Of course, we cannot be sure whether the 53% of deals which destroyed value were among organisations which would have lost value against competition if they had not merged but one of the sure-fire ways to stack the odds against yourself is to look at your target or partner from a business point of view only.

ECONOMIST: Letters

Tony Carlin, group manager at South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said crews had struggled to hit the six minute target, which was set by the service in 2006.

BBC: South Yorkshire fire service may scrap response target

The software lets the fire brigade use a technique known as modelling regression to target places that register as at high risk for fire.

BBC: Can big data help fight fires and save lives?

The BOA has previously come under fire for setting what its critics consider an overly-optimistic a target of fourth place in the overall medal table at the London Olympics.

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