consolidation

On the business side, merger refers to the merger of several companies in a particular industry, which usually concentrates its market share to a few large corporations.

Perhaps one of the most obvious examples of industry integration can be seen in the evolution of public accounting over the past 20 years. In 1986, nine major accounting firms dominated the industry. However, in 1987, Klynveld Main Goerdeler (KMG) merged with Peat Marwick Mitchell to establish KPMG Peat Marwick, reducing the number of top players to "Big Eight". Later in 1989, Ernst & Whinney merged with Arthur Young, Deloitte Haskins & Sell merged with Touche Ross to further strengthen the industry's "six big". In 1998, Price Waterhouse merged with Coopers & Lybrand, "Big Five" was born, Arthur Andersen broke up in 2002 and "Big Four" was born.

After several years of merger, three major competitors emerged: E * Trade (following the acquisition of BrownCo and HarrisDirect) and Ameritrade (recently won the TD bid). Waterhouse) and Charles Schwab

One of the thrust behind the merger is to combine the operational efficiency that is generated frequently. Often there are opportunities for merger companies to achieve synergistic effects of significant cost reductions and related revenue, as merging companies can consolidate existing business structures to reduce duplications. Companies may acquire competitors for many other reasons, such as expanding their geographic reach, expanding their customer base and expanding their product lines.

The integration will change the balance of industry power, like oligopoly, duopolis, cartel, and several other companies controlling all or most of the industry's environment. Investors need to carefully consider the impact of M & A activities on the competitive environment.

There is a possibility that the industry may not be integrated immediately due to failure or acquisition, but especially in the cloud signs of "functional integration" are increasing more and more. Some major companies are gradually building integrated "Big Data + AI" products covering many foundations, including the implementation of their own production products and proprietary open source computing engines. Many buyers always want. In particular, the speed and width of Amazon Web Services, its product release is still impressive. At this stage, we offer a wealth of data and artificial intelligence, especially with deep learning, including analysis framework, real-time analysis, database (NoSQL, graphics etc), business intelligence, and increasingly rich AI functions ). Complete List) At this rate, AWS products will soon appear in all infrastructure and analysis boxes in the big data environment.

Advantages and disadvantages of integrating city and county are books themselves. Proponents say the merger will bring economies of scale, eliminate layoffs, simplify procurement, and reduce wages. Critics of the merger said that evidence in the field of integration indicates that these benefits are not realized and that the merger will result in greater, humane, unresponsive bureaucracy. Any discussion about the merger of the city and the county must be accepted, and there are many ways to provide skin to this particular cat. A real merger has been completed in several cities and counties. Others merge or share services, but do not change the boundaries - a form of integration that avoids political territory war that may arise from a complete merger. There is a "unified government" model, which is a term used by Wyndham County, Kansas, to explain the merger with Kansas City, Kansas. In this arrangement, some towns remain independent jurisdictions within the county.