THE PROBLEM MOST FREQUENTLY CITED BY MERGER AND ACQUISITION MANAGERS IS CULTURE CLASH!
Culture clash in acquisition integration can be a very costly and damaging thing. When two companies integrate, they realize that they have accomplished the same internal and external tasks differently. The process of integrating these different ways of operating can be very disruptive to employees trying to get work done, and to customers who find delays in delivery and flaws in the product. The more managers can anticipate these problems, the more effectively and profitably they can manage the post-acquisition integration process.
A proven and effective approach to analyzing and managing organizational (culture) integration!
Too often, work with organizational culture in mergers has dealt with such things as human values and profit orientation. Culture, though, is a system of practices and behaviors. We have developed an empirically observable approach and measurable to analyzing organizational cultures in mergers and to facilitating the process of cultural integration. This approach allows accurate forecasts of the costs and problems of integrating two organizational cultures.
Culture clash results when:
- the timing of any internal or market routine changes
- the steps in any internal or market routine change
- the people running the routines change
- the ways operating and policy decisions are made changes
- the jobs people have to do expand or change
- dress differently, talk differently about work, or work to different standards
- employees’ positive expectations of the acquisition go unmet
Forecasting problems and costs associated with organizational integration:
Our instrumentation accurately forecasts the managerial and financial costs of integrating organizational cultures and identifies the cultural differences between merging companies.
Helping merger managers overcome the problems with culture clash:
We have also developed potent programs and services to help manage the integration process with minimum unexpected managerial or financial cost. We can help:
- provide realistic and accurate projections of the integration process
- identify item-by-item what changes will be expected
- prepare employees for the expected cultural changes through training and coaching
- prepare management for the implementation details of cultural and operational change
- prevent employee dissatisfaction stemming from the change implementation process
- prevent market related problems stemming from cultural change in merging companies