The article examines the recent announcement of the merger of Canadian iconic coffee shop chain Tim Hortons and America’s Burger King.

Appropriate Subject Area(s):

Marketing, business administration, international business, entrepreneurship, mergers and acquisitions

Key Questions to Explore:

• How do mergers and acquisitions impact consumers? Shareholders?Employees?

New Terminology:

Foreign market share, hyper-competitive, maturing fast food market, competitive intensity, value-conscious consumers, leveraging technology, master franchise, joint venture

Materials Needed:

Handout of Frayer Model (provided)

Introduction to lesson and task:

This lesson explores the merger of Tim Hortons and Burger King from multiple perspectives. It will help students to acquire and understand new terms, or business language, to gain a better perspective on the impact of this kind of merger.

Action (lesson plan and task):

1. Ask students if they frequent Tim Hortons or Burger King.
2. Ask them what is the first thing they think about when they think of Tim Hortons? Burger King?
3. By show of hands, ask students to indicate if they are aware of the merger between the two companies.  How did they come to learn about this for those that know? What are their thoughts about it?
4. Explain to the class that you are together going to explore the potential impact of this kind of business decision, but first, you want to explore some of the language that is used relative to this situation.
5. Distribute a copy of the Frayer model to each student, or post it online or on the board for students to replicate within their own portfolio.
6. Use one of the words listed under new terminology above and complete the Frayer model as a class.
7. Organize students into small groups and assign each group one of the terms above to work through, using the Frayer model.
8. Ask each group to have a representative present their term to the class.
9. Distribute the article for reading.
10. With a deeper understanding of the terms, ask students to discuss the impact of this merger on consumers, employees and shareholders?

Consolidation of Learning:

In the United States, some consumers have said they are going to boycott Burger King because it is going to allow money to flow to Canada instead of staying in the US. In the article, Warren Buffett is quoted as saying the main thing in this deal is to make Canadians happy. How does a large conglomerate like 3G Capital satisfy consumers world-wide to ensure that their business entities continue to grow?

Success Criteria:

Students understand the language of merger and acquisition

Confirming Activity:

Have students complete a learning map outlining what they have learned about how consumers, employees and shareholders are impacted when a merger takes place.