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We review our work as collaborators over nearly 40 years as researchers and OD practitioners on the human, cultural, and organizational aspects of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). This chapter addresses (1) how our thinking, research methods, and practices developed over time, (2) accounts of deriving theory from practice and contrariwise of applying theory to practical matters, (3) how our respective shifts from academe toward scholarly-practice influenced our thinking and how we write, and (4) varieties of scholarly collaboration – ranging from intensive interchange to sequential pitch and catch. Early work covers a study of a “white-knight” acquisition and then advising on post-merger integration in a hostile takeover, revealing the stages of a deal, dynamics of buyers and sellers, and human factors that produce the “merger syndrome.”

Throughout we talk about confronting challenges of the scholar-practitioner divide as it pertains to role definition and boundary management as well to our theorizing, writing, and publication agenda. The chapter concludes with reflections on doing applied research in collaboration with a colleague (and friend).

This chapter examines public versus private sector roles in addressing CSR/Sustainability issues in the United States. It provides an historical perspective on the primacy of market-driven corporate practice in the United States and recent moves by the state to “balance” private and public interests through both regulatory and non-regulatory means. A typology of government and business roles, based on “who leads” and “who makes the rules,” illustrates shared governance of CSR/Sustainability in a variety of multisector and public–private partnerships.

Case studies examine how the U.S. government interacts with business and NGOs and its varied roles in the shared governance of sustainability. Examples from field interviews with business leaders in global operator General Electric (Global Business Initiative on Human Rights), apparel maker-and-seller Patagonia (Aquatic “Hitchhikers”), electronics retailer Best Buy (product recycling), IBM (global corporate volunteering), and others illustrate varieties of shared governance between business and the state in operation today.

Depending on “who leads” and “who makes the rules,” there are variations in whether responsible actions by the private sector are regulatory versus voluntary and whether government’s role involves mandating, partnering, facilitating, or endorsing private sector efforts. Successful shared governance depends on business’s “license to cooperate” and the multiple parties’s sharing responsibility for their goals, operations, and results.

There is a substantial literature on multi-business CSR-related networks and on business–NGO partnerships. Less attention has been given to the role of governments in this space, particularly in the United States where, partly for historical reasons, a company’s relationship with and obligations to society have been regarded as discretionary more so than regulatory activity and where government intervention in markets and in the affairs of companies has been sharply resisted, particularly by business interests, and is suspect among the citizenry.

This chapter introduces the volume’s theme by considering how the forces of globalization and complexity are leading organizations to reshape and redesign themselves, how meeting the challenges of sustainable effectiveness and shared value require multiorganization networks and partnerships, and how networks and partnerships develop, function, and can produce both private benefits and public goods.

We apply findings from social and political evolution frameworks, partnership and collaboration research, and design for sustainability concepts to induce the likely conditions required for sustainable effectiveness from a network perspective.

Successful partnerships and collaborations in service of sustainable effectiveness will require individual organizations to change their objective function and build new and varied internal and external capabilities.

The chapter sets the stage for the volume’s contributions.

This chapter examines the case studies in this volume with a focus on concepts and methods used in the study of multi-organization networks and partnerships, motivations to join in multi-party collaboration, how multi-organization collaborations organized and managed, what kinds of value are created by collaborations, and the role of leadership therein.

A comparative look at four vertical networks (in health care and education); two “issue” networks/partnerships (sustainable seafood and water use); and the roles of government in collaboration in horizontal, vertical, and issue-based arrangements.

The chapter describes “lessons” learned about building both sustainability and collaborative capabilities in and across partnering organizations and about improving partnership structures, processes, and results.

The chapter sums and synthesizes the volume’s contributions.

This chapter examines recent practices being adopted in the Precombination Phase of a merger or acquisition–a period that typically has not been utilized by leaders to put deals on the track toward success. We begin by briefly reviewing the M&A process and highlighting the success factors and common problem areas in each of the three phases of a deal. We then discuss emerging trends in making the Precombination Phase more successful, including conducting a more thorough due diligence, setting a vision for the combined organization, accelerating early integration planning, and establishing integration principles and priorities.

Scholars have been conducting serious research on the human, organizational, and cultural aspects of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) for 30 years. Yet, over this period, there have only been modest improvements in the M&A success rate. In this chapter, the author examines corporate combinations, describes how human factors contribute to their failure or success, and identifies key research questions whose answers can help to improve the M&A success rate in both financial and human terms. The author proposes research questions for the key phases of a deal, including buying a company and putting companies together. And, reflecting an emerging trend among some frequent acquirers to build an internal competence in M&A execution, the author also proposes research questions for how to accelerate the process of learning from past combinations to better manage future ones.

Presents a broad review of theory and research about organizations as social, information processing, interpretive, and inquiring systems which locates the origins of key concepts behind organization learning. Shows how different schools of thought explain what is behind routine versus creative action in organizations, and what might be done to help people collectively unlearn old habits and develop new behaviours. Looks at contemporary models and practices, and considers to what extent holistic thinking and work arrangements will promote organizational learning, and how measures to enhance collective consciousness could enable people to learn how to learn.

Examines the environmental innovations of several progressive businesses, including Ben & Jerry′s and the Body Shop, in the areas of products, processes, and campaigns to save the planet. Discusses how the green consumer market, copy‐cat competitors, infrastructure development, employee motivation, and interorganizational partnerships factor into these firms′ environmental agendas. Pays special attention to why these firms emphasize environmentalism in their business strategy and corporate culture. Reviews some of the value‐laden issues posed by aggressive environmentalism – such as the risks associated with self‐promotion, dominance of one group′s values over another′s, and the durability of environmentalism in the face of business downturns. Closes with a roster of future research questions.

Corporate branding has broadened its reach to include delivering the brand's promise to the full range of organizational stakeholders both inside and outside the firm. In turn, new approaches to corporate social responsibility (CSR), involving employee, community, and stakeholder engagement, dovetail neatly with this idea of enterprise branding. This chapter will look, first, at the connections between corporate branding and CSR, and then at how design thinking and processes can be applied to join the two. Next it examines, from our firsthand experience, how several global companies linked the two to (1) rebrand their relationship to society or (2) repurpose their CSR efforts. All the firms have taken what seem to be serious brand-driven moves to create sustainable value for their businesses and society. The chapter concludes with a look at how corporate branding and CSR can be applied to organization design, product innovation, and the transformation of an organization.