http://benevolentbaron.com/2010/02/03/benevolent-takeovers/ Redefine the Bottom Line Tue, 03 Aug 2010 08:52:40 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 http://benevolentbaron.com/2010/02/03/benevolent-takeovers/comment-page-1/#comment-62 Mike Figura Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:48:01 +0000 http://benevolentbaron.com/?p=162#comment-62 I was on the board of a local affordable housing non-profit that was "competing" with another affordable housing non-profit in Asheville. It made sense to combine the two in order to reduce overhead, staff, and grant writing time. The two eventually merged, but it took near collapse of one of the non-profits before that happened. There was strong resistance to merging by the board (who felt that it would be a sign of defeat for the organization that folded) and by staff (who were scared about losing their jobs). It seems like those hurdles pose less of an obstacle in the for-profit world, since boards usually gain from mergers, even though staff sometimes get the shaft. I was on the board of a local affordable housing non-profit that was “competing” with another affordable housing non-profit in Asheville. It made sense to combine the two in order to reduce overhead, staff, and grant writing time. The two eventually merged, but it took near collapse of one of the non-profits before that happened. There was strong resistance to merging by the board (who felt that it would be a sign of defeat for the organization that folded) and by staff (who were scared about losing their jobs). It seems like those hurdles pose less of an obstacle in the for-profit world, since boards usually gain from mergers, even though staff sometimes get the shaft.

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