Benchmarking – Mergers and Acquisitions Companies and organizations face daily decisions that can provide unlimited opportunities both internally and externally. Finances and maximizing growth also play an important role in these decisions. Executives and managers must make decisions about how to allocate resources, how to increase profits, sales and the company's overall business portfolio. Companies are able to determine what works and what doesn't work by analyzing the company balance sheet. Sometimes financial statements will tell a lot about an organization and its financial situation or background. When companies begin to lose profits or sales, they are at a point where they could potentially be acquired or go out of business. The current benchmarking document Team C is focusing on deals with mergers and acquisitions that other organizations across different industries have faced. Given that LEI and Shang-wa may be at risk of takeovers, we wanted to see organizations that have merged or collaborated to keep the deals flowing. Next, Team C will explore several companies that have gone through mergers or acquisitions. Airlines The first mergers and acquisitions we will talk about include American Airlines, Comair, and Delta. American Airlines was founded in 1929 when Aviation Corporation was formed to acquire younger airlines, and in 1930 Aviation Corporation was incorporated into American Airways. In 1934, American Airways became American Airlines, Inc. (American, 2002). In 1937 American reached a milestone by carrying its millionth passenger. Over the years American has seen milestones and changes with the addition of new routes, different aircraft and even reorganization within the company. In 1982, shareholders approved a reorganization plan and formed a new holding company AMR Corporation, which became the parent company of American Airlines, Inc. With American's success in the industry and growing consumer base, they decided to look for more airlines small. and see if they could increase their business. In 1998, American Airlines announced its acquisition of Reno Air and American Eagles' acquisition of Business Express. By August 1999 Reno Air was fully integrated. However, the Americans were not yet done growing their business and clientele. On September 21, 1998, American and four other airlines joined together to launch a customer-focused global alliance called One World, which launched a multimillion-dollar program that raised the standard of global travel..