The love that Dorothea feels for Randall, and the love Tony Kytes feels for Milly Essay Example for Free

The love that Dorothea feels for Randall, and the love Tony Kytes feels for Milly Essay After reading the short stories The Unexpected by Kate Chopin and Tony Kytes, the Arch Deceiver by Thomas Hardy, how far would you agree with this statement? The Unexpected is the tale of Randall and Dorothea, a passionate relationship driven apart by an unfortunate illness. The second story Tony Kytes, the Arch-Deceiver is a story of a man in love with three different women for three different reasons. The Unexpected is a tale of an intense relationship between Randall and Dorothea. Due to be married Randall, for a brief absence, left his Dorothea and the author describes the parting as bitter: the enforced separation.too cruel an ordeal to bear, The goodbye dragged with lingering kisses and signs, showing just how much the parting hurt More kisses and more clinging till the last wrench came. Unfortunately near the end of the month of which Randall was to return, filled with Daily letters impassioned and interminable, he was struck ill and delayed for yet another month. During all this the author describes the waiting for Dorothea as torture but even though she wanted to be at Randalls side she knew her parents would never permit such a thing as it was frowned upon for an unmarried man and a woman to be alone together not chaperoned, even for an engaged couple. Letters come from Randall telling Dorothea that he is obliged by his doctors to travel south before winter sets in but would first revisit his home town. Randall is very much in love with Dorothea calling her his dearest one to his heart and Craving her lips. Dorothea misses Randall a lot reading his letters until they were in tatters and then gazing for hours upon his portrait which showed him as an almost perfect specimen of youthful health, strength and manly beauty. Randall had written to her to tell her he altered greatly in appearance and even wrote that he would hardly recognize him. She waited with baited breath and anticipation filled her body until the moment came when the meeting actually proceeded, she could never have been prepared for the dramatic change in his appearance. He was a mere shadow of who he once was and Dorotheas feelings for him began to change she stared at him in wonder and mistrust rather than fear. What hideous transformation had he undergone? shows how much she hated the new look he had. Dorothea cant bear to have Randall touch her shes repulsed by how he now looks. The use of the vocabulary shuddering, shrinking, shriveling, describes how she felt her love for Randall die within her. They talked for a while (or rather Randall talked) and he insisted they marry at once in fear he would not recover from his illness, We must not put it off Dorothea. Let the marriage be at once. Dorothea was not so keen on this idea and she made attempts to pull away claiming she would be a hindrance and in her heart she was saying Never, never, never Randall had another reason to marry Dorothea Im quite-almost sure I shall get well; but the strongest of us cannot count upon life. If worse should come I want you to have all I possess; what fortune I have must be yours, and marriage will make my wish secure. This shows that Randall loves Dorothea and only wishes to make her future is financially secure incase he cannot be with her. But Dorotheas refuel saying she be a hindrance shows she didnt love Randall for his money; she is also quite stifled by his proposal. After a last coughing fit Randall is taken away by his attendant Dorothea watches him leave without a word. She was glad no one was present to compel her to speak, she didnt want people to make her change her mind as she thinks about this problem, shes embarrassed to speak and would have had to lie. Dorothea mounts her bike as if fleeing from death himself shows how much she needed to get away to be free from the people that would ask her of the wedding to come, seemingly borne on by come force other than mechanical-some unwanted energy- a sudden impulse that lightened her eyes. She rides through unfamiliar country and the road becomes rough and unfrequented and she doesnt stop until shes sure she is alone with just nature surrounding her. She never spoke a word after bidding him good-by: but now she seemed disposed to make confidants and the extract ends by saying Never she whispered, Not for all his thousands! Never, never! Not for millions! Dorothea is most defidently not interested in Randalls money but the relationship was based on looks rather than personality as so were many relationships during that time. The second title Tony Kytes, the Arch-Deceiver by Thomas Hardy, the title gives the reader an instant impression of the kind of man Tony is, a deceiver. Hes not described by how handsome he is, like Randall is during the first extract, it concentrates more on his charm and personality. Tony is engaged to Milly Richards, who is described as a nice, light, tender little thing. Oh his way driving home one Saturday after being at market with his father he saw waiting for him Unity Sallet, a handsome girl, one of the women hed been very tender toward before getting engaged to Milly. The words one of the women indicates that there was more than just one hed been quite friendly with and gives the reader an impression that he likes to have lots of women. As soon as Tony drives by her in his wagon she asks My dear Tony, will you give me a lift home? Tony replies That I will darling, you dont suppose I could refuse ee? This gives the reader an impression that Tony may still have feelings for Unity. Unity obviously considers herself to be better than Molly when she is talking to Tony, I should have made ee a finer wife, and a more loving one too. Tony appears weak as she talks to him asking if he did not think her pretty. He let his eyes light upon her for a long while. In fact, I never knowed you was so pretty before! But when she asks if she is prettier than Milly he does not reply as over the hedge past turning he sees the feather he knew well- the feather in Millys hat. Tony persuades Unity to hide in the back of the wagon Now dearest Unity, will ye, to avoid all unpleasantness, which I know ye cant bear any more than I, will ye lie down in the back of the wagon till Milly has passed? Tony knows that its wrong for him to be seen with another woman rather than his fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ in public. When Tony sees Milly she does not ask for a ride. Tony lies saying he thought she was going to see her mother not waiting for him. They talked until they reached a house and who is looking out the window but Hannah Jolliver, another young beauty of the place at that time, and the first woman Tony had fallen in love with. Described as much more dashing girl than Milly Richards, thought Tony had not thought of her late. Tony then persuades Milly to hide in the back of the wagon, the other side to Unity I see a young woman a-looking out of window, who I think many accost me. The fact is Milly, she ha a notion that I was wishing to marry her, and since shes discovered to marry another, and a prettier than she. I rather afeard of