Simon Rogerson on the pitfalls of growing through acquisitions

I'm normally quite nervous about companies which decide to grow through acquisition. First, because I think it's more of a financial engineering exercise than it is a strategic move. And often reflective of the fact that the core business hasn't cracked how to grow by itself.   Secondly, because I think acquisitions can be hugely dangerous to the culture of an organisation. What looks good on a spreadsheet rarely works out in practice. In fact, the vast majority of acquisitions fail because the cultures of the two organisations don't gel. The importance of culture Culture, in my ...