The presented merger and acquisition classroom exercise is based on a real yet incomplete transaction transpiring during the period of the class. The approach enables adult students to apply their previously acquired business experience to a strategic analysis project facilitating the development of group communication, critical thinking, and consensus-building competences. The exercise assumes that students have practical experience in business areas such as marketing or accounting before entering the classroom, which may make it less applicable to conventional-age students.
BoveeC.ThillJ. (2010). Business communication today (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
2.
CarithersD.LingT.BeanJ. (2008). Messy problems and lay audiences: Teaching critical thinking within the finance curriculum. Business Communication Quarterly, 71, 152-170.
3.
GrahamS.DonaldsonJ. F. (1996). Assessing personal growth for adults enrolled in higher education. Journal of Continuing Education, 44(2), 7-22.
4.
Hernandez-MarchJ.Martin el PasoM.LegueyS. (2009). Graduates’ skills and higher education: The employers’ perspective. Tertiary Education and Management, 15(1), 1-16.
5.
HolmesP.Cockburn-WootonC.MotionJ.ZornT.RoperJ. (2005).Critical reflexive practice in teaching management communication. Business Communication Quarterly, 68, 247-256.
6.
KanungoR. N.MisraS. (1992). Managerial resourcefulness: A reconceptualization of management skills. Human Relations, 45, 1311-1333.
7.
KolbD. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
LarssonR.FinkelsteinS. (1999). Integrating strategic, organizational and human resources perspectives on mergers and acquisitions: A case survey of synergy realization. Organization Science, 10(1), 1-26.
10.
LeeA.BoudD.CohenR. (1999). Experience-based learning: Contemporary issues. In FoleyG. (Ed.), Understanding adult education and training (2nd ed., pp. 225-239). Sydney, New South Wales, Australia: Allen & Unwin.
11.
LehmanC.DuFreneD. (2008). Business communication (15th ed.). Mason, OH: Thomson Higher Education.
12.
PaulsonE. (2001a). Inside Cisco: The real story of sustained M&Amp;A growth. New York, NY: John Wiley.
13.
PaulsonE. (2001b). The technology M&A guidebook. New York, NY: John Wiley.
14.
PerrowC. (1967). A framework for the comparative analysis of organizations. American Sociological Review, 32, 194-208.
15.
PolitisD.GabrielssonJ. (2009). Entrepreneurs’ attitudes towards failures: An experiential learning approach. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, 15, 364-383.
16.
RemenyiD. (1999). Stop IT project failures through risk management. Oxford, England: Butterworth-Heinemann.
17.
RoeverC. (1998). Using the Wall Street Journal to stimulate critical thinking. Business Communication Quarterly, 61, 66-70.
18.
SmithJ. W.ClarkG. (2010). Action research in the business classroom: Another lens to examine learning. American Journal of Business Education, 3(7), 41-57.
WardaleD. (2008).A proposed model for effective facilitation. Group Facilitation, 9, 49-58.
21.
WillsK.ClerkinT. (2009). Incorporating reflective practice into team simulation projects for improved learning outcomes. Business Communication Quarterly, 72, 221-227.
