Operations Due Diligence: An M&A Guide for Investors and Business (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780071777612)

The missing link to determining a company's real value

Most people at the M&A table know how to carry out financial and legal due diligence. Only the accomplished investors come prepared with an in-depth understanding of the complete due diligence process. Operations Due Diligence is a game-changing guide for investors who need a fully accurate determination on the sustainability of a business.

Written by a hands-on operations executive who has successfully implemented process improvement programs at large and small businesses, this practical guidebook sets itself apart by providing a step-by-step strategy for analyzing the toughest area of a business to assess: its operations.

Unlike financial and legal due diligence, there were no principles such as law and accounting to guide operations due diligence--until now. This turnkey approach, based on a pragmatic series of almost 400 questions, helps you accurately assess the infrastructures of a business's customer satisfaction, production, information management, sales and marketing, organization, and personnel, as well as its finances and legal operations. For managers and business owners looking to improve the sustainability of their business, this guided inquiry serves as a thorough operations checklist to next-level performance.

Whether you are an investor trying to capture a new opportunity with minimal risk or an executive struggling to improve your business, Operations Due Diligence gives you a distinct advantage by:

• Going a step further than most books and illustrating how to analyze your discoveries
• Using historic examples to make the lessons both understandable and memorable
• Clearly explaining how and why each sector is an important indicator of the long-term sustainability of a business
• Conveniently locating infrastructure summary questions at the end of chapters for quick reference
• Providing a document checklist so nothing gets overlooked at the negotiating table

The highest-valued companies and their investors know that producing the best products and services isn't enough. Survival depends on continually improving infrastructure through Operations Due Diligence.