Horizontal Acquisition

Read the overview below and complete the activities that follow.

Horizontal mergers and acquisitions, which involve combining the operations of firms within the same product or service market, provide an effective means for firms to rapidly increase the scale and horizontal scope of their core business.

The goal of this exercise is for you to understand the strategic benefits and risks of expanding a companys horizontal scope of operations.

Before completing this exercise, be sure to review Ch. 6, Strengthening a Companys Competitive Position; specifically, the section entitled Horizontal Merger and Acquisition Strategies and Illustration Capsule 6.3, Walmarts Expansion into E-Commerce via Horizontal Acquisition.

Walmarts strategy of acquiring Jet.com accomplished every outcome except

Multiple Choice

• unseating Amazon as the industry leader in e-commerce.

• helping to accelerate its growth in e-commerce.

• providing quick access to knowledge and capabilities it lacked.

• increasing the extent of its online product offerings.

• attracting new customer segments.