Goosey, goosey! " he called, and pretended to be strewing corn out of his hands as when feeding geese.

And in his bosome secretly there lay / An hatefull Snake, the which his taile vptyes / In many folds, and mortall sting implyes.

Strength of numbers against foes, in a more populous and rivalsome world, was an added if not paramount consideration.

This thesis deals in general with mergers & acquisitions in the CRO industry, and more specifically with reasons for M&A, success factors during the M&A process, and why M&A can fail in the Contract Research Organization industry.