The urge to merge. In the 1998 Handbook of Business Strategy, Professor of Management Policy John Mahon and co-author Richard McGowan explain why companies considering a partnership should evaluate their strategies with an eye to many kinds of scrutiny. Because of that, there are more opportunities for them to be derailed.
Timing also refers to the desired length of the partnership.
Cultural as well as geographic distance can create obstacles in a merger but may not matter as much in a simpler kind of partnership. In the future, he adds, governments are likely to become even more intrusive. A successful strategy will identify the concerned constituencies other than the firms involved, and communicate to them the deal's benefits. The English-French building of the Concorde allied the countries in a project beyond the capabilities of either one alone and which benefited both nation's economies. Over the past 25 years it has become more of a 'taboo' product.