With the recent attempt by US food giant Kraft to buy Cadbury, one of the UK's oldest and best-loved firms, the spotlight is once again on mergers and acquisitions and how they're communicated.

If this is on your agenda, click on the Internal Comms Hub and discover how the Spanish banking group Santander managed the communication around its acquisition of Abbey.

Plus, remind yourself of the six key issues you'll need to consider when planning your internal communication strategy before a merger or acquisition and finally learn why it's important not to forget the people side of a merger, frequently the toughest part of the process to get right.

A recent issue of Strategic Communication Management featured the communication strategy behind the large-scale merger of travel organizations Thomson and First Choice. The article discusses the challenges that arise when bringing together two companies with similar products but very different cultures, histories and business approaches.

Also, Lynne Gray, Internal Communications Director at Aviva, will be sharing her experience of migrating the well-known Norwich Union brand into Aviva at Melcrum's 3rd annual Change Communication for Challenging Times conference next March. A combination of case studies and workshops will cover two days from 9th-10th March in central London. Find out more today!

I hope you find these resources useful.

Until next time,

P.S. One way of helping employees through large-scale change is to facilitate online forums where they can share their opinions and concerns. Social media is one of the best channels to achieve this. Melcrum's Social Media Conference is taking place in London on 9th and 10th February 2010 and is the must-attend event of the year to further your knowledge of this exciting area. Find out how you can build the business case for social media, as well as hearing how other companies are improving their results by using it. Book your place today.

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