Merger of Walt Disney and Pixar, SWOT Analysis Example

Mergers and acquisitions are a type of corporate strategies or management dealing that involves the selling, buying or combining of different business organizations with identical entities to facilitate growth in its area of operation without creating a subsidiary or utilizing a joint venture. The differences between mergers and acquisitions have become less clear in various situations especially in terms of the final economic results (Sherman & Sherman, 2011). Acquisition or a takeover is the complete or partial buyout of a company by another business entity. Consolidation (merger) is the complete fusion of two business entities to create a new organization.

One of the most successful mergers was that of Walt Disney and Pixar. Before the merger, Disney had a contract with Pixar to release its movies, but the merger gave them more room for collaboration. The success of this merger can be rated by the movies Disney and Pixar have released since their merger. WALL-E, UP, Bolt and Cars are the movies that were released after the merger and it realized immense success. Pixar plans to release movies on a biennial basis, something that was unthinkable before the merger.

The success of this merger was due to the complementary nature of the business undertaken by both Pixar and Disney. Both companies serve the same clientele; that is children. The companies realized that they could create a satisfied customer when they merge their business than operating singly. Pixar’s competitive advantage is the creation of competitive movies for children, while Walt Disney is known for unrivalled marketing to children. The merger benefited both companies because they could offer better pricing, improvement to customer experience, offer innovative products and improved customer offerings (Sherman & Sherman, 2011).

This merger enabled the companies to team up their experts in various fields to bring out the best in their management techniques, technical know-how and vision. Pixar is an expert in technical aspects of movie production, while Disney is an expert in management of advertising, marketing plugs and merchandizing (Sherman & Sherman, 2011). The success of the merger was due to ongoing synergy of the team.

The need for this merger was due to the desire to improve on product development. Pixar focused more on research and design, while Disney handled marketing and distribution, enabling Pixar to release movies twice in a year. The merger gave Pixar and Disney the opportunity to concentrate in their line of expertise. The merger enabled Pixar to access markets that were dominated by Disney because it is among the pioneers in children entertainment. Overall, the merger was successful considering the new benefits.

Baxter International

Baxter International is bound to benefit immensely from acquiring Gambro of Sweden. Gambro specializes in hospital equipment and those that are used in related disciplines. Baxter is the manufacturer of treatments for several diseases that include infectious diseases, hemophilia and immune disorders.  This is the largest acquisition deal ever undertaken by the company. Acquiring Gambro will profit Baxter in the following ways:

Since, Gambro specializes in manufacturing hospital equipments, Baxter will be able to widen its product lineup, and doing so will widen its client base. The main aim of any business is to create satisfied clients, and by acquiring Gambro, Baxter will be able to satisfy the needs of hospitals by supplying equipment and treatments at the same time. Gambro has production facilities in nine countries and employees totaling 7,500. By combining supply of medical equipments and treatments, Baxter will be able to improve on customer experience due to diverse offerings to the customer.

The America giant will be able to access new markets in Europe courtesy of this acquisition because Gambro’s clients will fall into the hands of Baxter. The market share of Baxter is bound to increase due to the acquisition, and when this is coupled with expansion into new geographies, Baxter will be attractive to investors. Due to increase in chronic disease in the United States because of an aging population and poor lifestyles, Baxter will be able to supply its clients with medical equipment in its areas of operations especially dialysis equipment.

By acquiring Gambro, Baxter will take advantage of innovation in product manufacturing, research, design and distribution brought by employees from Gambro. By combining the expertise of the two companies, Baxter will be able to produce superior products that will give it a competitive advantage in the pharmaceutical industry. The acquisition will benefit Baxter because employees from Gambro will bring their vision, management style and technical expertise to Baxter.

Business and Corporate Level Strategy of Coca Cola

The business level strategy of Coca Cola, which is an multinational corporation operating in more than two hundred countries centers on producing non-alcoholic beverages that can be consumed by customers of all ages.  To achieve this, the company innovates on different flavors to meet the demands of its customers. To tap into the youth market, Coca Cola has invested in trendy bottling that attracts the youth because they are more concerned about image than other age groups. Another business level strategy that the company has adopted is rigorous marketing to capture the imagination of potential customers. The most recent advertisements of the company are: Coca Cola Classic, Diet Coke and Coke Zero, which are examples of catchy advertisements that can convince non-drinkers to try a coca cola (Hill & Jones, 2012).

The company has adopted the use of technology, especially social media such as a Facebook and Twitter to reach more customers. Social media permeates all sectors of the economy, and by adopting these channels in advertising, Coca Cola will remain competitive in the global beverage market. The company has sponsored global sporting events such as the World Cup in order to advertise its products and boost its global image (Ireland et al, 2008). Coca cola’s positive mission and vision and endeared many customers to it other than its fizzy flavors. To ensure that it customers are fully informed about its products, the company maintains a big museum in its headquarters in Atlanta.

Coca cola’s corporate level strategy centers on provision of an environmentally safe and accepted drink. The company focuses o the long-term interest of it employees, shareholders and customers.  Another corporate level strategy regards the management of it three corporate levels. These are: management of affiliates, making connection to other businesses such as restaurants and advertising their products. To achieve this, the company has a liaison function that enables it connect to all its business interests (Hill & Jones, 2012). Conducting business in an ethical manner is part of its corporate strategy. This involves ensuring environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility. To improve on its corporate and business level strategy, coca cola needs to invest more on corporate social responsibility and limit greenhouse gas emissions in its operations. The company should also consider introducing new flavors to satisfy new customers and enter new markets to widen its client base.

United Therapeutics

United therapeutics, a company that develops and commercializes medical products to bridge the gap in medical needs of patients with life threatening conditions and chronic diseases, business level strategies will help it gain a competitive advantage in the competitive pharmaceuticals industry.  The company needs to invest in research and innovations in biotechnology to enable it develop effective products that will meet the unmet medical needs of patients (Hill & Jones, 2012). This will involve the acquisition of state of the art equipment and recruiting of the best talents in the pharmaceutical, micro-biology and biochemistry fields. To further enhance its competitiveness, the company should diversify its line of products. Investing more on advertisement that centers on its products and the company will boost it presence in the industry as more suppliers and patients will know what kind of products that the company is manufacturing.

On the corporate level, the company should attempt to expand its operations and diversifications through mergers and acquisitions. This will benefit the company through a widened market and more clients. It will also be able to tap into the competitiveness and knowledge of employees from the acquired company. The company should first analyze the advantages and disadvantages of a merger or acquisition to determine if the benefits outweigh the downsides. Another corporate strategy is selling units or businesses that are less profitable to the company to enable it concentrate on profitable ones. To enhance its competitiveness further, the company needs to restructure its activities to consolidate related activities in order to avoid duplication of roles (Ireland et al, 2008). By diversifying skills through sharing and transfer, the company will have a good chance of succeeding in diversification.

References

Hill, C. W. L., & Jones, G. R. (2012). Strategic management theory. London: SAGE.

Ireland, R. D., Hoskisson, R. E., & Hitt, M. A. (2008). Understanding business strategy: Concepts and cases. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Sherman, A. J., & Sherman, A. J. (2011). Mergers & acquisitions from A to Z. New York: American Management Association.