Merger and Acquisition (perhaps to be considered by MAS airline): Indeed, being the wrong size is one of the few cases where serious thought about merger or acquisition is a must. The problem cannot, to repeat, be cured by growth from within as a rule. It requires a “quantum jump.” And this, of course, merger and acquisition can provide. The aim of such a merger or acquisition must not, however, be volume, as such. To pile additional volume on the wrong foundation is asking for trouble. The aim is to try to find the missing piece that, put together with whatone has, will result in a genuine whole. The aim is to find a business that also suffers from being the wrong size—but for the opposite reasons. If a company needs to have an oversized distribution system or an over-sized research effort to stay in business, it needs to look for a business which has too large a product line for its distribution system or its research capacities. At the same time, to make it the right fit, the product lines of the twobusinesses should be compatible; that is, should be able to use the same distribution system or the same research capacity. The merger and acquisition strategy therefore requires understanding of the reasons why one’s business is the wrong size. But if they are clearly understood and if the proper match can be arranged, the cure is likely to be rapid and complete.