Isidore Crocker, CEO of Gotham Engines, is strongly in favor of acquiring Carolina Textiles, a firm in an unrelated industry. Gotham Engines has recently completed a series of other unrelated acquisitions and some members of the board of directors are questioning Crocker's motives for the acquisitions. They argue that the CEO is using this acquisition to create greater power for himself and increase his compensation rather than to increase shareholder value. In this scenario, this acquisition by Gotham Engines is most likely a result of _