Every two weeks, a company drops off the S&P 500 Index. (Think of Kodak and BlackBerry producer RIM.) This makes the need for transformative M&A deals more urgent than ever—and the work of merger integration organizations more challenging. The volume of deals is growing every year, and completely new rationales for merging or acquiring a firm have emerged. Companies are now more likely to face cultural and talent problems in making deals because they occupy greatly different business segments, have dramatically different management styles, or are scattered in different global locations. Communication and deal prep are paramount.