Financials alone don't make an M&A deal work. Equally important is what's behind them--an organization's people. How to understand this reality and benefit from it is the thrust of this unusually comprehensive, practical, readable, but conceptually rigorous book. Daniel and Metcalf see HR executives as change agents during the delicate maneuverings before a deal is done, and then after, when it's time to tackle the fine-grained problems of integrating disparate corporate cultures and the people who vitalize them. They examine the recent and ongoing waves of mergers and acquisitions across...

We live in the worlds that we help to create every day. Every activity either supports an existing system or effects some change, however small. But is it possible to consciously create the worlds in which we want to live?

This volume brings together systems theorists and practitioners who have worked on that question for decades. It explores connections between design and systems ideas to explain why some efforts have been more successful than others, and what is needed if we are to move forward. It offers reflections on early and large-scale attempts at impacting societal systems,...