Merck, the giant pharmaceutical company, was considering the acquisition of Medco, a company that manages prescription drug benefits for more than thirty million Americans through various employer-sponsored plans. Top management at Merck thought that the acquisition of Medco would allow Merck to provide a coordinated approach to health care. Patients, doctors, pharmacists, pharmaceutical companies, and the plan sponsors who pay for benefits could all be linked through Medco. Some executives at Merck worried that Medco would not benefit Merck. The risk involved--an expenditure of $5 billion to $6 billion--was very high. What should Merck have done