Network and Company Analysis and Synthesis

Abstract

A network is in this context an interconnected system of companies or business units the processes of which produce a certain product or service. The produced product or service may be a sub-product or subservice to a larger whole. The reasons for conducting a network and company (unit) analysis and synthesis are manifold. Such an analysis shows the performance level of specific companies (units) and the related network. The synthesis, on the other hand, tells how to improve these performers. Besides the improvement of existing network companies, the presented method and the related output can be utilized to analyze prospective future partners, subcontractors or suppliers. Another area of application is company mergers and acquisitions, where this approach provides an attractive complement to the traditional due diligence process and the related output. For very demanding due diligence cases, for example, to define a proper market value of a company, it might be necessary to dig deeper into the concerns and conduct a process specific analysis and synthesis as presented in Chap. 5.