Managing change: the art of corporate restructuring
Press release
Professor Don Bergh in the Department of Management has been conducting research on corporate restructuring, and his findings are as complex as his research material. Corporate restructuring usually falls into two areas: taking steps for a more strategic deployment of resources to achieve growth across the enterprise, or reducing costs and scaling back the enterprise.
On the growth side, he is researching factors that are related to the outcomes of mergers and acquisitions. In particular,
he has conducted studies on the strategic and implementation sides of mergers and acquisitions (M&A's) regarding which specific
factors seem to matter the most in determining a successful outcome. Interestingly, he's found that retaining the acquired
firm's top management team plays a major role, probably because they influence the effectiveness of the implementation process.
On the "retraction side," he has conducted studies that probe into divestitures, spin-offs, and downscoping strategies on
which tend to work out best and when. Hess found that managers use different methods of downscoping--reducing the diversity
of scope-- to get out of different types of businesses. Most recently, he has focused on what happens to businesses after
they leave the parent and whether they have performance records that are much different than those of their parents. In other
words, does the apple fall far from the tree?
Given the resurgence of M&As and the prominence of divestitures, layoffs and restructurings in the past 18 months, his work is of particular interest to those following the seismic global economic changes .
For more information about Dr. Bergh's research, contact Julie Lucas: 303-871-3379.
