Small organization mergers in arts and humanities

This chapter discusses a case study of the merger between two relatively small organizations: a local nonprofit arts council and a public county‐level humanities commission. As this case deviates from other merger analyses that tend to focus on larger health and social service agencies, the chapter examines how well key findings of the nonprofit merger literature apply to mergers of organizations of smaller size and in other fields. Generally, we find that the merger literature so far provides sufficient guidance for nonprofit managers in fields such as the arts, where merger pressures have only now begun to mount.     

CONVEX COSTS AND THE MERGER PARADOX REVISITED

Returning to the contention that convex costs provide a resolution to the merger paradox, we show that for reasonable degrees of convexity, the minimum market share needed for merger to be profitable remains close to that associated with linear costs. Moreover, convex costs do not eliminate the free rider problem identified as part of the merger paradox. Finally, we retain convex costs while modeling a firm-by-firm sequential merger process, showing that the paradox constrains a larger share of potential mergers. These findings help reduce the relevance of convex costs as a resolution to the merger paradox. ( JEL L12, L13)     

A Comparative Study of Relational Interconnectedness,Merger, and Ego Development in Lesbian,Gay Male,and Heterosexual Couples

Abstract

One hundred ninety participants, including 34 lesbian couples, 31 gay male couples, and 30 heterosexual couples, were administered a series of questionnaires which assessed each partner's perceptions of relational interconnectedness and merger. The Washington University Sentence Completion Test of Ego Development (SCT: Loevinger& Wessler, 1970) was also administered to assess participants' level of ego development. We predicted that lesbian couples would be most inclined to relational interconnection as well as merger when compared to heterosexual and gay male couples, and that merger, postulated as a healthy process, would be positively correlated with ego development across all couples. Couples revealed occasionally experiencing merger and rated this experience as moderately important to their overall sense of relationship satisfaction. Ego development was not significantly correlated with relational interconnectedness or merger. Findings provided partial support for recent reformulations of merger as a healthy versus a regressive or pathological experience and did not suggest strong differences among lesbian, heterosexual, and gay male patterns of emotional connectedness.     

HORIZONTAL MERGERS IN THE PRESENCE OF CAPACITY CONSTRAINTS

We examine a merger between two competitors in a Bertrand‐Edgeworth model. We find that the effects of merger depend on the tightness of capacity constraints. The combination of two firms has no price effect if and only if the capacity constraints of all firms are binding both before and after the merger. However, a merger may turn a binding capacity constraint into a slack one, which results in higher prices. In an industry where excess capacity drives the premerger prices of all firms to the marginal cost, a merger may cause prices to rise even though aggregate capacity remains constant. (JEL L13, L40)     

Hospital Mergers

Abstract

When secular and sectarian (often Catholic) hospitals merge, women's reproductive healthcare services are often put in jeopardy. Some merger efforts are successful and others fail. Several issues arise as a result of this situation. First, what role do women's reproductive rights activists and their supporters play in effecting hospital merger decisions? This question does not assume that all women support women's rights organizations or that all women support a full range of reproductive rights. Secondly, what other factors seem to effect the outcome of merger discussions? In order to answer these questions, it is first necessary to understand the extent of Catholic hospital expansion and the nature of the hospital merger movement itself. These considerations will provide perspective for the two case studies of the American hospital merger movement that provide venues for examining the issues relating to participation and other factors that effect the outcome of merger talks. Cumberland and Baltimore are the two communities examined in this study. Though it would be a mistake to generalize to all merger situations based on these two cases, there are lessons that women's reproductive healthcare advocates can learn from the experiences of these two communities.

The issue of hospital mergers and the availability of reproductive healthcare services for women does raise an additional issue. Private sector decisions are being made that have a direct impact on public services, that is, the availability of a set of healthcare services in communities. This is not the direction that most public policy analysts consider.

The more frequently asked policy questions begin with public policy decisions and ask how they influence non-governmental decisions.     

Organizational metamorphosis: A study of eighteen nonprofit mergers,acquisitions, and consolidations

This article reviews the literature on nonprofit mergers and presents a study of eighteen nonprofit merger, acquisition, or consolidation transactions. The findings underscore financial reasons as the chief motivation for mergers and cite the inability of small agencies to compete as an important contributing factor. Morale and productivity declined when staff had serious concerns about their future. Good leadership and honest and open communication were considered vital to ensuring a smooth merger process.     

The Urge to Merge: A Multiple‐Case Study

The authors undertook a comparative study of three recent mergers of nonprofit organizations in a Midwestern urban center, within the context of political‐economy theory. The research explored the impact of the same environmental factor, managed care, on the initial decisions by organizational leaders and the effects of these early decisions on subsequent actions taken to implement the merger. The study tested the authors' model of the motivations for merging, which proposes that the relationship between the decision‐making style of the leadership and the internal and external resources of the prospective partners determines whether the merger is driven primarily by mission, practicality, stability, or fear. Although the findings provide initial support for the hypotheses derived from the model, a demonstration of the differences in the approach to the merger by each organization indicated that other factors emerged as important driving forces during the various phases of the process.     

