A merger lesson for London Met

London Metropolitan University has been having a little local difficulty over its refusal to recognise the University and College Union, which the union believes contravenes pre-merger agreements. This is not the first staff-management fallout. The merger between London Guildhall University and the University of North London, which formed London Met in 2002, was marred by rows over new contracts and more than 20 unfair dismissal cases. Help may be at hand in the shape of London Met's unit for business and occupational psychology, which is running a one-day workshop later this month on preventing merger failure. It will share the results of its long-term research, which reveals that mergers that fail have generally concentrated on strategy and finance rather than on people management.