There are a few fine examples in the opposite direction, of course, for U.S. business has many intelligent managers who either leave the acquired business to run itself or who take time to learn the new line thoroughly before starting to make improvements. But even such leaders seldom feel they have time to master the details. A businessperson finding himself or herself in a new field is like a child in a new school. However successful the past years have been, the feeling of suddenly being a rookie is unsettling. Feeling diminished, the chief executive officer somehow must hide the fact and assert control.
Every meeting seems to call for a bright suggestion.
At some point, except in the fortunate 20 percent of takeovers that have exceptional people in both the larger and the smaller company, it will become apparent that the acquired business is not doing as well as its past record had promised. Either a burst of suggestions from on high has disturbed smooth operation or the managers of the smaller business, even though left on their own, have tried too hard to make a real impression and overplayed their free hand. It is appalling how often a management team that succeeded for years begins to bungle when a higher authority is pressing for quick results. At that point, the parent company has to act. And because the almighty stockholders have to be appeased, the action almost always includes a lot of belt-tightening downsizing the workforce, cutting research or advertising or even quality control anything to make the bottom line look better.