Dollar General lost a bidding war with Dollar Tree to acquire Family Dollar Stores. Since the merger, Dollar General's stock performance has outpaced the new larger rival by about 10 percent.

According to Rick Maurer, author of Beyond the Wall of Resistance and other books on organizational change, "Sometimes it is good to lose. The history of mergers working well for stockholders is a risky way to bet." Maurer went on to say, "Mergers can seem like a great idea on paper. 'If we combined forces, just imagine what we could accomplish?' "

Maurer suggests that "the possibilities inherent in a proposed merger often blinds leaders to the difficulty of making the two companies actually merge in day-to-day practice. Of course their financial due diligence is often good and their view of the potential market makes sense, but they are foregetting about merger integration. "

He lists three thing to consider before saying yes to a merger.

Look carefully at the two cultures and ask: What makes us think that these two organizations could come together? Maurer reminds us of the failed Chrysler and Mercedes Benz merger.

Who will run this new company?  Maurer says, "If someone says it will be a merger of equals – beware. Someone will feel like a winner and someone will feel like a loser. That will make merger integration very difficult."

Do we actually know how to merge big companies? Maurer then asks, "If not, what makes you think this merger will work well?"