her temper if she sees us together. I dont mind to oblige you, Tony, Milly said though she didnt care much about doing it, she crept under the seat. Hannah appears to be quiet curt Well, arent you going to be civil enough to ask me to ride home with you? The more Tony looked at Hannah while he was driving the more he like her, till he couldnt for the life of him think why he had ever said a word about marriage to Milly or Unity while Hannah Jolliver was in question. Youve settled it with Milly by this time I suppose? Hannah said and Tony talks quietly N-no, not exactly. He speaks quietly as not to be overheard. Hannah asks if he likes Milly more than her and if he asked her she wouldnt say no. Tony was won over by the pretty face and he whispered very softly to her I havent quite promised her, and I think I can get out of it and ask you that question you speak off. Unfortunately Hannah shouted very loud clapping her hands Throw over Milly-all to marry me! There was an angry, spiteful squeak and afterward a long moan, as if somethings heart had broken. This shows that it most probably was Milly and that she really did care for Tony. Tony sees his father in the field calling him, handing the reins to Hannah he finds his father with a stern look. It looks to me as if Mr. Kytes does not particularly like Hannah and doesnt want his son causing a scandal. Tony ends up confessing to his father that both Unity and Milly are also in the wagon and he asks his father for advice. Whatever of em did not ask to ride with thee? His father tells him. But Tony objects. Stick to Milly, shes the best. His father advice before warning Tony to take the reins from Hannah has the horse begins at a brisk walking pace. Milly becomes restless after hearing Tony and Hannah talking and she spies another womans foot, Unitys foot. Both women rage in whisper of how disgraceful it is for the other to be hiding in a young mans wagon. I am engaged to be married to him, and havent I a right to be here? What right has you, I should like to know? What has he been promising you? A pretty lot of nonsense, I expect! But what Tony says to other women is all mere wind, and no concern to me! Milly says getting louder, this shows she doesnt believe anything that Tony says to other women is true, its lies and doesnt matter to her. She really does love him. Hes going to have Hannah, and not you, nor me either; I could hear that. Unity says. At the sound of the voices rising Hannah lets go of the reins and the horse walks off turning to quick at the hill, the wheels went up on the bank and the wagon tips on its side. Tony comes running frightened and breathless and was relieved to see that none of his darlings was hurt but for a few scratches from the brambles, he cares for all three girls and likes them all for different reasons. Hes scared to find them all arguing He would have kissed them all round and square as a man could but they were talking too much to let him. First Tony says he wants Hannah to be his. Hannahs father was coming up behind them and Hannah was crying worse than ever. My daughter is not willing, sir! says Mr. Jolliver hot and strong Be you willing, Hannah? I ask ye to have spirit enough to refuse him, if yer virtue is left to ee and you run no risk. Mr. Jolliver clearly dislikes Tony, Hannah refuses partly because of her father and too partly in a tantrum because of her discovery. Little did I think when I was so soft with him just now that I was talking to such a false deceiver False deceiver hence the actual title of the book. Second he asks Unity to marry him and she snaps at him and walks off following the Jollivers footsteps, hoping that Tony might follow her. Finally he asked Milly, the last left and the one he was actual engaged to, if she would marry him claiming it do seem as if fate had ordained that it should be you and I, or nobody. Losing all semblance of what had been is how Dorothea phrases her emotions; this appears to be a common theme throughout both extracts, In other words the fickleness of love. In both stories the love is lost in different ways, but this love however was based on appearance rather than true love. In my opinion in the first extract Randall and Dorothea have a passionate relationship until there forced to separate and Randall become ill. The relationship isnt based on money as Dorothea refused to stay with him Never, she whispered not for all his thousands! Never, never! Not for millions! Its true that Randall changed in appearance but if Dorothea had really truly loved him she would never has left him no matter what he looked like when he was ill. But if it were reversed would Randall have still loved Dorothea if her looks had changed. If it were true love it would not matter what they looked like but to Dorothea it certainly did and so I believe it is mere infatuation rather than true love. With Tony Kytes, he seems to like all three girls for three different reasons, he cant have just one he wants them all and hes confused about who he should choose he knows that its wrong but he does it anyway, and to me he seems to see the women as objects rather than actual living breathing people. Overall it most diffidently seems to be infatuation rather than true love.

Poetry Difficulty :: essays research papers

Poetry Difficulty   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Poetry unlike fiction is solely based on the author’s personal take on a certain subject. The tone, diction, syntax, and mood of a poem are all determined by the author of the poem. For some readers, to interpret a poem or explain the plot can be a difficult task. Other forms of literature such, as fiction is much easier to understand and discuss.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One reason fiction is easier to understand and discuss is that it has a plot, setting, a cast of characters, and a theme. Most fiction books follow the same common outline when it comes to structure. Poetry does not fit in this category. Poetry can be written about something or about nothing. A reader can interpret a poem in more than one way. On occasion, a poem may be difficult to discuss or understand because the reader doesn’t know what the author is writing about.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fictional stories are usually longer than poems. Poets also utilize literary techniques such as alliteration, assonance, and repetition in their poetry to influence the way a reader feels when reading the piece of literature. Fictional stories may also have some of these techniques in them, but they are lost amongst the plot and story line.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Every author whether poet or writer has their own personal style of writing. Poets have more flexibility with their style. Long stanzas, rhythm, punctuation, no punctuation, fragments, and repetition are just a few options a poet has when creating their masterpiece. These tools may make it difficult for a reader to understand the full meaning of a poem. Diction can also play a role with problem in understanding poetry. A reader may need to research where the author is from and what year the poem was written in, in order to get the full effect of the poem and the underlying meanings in it.

