I was reading the column of Anjuli Bhargava in Businessworld on Indian Airlines and Air India merger. The facts which she states are shocking.

She says ‘… financial losses for Air India for the year ending March 2009 are estimated at Rs. 4200 Cr. According to top airline sources…..HR integration has been a ‘disaster’ as has been IT integration. For instance, at the time of merger, there were around 60 general managers in both firms, but now there are 108 of them. Similarly, there are now 48 executive directors whereas at the time of merger there were around 20.’

That is how people mess up the job of mergers and acquisitions, and of course the related job of downsizing. Dr. Arthur Lazarus calls it ‘MADness’ meaning Mergers, Acquisitions and Downsizing.

Dr. Arthur Lazarus M.D., M.B.A. [Vice-president and Corporate Medical Director of behavioral health at Humana Inc.] has a story to tell from exactly the other angle. It is all about what happens to people when they suffer on account of merger and acquisition of their firm. His story is captioned ‘The Human Factors in Mergers and Acquisitions: A Personal Story’.

Together they make very intersting reading for HR Professionals.

Vivek