditions, if at all. Already, the EU has raised concerns about its impact on consumer privacy. "This is round one of a two-round battle," says Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), a nonprofit public interest group that opposed the merger. "The EU can kill the deal, there is no question about it."
The FTC said in its decision that it could only consider privacy concerns as they relate to marketplace competition. But it did issue a separate statement with some recommendations concerning online customer data collection and privacy.
The Personal Business of Ad Placement
Google has faced strong opposition to its online advertising ambitions since it announced plans to acquire DoubleCliek in April (BusinessWeek.com, 4/14/07 ). Competitors for online ad dollars, such as Microsoft (MSFT), argue the merger will enable Google to effectively control the market. Ads placed beside Web search results account for more than 40% of the dollars spent online, and Google controls more than two-thirds of that market, according to eMarketer. Much of the remaining online ad dollars go to display ads, the poster-like banners--DoubleClick's forte--that run on most Web sites.
Online ads are priced based on how well they are matched to the target consumer. Google collects data on searches performed by individual computers, and DoubleClick records information about the computers that visit the Web pages in its network. The more data they collect, the better they can match a marketer's ad to a potentially interested customer, and the higher the premium they can charge on the ad.
But consumer groups see the issue another way: the more data collected, the higher the risk of violating someone's privacy. For the past eight months, groups voiced concerns to the FTC that a combined Google/ DoubleClick would aggregate too much information about what Web surfers do online, putting consumers at risk. In the end, the majority of the commissioners decided DoubleClick does not control enough of the display-ad market to give Google an unfair monopoly. "Competition among firms in this market is vigorous and will likely increase," the commission majority wrote in a statement.
Increased Competition
Recent announcements by Google's chief competitors support this argument. On Dec. 19, Microsoft—one of the few to challenge Google's merger before the FTC--announced a ＄500 million, five-year advertising deal to place ads on Viacom's (VIA) network of popular Web sites, including MTV.com. Microsoft will also be able to sell ad space on Viacom pages that are not in a premium position, based on the data it has about visitors to Viacom's sites.
Microsoft also recently solidified multiyear advertising agreements with Facebook, the second most popular social network in the U.S., after News Corp.'s (NWS) MySpace, and well-trafficked social news site Digg (BusinessWeek.com, 9/19/07 ). "When Microsoft comes into a room and talks about anticompetitive behavior. and threats to privacy, no one can take them seriously," says the CDD's Chester.
It also didn't help Google opponents that many of the company's competitors recently
A．Google doesn't agree to certain conditions.
B．The European Union needs to sign often the merge.
C．Google has raised concerns about consumer privacy.
D．Google can't begin incorporating DoubleClick into it's business.
What was Lenovo's ranking in PC in the world before the merger？
A．Third
B．Fourth.
C．Sixth.
D．Eighth.
It is______that took the initiative in the merger？
A．Arcelor
B．Mittal Steel
C．Luxemburg
D．WTO
A merger in which firms at various stages in a production process combine is a______.
A．horizontal merger
B．vertical merger
C．conglomerate merger
D．production merger
A．immediately
B．imminently
C．extensively
D．initially
The writer's idea about merger is that
A．it's not easy to stop the urge to merger.
B．merger leads to increased margins.
C．CEOs have a cold response toward merger.
D．the cost of merger will outweigh any profits.
According to Chris Bolton, what do many organisations do in preparation for a merger？
A．ensure their interests are represented
B．give reassurances to shareholders
C．consider the effect of a merger on employees
D．analyse the varying strengths of their staff
