*SIM Paper Competition:* Managing the Merger: Building Partnership Through IT Planning at the New Baxter

In mid-1987, Baxter Healthcare Corporation undertook a major IS strategic planning study on the heels of the company's merger with American Hospital Supply. Central to this planning effort was the building of a new level of partnership between business and IS managers in the new corporation. This article describes Baxter's seven-month planning effort and the role of this effort in building the partnership. Two specific planning behaviors are noted for their contribution: dual purpose executive interviews, designed to both elicit information and provide a basis for executive understanding of planning options; and "micro" and "macro" analysis template, which served to focus and clarify planning activities and options at both local and global levels within the firm. Several key components in effective partnership -- shared knowledge, shared commitment, and shared decision making -- were therefore encouraged and supported by this approacy.