Merger of associations

Winning is the top priority in sport - but at what price? When EHC Uzwil Hawks contacted my club, HSG Gekkos ice hockey team, and expressed interest in a merger, things weren’t going so well for the Gekkos, both in sporting and financial terms... As president of the Gekkos, my first thought was: if we have nothing to lose, why not merge with a powerful club that is guaranteed to bring us more victories and money? On the other hand, an old management principle says that you should never negotiate from a position of weakness. What’s more, the success of an organisation means nothing if it is disconnected from its identity. Against the backdrop of these considerations, negotiations for a merger with the Uzwil Hawks were initiated. This bachelor thesis was written in parallel with the actual due diligence process of the two clubs, which also led to a heated conflict of interest among alpha males. Did the merger actually take place after the negotiations, or was the project put on hold?