When Should Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)be Considered the "Buy" Option

When should mergers and acquisitions (M&A) be considered the "buy" option for a strategist trying to determine which corporate strategy to implement?

A) when the resource in question is highly tradable
B) before the strategist has considered borrowing the necessary resources through integrated strategic alliances
C) after it has been established that the firm's internal resources are sufficient to build
D) when extreme closeness to the resource partner is necessary to understand and obtain its underlying knowledge