SOME EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ANTIMERGER RELIEF IN THE UNITED STATES

The extent of structural relief obtained by the government in a Section 7 settlement is modeled as an outcome of a bargaining game between the antitrust agency and parties to the merger. This framework is applied to data from 73 Section 7 cases settled during 1990–2000. The fraction of competitive overlap subject to divestiture is shown to depend on the extent of merger-specific efficiencies, the anticompetitive potential of the merger, and the hostage effect facing the merging firms, as well as the degree of media coverage of the case, the workload of the agency, and the partisan composition of Congress.(JEL L44 , C24 )     

Delivered Pricing and Merger with Demand Constraints

The consequences of a demand constraint (low willingness to pay) are examined in a model of merger by spatial price discriminators. The imposition of a demand constraint reduces the extent of inefficiency associated with merger and also eliminates the resolution of the merger paradox obtained in the earlier, unconstrained case. Moreover, with the introduction of a demand constraint, a tax on transport cost can actually improve efficiency, which is never the case in the absence of the demand constraint. Indeed, the optimal tax often eliminates all spatial price competition by creating local monopolies.     

Scaling up to Increase Community-Based Organization Voice

This is a collaborative, community-based study of the merger of two Chicago community-organizing groups seeking to expand their geographic base and political power. Although the merger enabled the new organization to increase and use its power, this case also illustrates the various ways the merger presented opportunities for the new organization to maintain effectiveness at multiple scales while sustaining strong internal democracy and connections to local residents. By consolidating and leveraging new and old political relationships, and by maintaining or increasing the civic benefits of organizing, this merger provides important lessons for organizing in diverse community settings.     

EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE ON FTC ENFORCEMENT OF THE MERGER GUIDELINES

The Justice Department's 1982/1984: merger guidelines identify various factors – concentration, entry barriers, ease of collusion, efficiency –that would thereafter determine whether the government will challenge a merger. Analysts have criticized enforcement agencies, however, for not following the guidelines, and criticize the guidelines themselves for not identifying the weights attached to the factors. Using a 1982-86 sample of seventy horizontal mergers, we examine which factors influenced Federal Trade Commission decisions to challenge mergers. The relative importance of the guidelines and other factors in merger challenges is measured, and related empirical issues are also explored.     

Effective Contracting of Social Services

The continued growth in the use of privatization for the delivery of social services increases the need for a systematic method to analyze the contracting process. Using a modified form of the basic systems model, the authors examine the impact of antecedents and situational factors and explore the use of traditional management steps in the contracting process. The authors focus on one state's experience with contracting to explore the implications of such a model.     

Critical success factors for merger in the UK voluntary sector

This paper reports on research into mergers in the voluntary sector in the UK from 1988 to 1993. It compares empirically derived critical success factors with success factors derived from previous work on mergers in both the voluntary and private sectors. The study concludes that merger can be an extremely effective strategy for voluntary organisations. For it to be so, it has to be undertaken willingly, with a shared vision between the partners of what the merger will achieve. Cultural differences need to be recognised and handled within a trusting context in which mutual respect is backed by an equitable process. Finally; sensitive handling of individuals caught up in the merger process is essential—but something which the voluntary sector ought to be well capable of doing.     

中国与海湾六国的工程承包合作

在全球化背景下对中国工程承包企业海外经营的国际环境进行深入研究,是实施“走出去”战略的一项基础性工作。海湾六国是全球最大的工程承包市场,也是中国国际工程承包的重点地区。然而,海湾六国工程承包市场准入壁垒较高,不利于中国企业发挥后发优势。本文对中国与海湾六国工程承包合作研究主要论及市场准入壁垒、地缘安全环境、跨文化交际等问题,并据此利用SWOT分析模型对中国工程承包企业到海湾六国经营提出相关政策性建议。     

农村土地承包经营权流转市场运行机制研究

本文以上海、山东、湖北等地的土地承包经营权流转先行试点地区为例,分别从法律法规和试点实践经验等层面研究探讨构建土地承包经营权流转市场运行机制的客观必然性,提出构建土地承包经营权流转市场运行机制的总体框架和运行机制,以促进农村土地承包经营权有序流转,加快形成农业适度规模经营。     

Privatization of government services: Pressure-group resistance and service transparency

Even when efficiency gains can be expected from contracting out municipal services, it surprisingly rarely occurs. Political pressure by interest groups, especially unions, is usually assumed responsible. We argue that the effectiveness of such pressure is actually a function of a service’s “transparency,” which determines voter’s knowledge of the quality and cost of the service as well as the tax burden. A model is presented of the interplay between union opposition to contracting and service transparency. Policies are offered to increase transparency and make contracting optimal for governments.     

Integrated or Disconnected? Examining Formal and Informal Networks in a Merged Nonprofit Organization

This article introduces nonprofit researchers and practitioners to a social network analytical technique for assessing internal staff relationships after a merger. We studied a case of a nonprofit merger, investigating its formal and informal intraorganizational networks to see which parts integrated and which remained separate operationally. We discovered a prior‐organizational‐affiliation‐based homophily within the merged organization: most interpersonal relationships existing within these networks remained among the employees who worked together prior to the merger. However, the informal and expressive networks of mentoring, friendship, and socioemotional support were even more disconnected than the formal and instrumental networks of work relationships and problem solving. We highlight the role of a mentoring network in bridging formal and informal networks in a merged organization.     

Merging nonprofit organizations: Analysis of a case study

This article presents a case study of merging among nonprofit organizations that provide social and community services. The study sheds light on the dynamics and problems of merging nonprofit organizations, whose espoused ideology focuses on promoting the well-being of their clients. The author describes and analyzes a merger in metropolitan Jerusalem, Israel, and highlights the potential problems that may ultimately undermine its success. This merger is the outcome of an ongoing power and political struggle. The analysis focuses on the organizational ideologies and culture as well as the strategies and structure of the merging organizations. In addition, the author deals with the underlying motives for merging, the driving and restraining forces, and the implications of merging nonprofit community services organizations with other social and human services organizations.