Public Policy for Animal Welfare in India

Public Policy for ANIMAL WELFARE in INDIA. Issues, Challenges and Recommendations Submitted by – DR. PUNIT G. (PGP-2), IIMA. ARTICLE 51 of INDIAN CONSTITUTION Article 51 of Indian constitution provides protection to animals in India by ensuring â€Å"Compassion to all living creatures†. For ensuring the same, PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS act was enacted in 1960 under which the Government of India instituted the ANIMAL WELFARE BOARD of INDIA for carrying out the activities mentioned in the above mentioned act. Following are some of the important points to be discussed in this backdrop: 1.Saving of DOG population from mass killing by local municipal corporations. a. Enforcing the ANIMAL BIRTH CONTROL PROGRAMME throughout India, i. e. replacing mass killing of stray dogs with vaccination & sterilization programmes. 2. Creating SPCA’s (Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), monitoring their activities, and derecognizing those which are non-working or misu sing their mandate. 3. Work towards licensing and taxation of all dog and cat sellers. The report that follows will discuss each issue in the backdrop of the necessity for creating such an article in the act, the relevance in today? time, critical analysis of the policy, any suggestions/recommendations to improve the efficacy for the purpose for which it was put in the first place. ABC program: â€Å"SAVING of DOG POPULATION from MASS KILLING† OVERVIEW: Mass killing of stray dogs was started in India in the 19th century during the times of Britishruled India. Almost 50,000 dogs were killed every year even after Independence by the local municipal authorities with an objective to eradicate RABIES and also reduce the stray dog population in India. But in 1993, finally the government admitted that this policy had een a complete failure as human deaths due to rabies had actually increased, and also the dog population was on a rise. This meant that the application of the technique (mass-killing) which was followed in developed countries, did not work in India (a developing nation) as the two environments and scenarios are hugely different from each other. Hence in 1994, the killing programme was replaced by ABC (Animal Birth Control) which meant masssterilization (with mass-vaccination against rabies) instead of mass-killing. In either case, the final objective of the programme is straight-forward – â€Å"Controlling the population of stray dogs. OBJECTIVE of POPULATION CONTROL program: Rather than understanding the pros and cons of any method, let us first begin by laying out the objectives for any such system to be in place. Here are a few of the possible objectives: 1. Protecting the public health at large (as dogs are carriers/vectors for many diseases, including Rabies) 2. Maintaining community hygiene, especially in the urban context. The reasons for doing so are based on some of the facts and statistics highlighted below: i. ii. India has the highest population of stray dogs in the world, an estimated 19 million. 0% of all rabies deaths world-wide occur in India, about 30,000 deaths reported each year. iii. iv. 42% of dog-bite victims are children Noise pollution caused by night fights between dog-packs is a severe problem for senior citizens. v. Stray dogs on runways have forced pilots to take evasive action, causing near-accidents to aircraft and necessitating orders from the Mumbai High Court to IAAI to take all necessary measures to clear airport areas of stray dogs. UNDERSTANDING THE â€Å"STRAY DOG† ISSUE: â€Å"Stray dogs† are the ownerless, abandoned, un-muzzled, wandering dogs on the urban road, i. . Free-ranging urban dogs (wikipedia). This means either they are ownerless right from their birth, or become ownerless at some point in their lifetime. These may be pure-bred, true mixed-breed, or un-bred (e. g. Indian pariah). Overpopulation of these stray dogs can cause public health problems for the societies in which they wander freely. The important point to be understood here is that – the societies at risk are majorly the URBAN societies. A lot of literature regarding the stray dogs talks in the context of urban landscape only.Hence it is imperative to understand the reason behind strays becoming a nuisance/menace/problem for the urban landscape, but not majorly for the rural landscape. Is it an URBAN MENACE? Stray dogs or the Indian pariahs are considered scavengers. Principally, this means that they live on the scraps or leftovers from the human households. This is not shocking as history tells us that dogs are those descendants from the wolves which got domesticated due to the humans using them in their hunting expeditions, and rewarding them by passing over chunks of meat or leftovers from the kill.This also implies that this particular evolution of the wolf species has been artificially induced by the humankind. This backdrop is essential in the light of the dis cussion ahead, as the SCAVENGER nature or utility feature is a part of the domestication feature during the evolution of the dogs. Since ancient times, dogs domesticated around villages serving two primary functions. These being: A. Sanitation B. Security As dogs used to live off on the scraps and the edible waste from the house-holds, they became scavengers in addition to the other natural scavenger animals (including birds).This also meant that they served as an important step in the maintenance of hygiene of the villages by performing effective waste management. In the urban scenario, such a natural waste management system is of no use as there are better waste management systems at disposal. This led to scarcity in the natural food (leftovers) for dogs, leading to the usual survival phenomena of forming packs and searching for food. Hence, this puts the urban society at risk. But given the open access to garbage (a result of improper waste management) in urban areas of developin g countries, dogs have found a way to live and breed freely.Hence, the resultant has been that the stray dog-population has been on a rise even when mass-killing was in place. So the technique of control is not a problem in first place, but the lack of proper waste management in the urban scenario. This also brings out an important hypothesis – â€Å"Population control measure of any kind is bound to fail in absence of proper urban waste management systems which lead to free-access of these stray animals to waste which acts as their source of food. † Dogs are territorial animals – that means they guard their territory, not just from other dogs but from anyone they perceive as intruders.This is a feature which has been exploited / put to use by the humans for decades of their symbiosis together. But in the urban setting, this utility feature is not put to use at all, except the use of certain breeds of dogs (mainly nonIndian origin) for security/guarding purpose. The innate guarding nature of dogs lead to these strays barking on beggars entering into new territories, attacking speeding vehicles ONLY DURING NIGHT TIMES, etc. An interesting example to prove this case is the instance of a few stray dogs barking on the 26-11 attackers when they landed by a ferry in Mumbai.These strays were continuously barking at those people trying to make the locals aware that they are sensing some deviation from the normal – perhaps sensing a major threat. But the locals chose to ignore this, and the rest is a fateful history. This also brings out an important hypothesis – â€Å"Stray dogs are nuisance in urban settings not because they are not a fit in the urban environment, but because we haven’t been able to tap into their innate abilities and utilize them for maintain the centuriesold symbiosis between the two species. †ANALYSIS/EVALUATION/CRITIQUE OF THE FACTS: i. India has the highest population of stray dogs in the world, a n estimated 19 million. A simple look at this fact makes us think that it is time to control this population. But a deeper understanding of dynamics of dog population will clear a lot of air. Dog populations follow a specific growth curve – the initial being an EXPONENTIAL growth curve, followed by decrease in birth rate and increase in death rate reaching equilibrium depending on the carrying capacity of the environment to keep this balance.The carrying capacity of environment means the availability, distribution and quality of resources (shelter, food and water) which aid the natural growth of dog population. (Jimenez-Coello) This also implies that dog population control measure cannot be seen independent of the factors which impact it. Hence, control on the carrying factors is a pre-requisite for the direct control measures like â€Å"sterilization† to actually succeed. ii. 80% of all rabies deaths world-wide occur in India, about 30,000 deaths reported each year. R abies is a preventable viral disease transmitted through the saliva of INFECTED animals.Dogs are the most common source of transmission to humans. The control measures adopted currently are the â€Å"Vaccination programs† against rabies. Now the efficacy of such a program depends on a lot of factors which involve maintaining the cold storage or cold supply chain of the vaccine, administering the vaccine when the dog is normal health, administering in puppy stage, regular annual vaccination, etc. The question which arises here is how a stray dog, living in open conditions, can be made to confirm to all the above criteria. Hence, the efficacy of this system will always be questionable.Also, a major loophole exists in actual implementation of this measure – the number of dogs vaccinated by any animal welfare organization is simply taken at the face-value by the AWB. Shouldn? t there be a correlation between the population of dogs in a given area, number of dogs vaccinated and number of rabies incidents reported/found? This should be an evaluation criterion to confirm if the organization is efficient in performing the objective of rabies control. iii. Noise pollution caused by night fights between dog-packs is a severe problem for senior citizens.Do dogs bark only when they fight? If yes, do they occur only during the night? Many such questions can be raised to actually test the truth behind this fact. Yes, barking leads to noise pollution, disturbance during night etc. but dogs bark when they feel threatened OR perceive someone to be a threat to their territory. We also need to prepare a report on number of petty thefts (stealing car audio, burglary etc. ) being prevented due to stray dogs barking at night. That would be a valid critique for the above fact. THE SOLUTION (Combination of CONTROL and UTILITY)A unique model which suits a developing nation like INDIA needs to be created for ensuring that the dog population doesn? t actually become a mena ce to the society. A species which has long been living in harmony and symbiosis with the human race since ages, doesn? t mutate into a pest for humans – just because we haven? t found a utility of this domesticated species. Along with ANIMAL BIRTH CONTROL PROGRAM and VACCINATION PROGRAM, a „COLLECTIVE PETTING? methodology is proposed which is as follows: POLICE SYSTEM Aid to curb urban crime (theft, burglary, etc) Search & Rescue assistance during DISASTERS.EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Involving students in proper care of strays. Development of a broader understanding of urban environmental balance in students. Development of caring attitude for animals in students. – NGO’s Driving force of this entire project VETERINARY HEALTHCARE Preventive Health care system. Market research. Outsourcing of food & medicines for the project. Efficient implementation of the project. – – Main co-ordinator between all the key players. Think-Tank for this entire p roject. – HOUSING SOCIETIES Collective Adoption of Stray dogs. Better security solution. Reduction in menace to the society.

