The Business Context

Abstract

The business context for the CIO is crucial because it is rarely the IT function that is taking the lead and dictating the pace of the M&A. However significant the impact on IT, and however central IT is to the organisation, M&A is about corporate growth and corporate decision-making. Issues such as a clear M&A strategy within the company, targeting the right company, and selecting the right mergers and acquisition team have all been identified as success factors both for the M&A as a whole and also for IT. Absence of these factors adds to the risk that the M&A will fail to deliver the value set for the transaction. Although these are success factors at the level of the firm or organisation, they impact directly the CIO’s ability to deliver the objectives of the integration. They are therefore contextual factors that the CIO must be aware of and understand as they will have implications for IT and will affect the CIO’s freedom of operation during the M&A process.