Human Due Diligence (Harvard Business Review)

Most companies do a thorough job of financial due diligence when they acquire other companies. But all too often, dealmakers simply ignore or underestimate the significance of people issues in mergers and acquisitions. The consequences are severe. Most obviously, there's a high degree of talent loss after a deal's announcement. To make matters worse, differences in decision-making styles lead to infighting; integration stalls; and productivity declines.

From the April 2007 issue of Harvard Business Review.