Acquisitions - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 19 Words: 5678 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Table 3.1 First Merger Wave 1897 1904 10 Table 3.2 Merger and Acquisitions in 1990s 18 Figure 3.1 First Merger Wave 1897 -1904 11 Figure 3.2 Third Merger Wave 1963 1970 12 Figure 3.3 Merger Acquisitions in 1970 -1980 14 Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Acquisitions" essay for you Create order LITERATURE REVIEW Many firms used corporate mergers or acquisitions as business strategy to accomplish various objectives. For instance, businesses used acquisitions to enter into new markets and regions, allocate capital or gain technical expertise and knowledge. Therefore, organizations often utilize strategic mergers and acquisitions in order to grow or survive. However most of the poorly managed acquisitions or merger resulted in disappointing performance and up to 50 percent are considered unsuccessful (see Louis, 1982). Furthermore, according to Smith and Hershman (1997), it was held by Mercer Management Consulting that in 1980s, 57 percent of acquisitions were failed and the successful corporate acquisitions in 1990s were hardly 50 percent (p.39, cited in Smith and Hershman, 1997). To date, merger or acquisition is one of the most widely used instruments to enhance the growth of organizations. Systematic and sophisticated corporate research helps companies to understand the pre and post-acquisitions performance and achieving other business objectives (as discussed in Singh Zollo, 2000). However, according to Sirower (1997), empirical academic literature does not provide any clear understanding, which facilitates the managers to maximise the success of acquisitions or merger programs. Therefore, understanding the source of value creation is critical to determine the causes of failure or success in corporate merger or acquisitions. The literature review presented in this section critically evaluates and analyze the earlier studies in order to solve the paradigm of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Merger Acquisitions and Value Creationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. Corporate Acquisitions and Their Research Paradigms Datta et al. (1992) suggested two distinct frameworks for acquisitions programmes to identify sources of shareholders wealth i.e. strategic management and financial economics literature and both approaches follow different research directions. The strategic management approach focused on factors that have been controlled by management. For instance, Datta et al (1992) suggested that in order to assess the post-acquisition performance, this approach attempts to differentiate between various diversification strategies and types of acquisitions or types of payment in acquisitions (i.e. stock vs. cash). In contrast, financial economic research attempted to prove the unique hypothesis of market for corporate control. This approach views the acquisition activities as a contest among different management teams in a competition to control corporate firms as argued by Datta et al (1992). Therefore, this view suggests that the value creation through merger or acquisitions is decided by capital market and its characteristics including its competitiveness such as regulatory modification affecting a particular market (see Datta et al, 1992). However, these two methodologies are unable to explain the factors resulting in unsuccessful corporate acquisitions. Thus, many academics such as Chatterjee (1992), attempted to identify critical variables of ineffective performance in acquisitions or merger activities by studying the relationship between post-acquisition performance and integration. While the initial notion by Kitching (1967) that the key factor for a successful corporate acquisition is the post-acquisition integration process, it was recognised that acquisition or merger activities create value not only from strategic factors realised through synergies (see Chatterjee, 1992), but also from the process itself, which leads to anticipated synergistic factors, as reflect in capital market expectations (see Jemison and Sitkin, 1986). Therefore, it is very important to understand the processes and factors resulting in corporate merger and acquisitions value creation before we critically evaluate the research paradigm of value creation. Evolution of Acquisitions In order to improve the understanding of the research hypothesis, firstly this paper attempts to review trends of acquisitions and mergers followed by comments on value creation during these periods. For illustration purposes, I will focus my attention to the US economy considering the fact that corporate sector is enriched with these activities and capital markets of United States are much developed comparative to rest of the world. Following section presents the analysis of corporate mergers and acquisitions programmes dated back to1897. The First Wave, 1897-1904: According to Gaughan (1999), this particular period is dominated by horizontal acquisitions resulting surge in stock markets and ultimately creation of monopolies. Some of the todays giant conglomerates created in first wave include General Electric, American Tobacco, Du Pont, Kodak and Standard Oil (see Gaughan, 1999). First Merger Wave 1897 1904 Year Number of Mergers 1897 69 1898 303 1899 1208 1900 340 1901 423 1902 379 1903 142 1904 79 Table 3.1 First Merger Wave 1897 1904 Source: Gaughan (1999), p.24 Figure 3.1 First Merger Wave 1897 -1904 Data Source: Gaughan (1999), p.24 The Second Wave, 1916-1929: In contrast to first wave which is termed as merging for monopoly, the second wave is termed as merging for oligopoly. Gaughan (1999) pointed out that the reason of this terminology is the predominance of vertical or horizontal integration of companies during the period of 1925 to end of the decade. Moreover, Jemison and Stikin (1986) argued that the abundant capital availability stimulated by favourable economic conditions resulted in prominent corporate mergers and integration. Further according to Gaughan (1999), the antitrust law force during this era was stricter comparative to the first merger wave, which created more oligopolies and vertical integration and fewer monopolies in contrast to earlier wave. The Third Wave, 1965-1969: According to Gaughan (1986), the decade of 1960s observed controversial of the merger and acquisitions activities and termed as conglomerates. The companies such as ITT (International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, USA) and Textron acquired numerous unrelated businesses to diversify and to reduce cyclic risks. Furthermore, during this period the conglomerates not only grew rapidly and profitably but the management were perceived to be skilful as well, which facilitated the diversity in acquisitions and operations of the companies (see Judelson, 1969). For instance, Geneen (1984) documented that during this wave ITT built itself into a highly diversified conglomerate by acquiring various businesses such as insurance, food and car rentals. Moreover, he found that executives of the company used the advanced financial tools like detailed budgeting and tight financial controls to make these acquisitions successful and well-functioning. Following figure presents the overview of the a ctivities during the period: Scholars like Goold and Luchs (1993) argued that general management skills were one of the vital factors in successful acquisitions and mergers during this era, which also helped corporations to diversify in different businesses. Moreover, engaging in unrelated business by many companies was based on the assumptions that different businesses would not require dissimilar managerial skills (see Goold and Luchs, 1993). However, in late 1960s companies start facing performance problems and the share price of these conglomerates such as Textron fell almost 50% comparative to 9% drop in Dow Jones Industrial