previous opinion: I would have definitely recommended Leif Johansson to acquire Zanussi.3) What lessons, if any do you draw from Electrolux's approach to acquisition decision-making?One lesson that can be learned from Electrolux's decision-making approach in acquiring Zanussi is that Electrolux always had a good, defined and planned strategy and very experienced managers. Electrolux had seemed to have clearly specified objectives and during the acquisition process its managers never left out the details, they did not cut corners and most important the company was always determined to complete the phase of integration in no more than six months. Also the philosophy of Electrolux was pretty peculiar and to put it in Anders Scharp words: You never choose an acquisition, opportunities just come". Electrolux made a point that when acquiring a company that is in trouble they always evaluate the possibility if the other company can be rescued or not. Electrolux managers look at the other firm and study if the acquisition make sense and if it could be successful or not.4) What lessons do you draw from Electrolux's approach to acquisition integration? What would you have done differently?From this case a lot can be learnt about the acquisition integration approach. Zanussi had many commitments at the time of the acquisition. Therefore it was very important for Electrolux to find out what the possible risks, fines and penalties would be. One important factor was that Electrolux had to deal with union issues. But also management and organizational philosophy, politics and the way production was done were problems that Electrolux had to consider. The unions in Italy, like in the rest of Europe, are very important and influential. The Italians at the beginning didn't like the idea of being acquired by a "northern" company; they would have preferred Zanussi as independent or subsidized by the Italian government. Their main concern was the possible s...
