g changes to company policy should be avoided at all costs. However, as Machiavelli suggests that a boss by birth [has] less need to harm his[/her] employees, thus putting some of the fears towards the new boss to rest (8).When a principality is acquired through an acquisition of a non-hostile nature, it is the prince who may have fears. The prince of a mixed principality faces more difficulties than those of a hereditary principality. Machiavelli suggests that these difficulties derive from one natural problem inherent in all new principalities: men gladly change their masters, thinking to better themselves (8). Additionally, the new prince is, out of necessity, going to offend his new subjects by bringing in his soldiers and [causing] other countless injuries that are involved in his new conquest (8). These same problems will face the management of a newly acquired business. Those employees that are retained will automatically look to better their current position by less than honest means. Those left over from the old regime may be inclined to steal from the company out of fear that they may soon be replaced. Thus, endangering the already financially unstable situation that an acquisition puts a company in. Therefore, measures must be taken to ensure that the state/company not be lost due to an uprising by the subjects/employees. In order to maintain the principality obtained by an acquisition, Machiavelli proposes several measures the new prince must take. First of all, the prince must eliminate the family line of the old prince (9). Next he must go and live in the new kingdom to become more accessible to his new subjects and to squash the first signs of rebellion (10). Most importantly, the new prince should not change any laws or amounts taxed on his subjects (9-10). Comparatively, the management involved in an acquisition should immediately fire and replace most of if not all of the old management. Additionally, the...