average (see Bonge and Coleman, 1972). Furthermore, in early 1970s companies began to experience profitless growth like General Electric sales increased by 40% from 1965 to 1970 but its profit actually dropped (see Goold and Quinn, 1990). According to Gaughan (1999), the era has been ended when ITT spin off in three different companies. It is perceived that most of the mergers during the period failed and companies jettisoned their under-performing and unrelated business to face the competitive environment (see Sikora, 1995). In addition, Sadlter et al (1997) observed that the combined value of businesses separated from their parent firms significantly increased to more than $100 billion in 1996 comparative to 1993 figure of $17.5 billion. Acquisitions in the 1970s: The merger and acquisition activities decreased significantly in 1970s, which can be seen in the following figure. Figure 3.3 Merger Acquisitions in 1970 -1980 Source: Gaughan (1999), p.36 As a consequence of problem in merger and acquisitions activities experienced by conglomerates, the senior executives realised that only general management skills are not sufficient for a successful transactions (see Chandler, 1962). Therefore, they focused their attentions toward the long term companys objectives instead of operating of strategic business units (see Christensen, 1965). Andrews (1971) highlighted that this change introduced the concept of corporate strategy for firms and most CEOs of the organizations started accepting that strategy is their unique and primary task. However, corporate strategy poses some practical problem and did not help executives in deciding about allocation of resources among businesses especially when each investment proposal has a different strategy (see Goold and Luchs, 1993). Moreover, Bower (1970) argued that investment decision should be part of overall business strategy rather than prevaricate on project to project basis. In 1970s these revolutions in corporate finance lead to the development of portfolio planning by Boston Consulting Group (1970). Soon, portfolio planning became famous in corporate sectors and according to the survey of Haspeslagh (1982) by 1979, 45 percent of the Fortune 500 companies were using portfolio planning in some form. However, with the passage of time problems related to portfolio planning emerged. As Goolds and Luchs (1993), argued that the corporate manager with long experience of particular sector of the industry found extremely difficult to manage their newly acquired businesses in vibrant and unfamiliar sectors. Consequently, this affected the performance of new acquisitions or mergers of the firms. In search of solution to this problem Hamermesh and White (1984) found that administration was a vital factor in explain business performance of mergers or acquisitions but many organizations incorrectly addressed the approach. The Fourth Wave, 1981-1989: The decade of 1980s seen another merger wave in business world. In this period, merger deals were frequent and larger and total value of mergers were approximately $.13 trillion in US (see Sikora, 1995). This was influenced by service sector and significant support from investors; lenders and globalization facilitated companies to finance the buyout deals (see Sikora, 1995). Moreover, the reasons of the fourth merger wave were excess capacity (see Jensen, 1993), agency problems (see Jensen, 1988), market failure (see Shleifer Vishny, 1997), and tax and antitrust law changes (see Bhagat et al, 1990). It seems that during 80s, diversified firms do not have capacity to create values therefore companies start re-thinking about role of corporate management as well as appropriate strategies for diversified firms. As highlighted by Goold and Luchs (1993) highlighted that in order to survive firms cut back costs and scale down their staffs but these were not adequate to create value. Furthermore, they argued that diversification strategies failed to create value for many businesses. Nevertheless, these failures compelled senior managers to transform their primary goals to creating shareholders values instead of building huge businesses (see Porter, 1987). Moreover, management of the companies started evaluating corporate performance like stock market by using economic indicator instead of accounting measures and take whatever steps were essential to enhance the value of their firms stock (see Goold and Luchs, 1993). However, value based planning based on financial tools of Return on Equity (ROE), internal rate of return and discounted cash flow provided different views to managers about competitive advantages and stock prices (see Rappaport, 1986). Further, Goold and Luchs (1993) pointed out that a higher stock price could be a reward for creating value. However, during the era of 80s firms that did not diversify into unrelated businesses and specialize into their core industry were able to create value and turn out to be successful companies (see Peter and Waterman 1982). Mintzberg and Lampel (1999) also support this notion by arguing that focused corporations which know their customers, have deep knowledge and understand their missions were better able to create value in contrast to companies that applied the diversification concept of value creation. In summary of the merger and acquisitions activities in 1960s and 1980s, it can be assert that conglomeration and diversification were the dominant trends in 1960s contrast to specialization and consolidations phenomena of 1980s. However, empirical evidence on value creation tends to suggest that significant merger and acquisitions of 60s reversed subsequently and did not lead to profitability. According to Shleifer and Vishny (1994) many of the conglomerates created in 1960s were destroyed in 1980s, which provides the evidence of failure in notion of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“merger acquisitions and value creationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? that was not expected in 1960s. The Current Wave, 1990-Present: According to Gaughan (1999), in contrast to 1960s decade of conglomerates and 1980s period of Leveraged Buyouts (LBO), the dominant deals of 90s were designed with a view to fit strategically among merging firms. Moreover, the forces behind the merger and acquisitions activities were different than earlier periods and corporate sector seen some of mega-deals during that period. For instance in 1996, the top 100 deals of merger and acquisitions were worth more than $1 billion or approximately 53.5% of total transactions (see Sikora, 1997). Merger Acquisitions in 1990s Year Number of Deals Value ($ Billions) 1980 1558 34.8 1981 2328 69.5 1982 2299 60.7 1983 2395 52.7 1984 3176 126.1 1985 3490 146.1 1986 2523 220.8 1987 2517 196.5 1988 3011 291.3 1989 3825 325.1 1990 4312 206.8 1991 3580 143.1 1992 3752 125.3 1993 4148 177.3 1994 4962 276.5 1995 6209 375.0 1996 6828 550.7 Table 3.2 Merger and Acquisitions in 1990s Data Source: (www.mergerstat.com) The era of 90s was said to the decade of Consolidation; which means combination of operating and management resources between two companies as well as their stocks, assets and liabilities (see Lipin, 1997). Furthermore, in 1990s, stable economic environment, relax antitrust laws, stock markets favourable conditions and low cost of capital were the catalyst of merger and acquisition trends. However, still many firms failed to create shareholder value and according to study by Mercer Management Consulting Inc. (1997) 48 percent of mergers failed to generate shareholder value in 90s comparative to 57 percent failure of 1980s (p.39, cited in Smith and Hershman, 1997). Nonetheless, the firms in 90s believed that larger pools of assets are essential either to survive or to grow but the question remains that how to discover ways to create value for portfolio of firms businesses? (see Goold and Luchas, 1993). To resolve this anomaly, three possible explanations have been