Bill Brandt <[log in to unmask]> wrote in article
<[log in to unmask]>...

> On the other hand the Board makes a point that Walter Hewlett hasn't
> suggested any alternatives...and their revenues would increase
> dramatically - doubling the sales force (where were they with the 3000?)
;-)
>

Actually the Walter has proposed an alternative.  "Don't merge!"  The
opponents analysis is that while the merger would increase the size of the
company, the resulting merger related problems (there always are) would eat
up the gains.  The resulting indigestion (Packard's ad) would be more
harmful.

Problems after the merging of big companies is real!!  The uncertainty of
which products will remain or go hurts sales.  The sales force is often
MUCH MUCH larger than needed, so there is a pruning action that happens.
This means of course that the HP sales person that understood your needs
may be replaced by a Compaq sales engineer (and vice versa).

Order processing is always impacted as different systems are combined, as
is Human Resources, financials, etc.  Merging of big companies can take
several years to complete and before the fallout begins to fade.

As for the success of growing companies by merging / buying.  Take a look
at Lucent - one of Carly's former companies,  the bubble has burst.

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