The worldwide marketplace steadily becomes more complicated and competitive for companies to participate in. In an effort to be more competitive, firms must develop new and innovative practices to improve costs, quality, throughput, and responsiveness to the customers' needs. As simple as that sounds, it proves difficult to be different from the rest when everyone is doing many of the same things to improve their market position. When no more answers can be found within the framework of the company as it exists, the answer must lie within another. This leads companies to consider the possibility of merging with or acquiring another. Due diligence is the act of fully evaluating the target firm from all aspects and should cover a variety of disciplines including: strategic, tax, legal, intellectual property, environmental, operational, finance and accounting, and people and culture due diligence. Although inclined to failure due to ignorance or inexperience, the odds of success canbe increased dramatically through the careful and relentless use of due diligence. This book is the tool needed for anyone tasked with successfully expanding their company's horizons.