identified: Firstly, as shown by Porter (1985) that diversification should be limited to companies which have synergy potential and without synergy a diversified business is nothing more than mutual fund. He also suggested that synergies can be attained when the portfolio of businesses create values more than sum of its individual components. Besides, the notion of synergy should be based on economies of scale and cost saving strategies (see Porter, 1985). However, in practice it has been found by studies such as Chatterjee (1992) that gaining synergy is not an easy task and most acquisitions and merger gains arise from either disposals of assets or from restructuring rather than synergistic benefits. It seems that synergy was a primary rationale for merger and acquisitions in the era but remains anomaly from value creation prospective as discussed by Goold and Luchs (1993). Secondly, the corporate strategy of the firms should focus on exploiting core competencies. For instance, Prahalad and Hamel (1989) suggested that the corporate portfolio should be based on technological competencies instead of portfolio of businesses. Similarly, Itami (1989) argued that invisible assets like reputation, brand names or customers list are the most valuable source for sustaining competitive advantage and could be used to create value by exploiting competitive opportunities. Furthermore, other competencies such as technology or managerial expertise can also be used to enhance the performance of business portfolio (see Haspeslagh and Jemison, 1991). However, this approach also has some drawbacks; for example, Goold and Luchs, pointed out that it can be difficult to assess the contribution of investment in building the competencies of a business especially when the investment is in new business area. Thirdly, the best way to create value via successful diversification is to build a portfolio of businesses, which fits with the managers logic and their management style (see Parahalad and Bettis, 1986). If conglomerates diversification is based on business with similar strategic logic then its possible to add value to business by adopting a common approach across all the business units. For instance Goold and Luchs (1993) exposed that sharing the skills or activities across organization can help corporate management to realize synergies. Moreover, Goold and Campbell (1987) found the evidence that top executives also find it difficult to deal with a wide range of styles and approaches. Review of Major Areas in MA This section presents the literature review of major areas focused by academics in merger and acquisition field. Consequently following five sub-sections have been established to review the academic literature: Performance Success in Merger and Acquisitions People in Merger and Acquisitions International Prospects of Merger and Acquisitions Best Practices in Merger and Acquisitions Valuation Issues in Merger and Acquisitions The measurement of success in merger and acquisition activities is mainly through quantitative research and is subject to various studies such as Gosh (2001); Healy et al (1992), in the field of finance or economics and also other directly related fields. People are normally unobserved in merger and acquisitions, however extensive studies like Bliss and Rosen (2001), addressed issues from ethical and organizational learning to more in depth personal perspective. Similarly, increasing trend of international trade and globalization attracted the attention of many researchers, for instance Rossi and Volpin (2004). The valuation of the companies is often overlooking in the field of merger and acquisitions. However, it is a very critical part of acquisition process and could be very helpful not only in the pre-acquisition stage but also during the acquisition process as well as at post-acquisition stage (see Becher, 2001). Finally, the best practices research in the field of merger and acquisition is usually done in the form of case studies but the quality and intensity of these studies vary widely (see Marks and Mirvis, 2001). Performance and Success in MA As stated before companies often engaged in the series of acquisitions and merger activities and early studies such as Barney (1988), tend to show that related acquisitions performed better than other acquisition transactions. However, relatedness itself does not create value for acquiring companies but synergy is the vital factor that helps companies to generate abnormal returns from acquisition programs. For example, Barney (1988) showed that synergistic cash flow stemming from relatedness, which is unique and private creates abnormal returns for shareholders of acquiring firm. However, later studies such as Hayward (2002), suggested that different level of relatedness results in various degree of success and moderately similar companies tend to be more successful than the companies that are highly similar or dissimilar in business or size to one another. He further concluded that if a firm experienced small losses in past acquisition in contrast to high losses or high gains then it has better chances of success in prospective acquisition. In addition, the timing of acquisition plays a vital role in success of the transaction and should not be too close or far-away from central acquisition (see Hayward, 2002). Similarly, Brown and Eisenhard (1997) argued that companies benefit differently depending upon their experimenting and timing of the merger and acquisition activities. Moreover, when the acquiring company has some inimitable resources then it can create value by utilizing these resources in targets company as suggested by Capron and Pistre (2000). However, they also added that if the source of synergies is recognized in target firm than market associate expected gains to target firm due to the competition among potential bidders. Consequently, this competition raises the price of target firm and would create value for shareholders of the target firm but also lead to under performance of acquirer. Nevertheless, performance success through merger and acquisitions is still controversial among academics as pointed out by Cording et al (2002). To resolve the issue Chatterjee (1992) measured the cumulative average of abnormal returns (CAAR) during the period of 11 months before the tender offer until 60 months after the tender offer. After studying the sample of 577 tender offers between the periods of 1963 to 1986; he suggested that net gain arises for the economy from these transactions but it does not necessarily create gains for everyone involved in merger and acquisition. More specifically, CAAR after 60 months were observed to be negative for unsuccessful bidders, zero for successful bidder and positive for target company. Furthermore, Chatterjee (1992) found much higher positive CAAR for restructured target companies in contrast to non-restructured targets. Certain studies view the merger and acquisition transactions from a different prospective. For example, Golbe and White (1993) proved in their study that macroeconomic environments influence the merger activities and the number of merger transactions increases in time of economic expansion comparative to decrease in programme at the time of economic down turn.Similarly, Amburgey and Miner (1992) studied the effects of companies momentum on merger activities and suggested that managers follow the past patterns. The academics such as Capron (1999), also attempted to assess the performance of the merger and acquisition activities by conducting the survey of prime stakeholders in merger activities. He further concluded that the available financial data is too gross to allow the separation between the types of pure value-creating mechanism. Moreover, he also argued that more often the objective of the companies is to retain the top management team of the targets firm, whether its a conglomerate or related merger. International Prospects of MA The