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Several management writers have identified common threads to successful change, including focus on the organization's mission and core competencies while re-designing structures around processes. But what happens when an organization's mission becomes obsolete, and its core competencies have sharply diminished in value?

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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The actual facts are hard to come by. A figure often cited in the press states that roughly two-thirds of all mergers and acquisitions do not pay off. A less pessimistic figure, attributed to Mercer Management Consulting, reveals that of 152 M&As that took place between 1994 and 1999, 70 under-performed while the remaining 82 outperformed. Still, the odds of success are not good. So why do companies forge ahead with M&As despite these warnings, and how do the companies that do succeed escape becoming yet another statistic? In this new series of cases, Professor Quy Huy and Ramina Samii provide a step-by-step analysis of a technology merger, showing how company managers successfully navigated the treacherous waters of culture clash, relocation, and internal power struggles by managing employees' emotions.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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In 1999, when Renault agreed to throw a financial lifeline to a floundering Nissan, many observers predicted an ugly crash. Yet in just over two years, Nissan was in a sufficiently strong position to be able to return the favour to Renault. This case series explores how that remarkable turnaround was achieved.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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Microsoft's acquisition of Sweden-based software firm Sendit in 1999 is a classic example of the complexities of mergers and acquisitions. In this five-part Case Study series, authors Robert J. Crawford, Research Associate at INSEAD, and Maurizio Zollo, Associate Professor of Strategy and Management at INSEAD, take readers through each phase of the acquisition and integration process.

Five years ago, when the technology sector was booming, Adobe Systems was in trouble. The company was respected for its technical prowess and popular products, but Wall Street was skeptical; Japan, a major market, was tanking; and Quark, Adobe's rival, launched a hostile takeover attempt. Forced to swim or sink, Adobe Systems launched a massive turnaround effort spearheaded by executive vice president Bruce Chizen, who is now the company's president and CEO. In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton, Chizen discusses how he and his colleagues managed the turnaround, Adobe Systems' competitive strategy, and where the company is headed in the future.

Change, change, change. Management is constantly seeking change, yet most companies fail to convert these efforts into real value-creating results. Professor Phil Dover reviews the change agent program at Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme (SNI) to identify useful learning points.

How do you institute real change while preserving a company's culture? Corning Incorporated did it by starting at the top and by creating a partnership to transform itself through a comprehensive reassessment of its existing costs and hopes for growth.

In this inside look at a process re-engineering program, Charles R. Lee, the chairman and C.E.O. of the GTE Corporation, describes the radical changes being made at the company's Telephone Operations unit in anticipation of open competition in the telecommunications industry. In an accompanying piece, re-engineering guru Michael Hammer provides his expert view on GTE's progress.

Robert J. Thomas, president and chief executive at Nissan, took time out to asses what he knew about the car business and where it is going. The result has been a radical rethinking of the business. Nissan is now in the midst of a major sea of change, entailing an internal shift from a business with a manufacturing mind-set to a marketing-oriented company that puts consumers' needs first.

The industrial giant's legendary learning center, Crotonville, has a new assignment: Teach every manager to be a strategist.

Bob Nardelli's pursuit of perfection, 3 billion human interactions per year.

In the fight against commoditization, companies are scrambling to create value-added services to protect their precious margins. But making the switch is easier said than done. To complete its metamorphosis, Dow Corning needed to transform the entire company.

How do you snatch a company from the brink of bankruptcy and restore it to profitability? As demonstrated in the mid-1980s by Caterpillar, the world's biggest maker of heavy equipment, the key lies in reshaping its "organizational DNA" -- the decision rights, motivators, information flows, and structures that determine an organization's behavior. By retooling its corporate culture to make it align better with its overall strategy and performance objectives, Cat reversed its course and, in just a few short years, returned to robust health.

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After 25 years of diligently working her way up the corporate ladder at Xerox, one would imagine that being named President and Chief Operating Officer would be a moment of great satisfaction for Anne Mulcahy. As it turned out, however, it was not. In truth, a word she has used to describe the feeling of being given the position is dread. Of course, there was a significant amount of pride blended with the dread, but nonetheless, dread was a prominent sensation.

The reason for this was simple. Xerox, the company in which she had toiled for two and a half decades, looked as if it might be teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

Note: INSEAD used to offer free evaluation copies of their cases. They no longer do...

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When functional operations are impeding client interaction, it’s time for a change. ‘Codan 2000’ was one such changing project launched by a Danish rubber company. INSEAD Professor Paul Evans and Michael Wulff Pederson check Codan 2000’s performance and its self-managed teams after two years, providing insight into the human side of Operations Management.

In 2006, things were not so great for Vodafone Spain. Its technology area was falling behind the rest of the company. Jaime Bustillo (CTO, Vodafone Spain), Pedro Diaz (HR Director, Vodafone Spain) and Luis Huete of IESE detail the immediate and necessary steps that Vodafone Spain's technology area had to take to instate "The Ultimate Cultural Change," which, by the first quarter of 2008, resulted in Vodafone Spain achieving a staggering 1.8 billion euros in total revenue.