Due Diligence for Global Deal Making

In the rush to seal a deal, it is all too tempting to neglect one's homework. Resist that urge, advise the fourteen contributors to this step-by-step guide, all practicing specialists in assessing a company's character and prospects. As editor Arthur H. Rosenbloom writes in the book's preface, the Daimler-Chrysler merger was "a corporate marriage flawed in many cultural, financial, and operational ways. Better due diligence might have made a difference." To that end, the book provides easy-to-follow chapters outlining due diligence in all the essential areas such as law, technology, strategy, operations, human resources, finance, taxes, and accounting. The appendix covers cross-border due diligence "in an age of terrorism" and provides further questions to ask of all potential deals, from the abstract ("Does increased turbulence affect the deal's strategic rationale?") to the practical ("Have steps been taken to confirm the identities of people with whom the company comes into contact?").