emergence of globalisation and increasing trends in international trade fasten the number of local as well as cross-border acquisitions and merger activities. For instance, the cross-border acquisition activities in United States increased to 19% in 1999 from 6% in 1985 (see Seth et al, 2001). According to the study of Seth et al (2001), the evidence suggests that there are three motives for cross-border acquisitions such as synergy seeking, managerilism and managerial hubris. Moreover, the research tends to show that there is a positive relationship between the level of value creation and reverse internalization, asset sharing, financial sharing and market seeking ( as discussed by Seth et al, 2001). In addition, there seems to be association between value creation and governance system of bidders country. For instance, Seth et al (2001) argued that bidding companies from group-oriented governance system like Japan and Germany appear to be engaged in acquisitions and merger activities with higher level of value creation in contrast to bidding firms from market oriented governance system such as United Kingdom. Further enhancement of research in the area of cross-border merger and acquisition suggests that experience in merger and acquisition activities can be utilized to create value in another country. For example, Gugler et al (2003) compared the data of 15 years and proved that post merger patterns are similar across different countries. Moreover, their evidence also signifies that there are no major differences between domestic and cross-border mergers as well as manufacturing and service sectors around the world. With the passage of time and in the era of globalization the merger and acquisitions activities are increasing especially in emerging economies. The multinational companies often use the tools of acquisition and mergers to penetrate in new markets and economies particularly in emerging countries such as Central and Eastern Europe (see Milman, 1999). However, in many countries MNC mergers and acquisitions are seen as threats by government agencies, privatized companies and state enterprises. Therefore, in order to develop a successful alliance the acquisition or merger program should be designed in such as way that creates value for companies as well as the host-country governments (see Rondinelli and Black, 2000). Lastly, yet the number of merger and acquisitions across border appears to be increasing but it seems difficult to integrate and manage the successful processes. Hence, Inkpen et al (2000) suggested that the companies should critically evaluate the areas of decision making, communication, networking and socialisation, communication and the structure of authority and responsibility before involving in the process of MA. People in MA Only looking to financial aspects might limit the understanding about the question why MA activities are so widely used by companies as a tool to grow. Hence, another area focused by academics, such as Karitzki and Brink (2003), is related to merger and acquisitions and people. Generally, one of the motives for merger activities is to follow the cost-cutting strategies including synergy and targets customers. Often, the employees are laid off in the process of merger and acquisitions and consequently this creates new but conflicting networks of relationships in new companies as suggested by Vermeulen and Barkema (2001). Thus, it affects the success and results in under-performance of merger and acquisition programmes. Therefore, considering the affects of MA on employee or managers of the potential target firms are of similar importance as financial issues. Similarly, the research in the area of executive compensation pointed out that prior to acquisition or merger, management of acquiring company receive significant higher packages comparative to the executives of target firms (see Lynch and Perry, 2002). Hence, these issues can lead to turnover and morale issues that ultimately affect the success of anticipated integration from MA. Furthermore, in extreme circumstances, issues like these emerging from dissimilarities create hurdles to achieve the objective of the original merger and acquisitions. Thus, reconciling the differences is one of the major issues faced by the combined company to create value (as discussed in Lynch and Perry, 2002). Moreover, successful merger or acquisition depends upon the people in both target and acquiring firms. The attitude and opinion of the employees regarding acquisition or merger can change over the time. Schweiger and DeNisi (1991) conducted the survey of employees and compared the attitudes in pre-acquisition and post-acquisition period. Their results show that attitudes of the employees three months after the announcement of merger changed significantly and turn towards continual negative consequences (see Schweiger and DeNisi, 1991). Likewise, Covin et al (1996) studied the attitude of 2845 employees from a large manufacturing concern in post merger period. The results show significant differences between the target firm and acquiring companys employees in satisfaction with merger. The employees of acquired company faced high level of dissatisfaction and ultimately felt more stress due to changes introduced after merger. In addition, this stress is aggravated due to the direct competition between target firm and acquiring company. Furthermore, Covin et al (1996) pointed out that factors such as loss of power and status, changes in salary or benefits and lack of managerial direction result in high level of stress and dissatisfaction from merger activities. Hence, it has been suggested that in addition to financial aspects these types of issues should not be overlooked in order to create value and to develop a successful merger and acquisition programme (see Karitzki and Brink, 2003). Best Practices in MA It is often suggested that acquisitions are predominantly unsuccessful and numerous studies like Aiello and Watkins (2000), confirmed this fact. However, generally the conditions and environment is relevant before judging the results. Furthermore, there is lack of research in answering the question; what would happen if both the companies continued in their own separate way. Therefore, estimating the successfulness of merger or acquisition is a tricky anomaly (as discussed in Chaudhuri and Tabrizi, 1999). Moreover, the unsuccessful MA activities are more highlighted in contrast to successful programmes. Ed Libby, the chairman and CEO of AllState stated that when MAs fails they draw more notice despite the fact that lot of other projects fails in business but no one can see them because they remain within internal walls of the companies (cited in Cary, 2000). As stated earlier, there is no one strategy that fits all kinds of merger and acquisition activities, however systematic approaches such as suggested by Jan Leschly, can help companies to develop a successful plan. Jan Leschly, retired CEO of SmithKline Beecham suggested that they put their people on the boards of different companies by investing small amounts. Once the companies get going then they decide whether to buy it completely or not (cited in Cary, 2000). Likewise, understanding the various components of merger process is very vital to develop a successful merger or acquisition deal. However, it is very hard to enumerate the components especially when these are integrated with each other. According to Marks and Mirvis (2001), the successfulness of merger and acquisition is highly depended on following factors: Acquisition Plan Implementation of this plan Post-acquisition cooperation between firms after acquisition Moreover, they collected a number of factors that were mentioned in previous research such as strategic objective, clear selection, search and selection process etc. They also argued that pre-acquisition planning is very important for successful merger and acquisition plan and more prepared the people will