Buzzwords - M'n'A
(noun) the softer alternative to the term mergers & acquisitions.
When deal-making, client-breaking Gordon Gekko types bestrode the globe making money and skipping lunch, it seemed that everyone was in the mergers & acquisitions business. But 20 years on, we live in a very different world. We’re touchier (in a positive way), feelier and all together more collaborative. Now when we want to crack a deal we still engage in M&A, but these days we call it mergers and alliances.
The expression is already common currency at one accountancy institute – but it has legs well beyond the wood-panelled boardrooms of the City. M’n’A (the ‘n’ is our own re-branding by the way; we’re hoping it will catch on) has a long history in the not-for-profit sector. And so it seems apt that the City is looking to the voluntary sector for advice in the caring, sharing noughties.
It will also be a familiar term to close watchers of the airline industry where competition concerns usually dictate that loose alliances are acceptable. We confidently expect the term to continue to worm its way into our everyday business language until it is adopted by a manufactured boy band – and much like the band itself, will be eventually and unceremoniously dumped.
- Baffled by business buzzwords? Then send them to [email protected] and we’ll attempt to deconstruct them.