ILRHR 6625 - Mergers, Acquisitions, and Human Resource Management

Spring (seven-week session). 2 credits. Student option grading.

R. Batt.

This seven-week, 2-credit course is designed to provide students with an introduction to merger and acquisition strategies and their implications for human resource management. In recent decades, firms have accelerated their use of M&A’s to expand their companies and grow, despite the fact that over half of all M&A’s fail. Why do companies continue to pursue this strategy? What are the challenges and pitfalls they need to avoid, and what is the role of HR management in this process? The course will consider the trends in M&A activities in recent decades and why they have accelerated; the key processes and due diligence required to complete M&A’s; the role of HR in facilitating this strategy; the factors that drive success or failure; and the observed outcomes.