more synergies in a combination will result (see Marks and Mirvis, 2001). Similarly, Aiello and Watkins (2000) suggested that every MA deal pass through following five stages: Screening potential deal Reaching initial agreement Conducting due diligence Setting final terms Achieving closure They suggested that splitting the merger or acquisition deal in above mentioned stages and approaching them systematically can help companies to create value through business combination (see Aiello and Watkins, 2000). However, sometimes the reasons for MA failure could be different from the reasons of other MA success. Gadish et al (2001) studied the causes of merger and acquisition failure and suggested that poor strategic rationale, sever cultural mismatch, overpayment for acquisition, inadequate integration planning and execution, setting rational and problems in executive leadership and strategic communication are the main factors that lead to the under-performance and sometime failure of any merger or acquisition deal. Valuations Issues in MA The last area of MA research focused by academics are the valuation of the companies involved in deal. There are several methodologies such as discounted cash flows or P/E multipliers, used by analyst to value the company. However, Hall (2003) suggested three main methods to estimate the value of business. These are comparable companies method, discounted future earning method or asset model, which can be use to appraise the value of company. However, application of these models requires careful judgement of analyst and may not be appropriate to apply in all circumstances. For instance, in current economic turmoil application of comparable companies model on traded firms can skew the valuation of business (see Hall, 2003). Moreover, additional premium price needs to be paid for most of the merger and acquisition deals. The valuation of the business could be relatively simple if it is stand alone but additional value created due to synergies and closing acquisition cost integrated in the process construct further challenges in estimation (see Gadish et al, 2001). However, there is range of sophisticated techniques available to help in estimation and often the final price is based on weighted average of number of valuations as suggested by Eccles et al, (1999). Evidence of Post-Acquisition Performance and Value Creation Many studies such as Dodd (1980) and Firth (1980), have attempted to identify the value creation of corporate acquisitions by examining the stock returns of the acquiring companies. However, empirical evidence suggests mixed results in terms of post acquisitions returns to shareholder of the acquiring firms. Some studies found negative returns to the acquirers (see Malatesta, 1983; Eger, 1983) in contrast to other research, which reported significant abnormal returns for the shareholder of acquiring companies (see Chung and Weston, 1982; Asquith et al, 1983). Particularly the studies of long run performance of acquiring firms provided the evidence of significant abnormal return over the period of one to three years after post acquisition (see Langetieg, 1978). However, contrary to that Agrawal et al (1992) reported the 10 percent loss to acquiring firms in post acquisition period of five years. The previous research mainly focused to investigate the relationship between types of acquisitions like vertical integration, unrelated acquisitions and related integrations but has not concentrated on the reasons of success. Moreover, many academics have been attracted to the paradigm of corporate acquisition and value creation; however, the results of studies of unrelated and related diversification were mixed (see Lecraw, 1984). For instance, Rumelt (1982) proved that higher profitability is associated with related acquisition comparative to unrelated acquisitions. Similar results has been reported by Christensen and Montgomery (1981) and Varadarajan and Ramanujam (1987). However, other research like Michel and Shaked (1984) found the evidence that unrelated acquisition outperformed the related acquisition. Likewise, Weston et al (1972) also concluded that unrelated acquisitions performed better than related acquisitions. Furthermore, Luffman and Reed (1984) support this notion by studying the unrelated and related acquisitions activities and reported that firms engaged in unrelated acquisition are in better position to create value in contrast to firms involved in related acquisitions. However, there are some studies such as Grinyer et al, (1990), which did not find any significant difference among various types of acquisition and merger strategies. In fact, most research was unable to find the exact forces which drive the successful corporate acquisitions modes, as stated earlier; therefore it is difficult to identify the determinants of successful acquisition process. More specifically, empirical evidence, for instance Chattterjee (1986) suggests that horizontal acquisitions outperformed the vertical acquisitions and conglomerates and associated with higher synergies. However, some studies like Lubatkin (1983) proved that vertical acquisitions and conglomerates provided superior performance than horizontal acquisitions. However, to sum up the previous studies Loughran and Vijh (1997) suggested three typical results from various research studies. Firstly, the stakeholders of target firm gained high abnormal returns from acquisitions activities. Secondly, the shareholders of acquiring firms does not gain abnormal returns or very little from tender offers. Finally, the acquiring companys shareholders gained negative abnormal returns from the merger activities (see Bradley et al, 1983; Kummer and Hoffmeister, 1978; Jensen and Ruback, 1983). In general, evidence from academic research shows that acquisitions and mergers do not create value instead results of acquisitions and mergers are associated with negative returns rather than positive as suggested by Ruback (1988). Furthermore, these negative abnormal returns are inconsistent with the hypothesis of market efficiency and tend to show that market participant overestimates the anticipated efficiency gains from takeover transactions (see Jensen and Ruback, 1983). In addition, Agrawal et al (1992) suggested three important implications of underperformance findings. Firstly, the hypothesis of capital market efficiency is a very important concept in corporate finance and systematic poor performance from post-merger transaction is inconsistent with this hypothesis. Secondly, they argued that most performance research examines the returns around announcement dates by implicitly assuming that markets are efficient and therefore ignore the examination of post announcement returns. Hence they noted that market inefficiency findings on post announcement basis could be calls into question. Finally, the findings of underperformance might show poor accounting performance of firms after the merger or acquisitio n transaction. However, there are studies such as Healy et al (1992), which provided opposite results. Likewise the study by Mercer Management Consulting found that since mid-80s, 57 percent of merger and acquisitions deals, which worth $500 million or more generated poor results over the period of three years after the acquisition transaction comparative to industry average. Further findings of the study were that during 1990s, the success rate of the acquisition transaction was barely 50 percent (p.39, cited in Smith and Hershman, 1997). Finally, we can assert that acquiring firms underperformed market after the acquisition, as suggested by most research such as Agrawal et al (1992) examined the post merger performance of companies and reported that acquiring companies underperformed by 10% on average in post-acquisition period over the five years. However, they also argued that it is still an unsettled issue in finance literature and it depends upon how the performance is measured.