The Art of M&A Strategy: A Guide to Building Your Company's Future through Mergers, Acquisitions, and Divestitures

CONCLUSION

The business environment has been changing and will continue to change in significant ways over the next few decades. While some of this change will be impossible to predict—the “black swans” strategists rightly fear—some trend lines are evident. As consumer markets in the United States and Europe emerge from the financial crisis, they will continue to grow more conservative about leverage, more concerned about the environment, and more globally aware. The middle classes in the developing economies will continue to expand and will soon dominate consumer spending. Inexpensive and pervasive media and communications technology will continue to homogenize markets and mindsets internationally. At the same time, freer trade and greater ease ...