In short, the article discusses: “The announcement in January of the merger between America Online and Time Warner marked the convergence of the two most important business trends of the last five years- the rise of the internet and the resurgence of mergers and acquisitions. M&A activity is at a fever pitch, spurred in a large part by the breathtaking influx of capital into the internet space. And all signs indicate the trend will only accelerate. Against this background, an impressive group of experienced deal makers came together to share their experiences of what makes mergers work. They were assembled in Scottsdale, Arizona, under the auspices of the M&A Group, a professional society formed in 1999 for CEOs interested in M&A as a business strategy. Participants included top executives from internet start-ups like Teligent; venture capital firms like Baroda Ventures; financial institutions like Merrill Lynch and PricewaterhouseCoopers; and major corporations like Allstate, Tyco International, SmithKline Beecham, Rohm and Haas, VF, Crown Cork &Seal, and Hughes Space and Communications. The spirited and surprisingly frank discussion cut a wide swath, considering issues such as whether most mergers fail to pan out as well as expected, how to increase the odds of success, the nuts and bolts of the integration process, the trade-offs between acquiring a company and growing from within, the important of cultural issues, and why anyone would want to be on the board of a merged company.”

It reads:

“The announcement in January of the merger between America Online and Time Warner marked the convergence of the two most important business trends of the last five years–the rise of the Internet and the resurgence of mergers and acquisitions. M&A activity is at a fever pitch, spurred in large part by the breathtaking influx of capital into the Internet space. And all signs indicate the trend will only accelerate. Against this background, an impressive group of experienced deal makers came together to share their experiences of what makes mergers work. They were assembled in Scottsdale, Arizona, under the auspices of the M&A Group, a professional society formed in 1999 for CEOs interested in M&A as a business strategy. Participants included top executives from Internet start-ups like Teligent; venture capital firms like Baroda Ventures; financial institutions like Merrill Lynch and PricewaterhouseCoopers; and major corporations like Allstate, Tyco International, SmithKline Beecham, Rohm and Haas, VF, Crown Cork & Seal, and Hughes Space and Communications. The spirited and surprisingly frank discussion cut a wide swath, considering issues such as whether most mergers fail to pan out as well as expected, how to increase the odds of success, the nuts and bolts of the integration process, the trade-offs between acquiring a company and growing from within, the importance of cultural issues, and why anyone would want to be on the board of a merged company.”

“Join the board of directors? Yes. The audit committee? No. That’s been the typical response from executives the world over when approached about board service—particularly in the past few years. After all, who in their right mind would want to trade sailing, golf, and exotic travel for the increasingly complex (not to mention high-profile) new world of financial disclosure and reporting? Since the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) legislation in 2002, audit team members have had to adapt to new constraints on operating frameworks and committee composition and endure longer and more frequent meetings filled with all manner of compliance minutiae, while putting their own reputations on the line.”

Carey says: “The corporate board that takes on a systematic, predictable and transparent process in choosing the next leaders of the organization build stronger cultures, clarify the company’s strategy and deliver value to all stakeholders, including employees.”

In an article, he explained:

“CEOs need to learn what they can from others who have acquired, largely by trial-and-error, insights into how to run a company. We believe there is an immense and largely untapped body of knowledge on these subjects. It resides among the fraternity of experienced, seasoned and retired CEOs who has been working in the trenches for many years. They may well be the best ‘executive education’ resource for current and future CEOs.”

On his website CEOsuccession.com, Mr. Carey presents some guidelines that are essential in any company:

“1. Have a strong, involved board

2. Continually expose top management to the board

3. Encourage the next generation of CEO prospects to get early experience with outside boards, the media and financial community

4. Create an active executive or operating committee so more executives get exposure to an overview of the company, its strategy and issues

5. Do succession planning on an on-going, real-time basis

In an article, he wrote:

“A company would do well to establish parallel approaches to succession. Insiders often get the corporate top job- in fact, more than 80% of the current Fortune 100 CEOs were selected from within the companies’ ranks- yet the high turnover among CEOs is testament to the frequency with which companies pick the wrong insider. A set of parallel approaches allows a company to gather comparable data about internal candidates, with each process filling the informational gaps left by the other.”

Carey says: “The corporate boards that take on a systematic, predictable and transparent process in choosing the next leaders of the organization build stronger cultures, clarify the company’s strategy and deliver value to all stakeholders, including employees.”

An example of a successful executive recruiter is Dennis Carey, Senior Client Partner at Korn/Ferry International. Mr. Carey specializes in CEO and corporate director recruitment.

Throughout his career, Carey has recruited CEOs and executives for 3M, Unisys, American Standard, Tyco International, MCI and many others. He has also found new board members and directors for companies like American Express, Rohm and Haas, Amgen, CBS, Tyco, AmerisourceBergen, V.F. Corporation, Allied Signal, Goldman Sachs, UNOCAL, Merrill Lynch, GlaxoSmithKline, CIGNA and others. Carey also co-founded numerous businesses, and wrote three books.

In the book “The Human Side of M&A” co-authors Dennis Carey and Dayton Ogden discuss the importance of addressing the human sides of mergers. They reveal various obstacles that many firms encounter, and explain how to avoid such risks. The book also includes a statistical appendix that analyzes successful transactions of the last ten years.

Paul Hanrahan of AES Corporation said in a review: “When you get right down to what makes mergers work in the end, it’s getting the people side of the equation sorted out fast. This book provides an extremely helpful framework to manage these issues in ways that will significantly enhance the execution of any M&A transaction.”