Top 3 Obstacles and Lessons Learned
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Let me start rolling the ball with – maybe – obvious ones:
– communication and change management: are all stakeholders on board on what we’re trying to merge and why? Repeating the communication via different channels for appropriate audiences. Stakeholder map, resistance management, governance and RACI.
– What makes the integrated business specific and unique and how it is different from the acquiring company: what needs to be changed in the global functions to address the specifics of the business being integrated: product families, new customer segment, different distribution, system and data changes…
– Are we missing any impacted function in the game: IT, Sales, Supply Chain and what about Legal, Regulatory, Customs, or other functions specifics to your domain?Looking forward to seeing contributions from others.
Change management in the form of setting the right total rewards expectations, frequent retention or “stay” interviews of top talent, and appropriate leader engagement and inclusion.
In a recent integration with an acquired company we ran into several issues the most impactful being:
– No communication as to the nature of the acquisition intention
– lengthy delay in restructuring of management reporting structure
– cancelling the integration project team to turn the tasks over to Run the BusinessWe in the PMO are working to build a better M&A playbook to not repeat these mistakes in the future.
In my experience, the top three obstacles in post-merger integration have been:
Cultural Alignment: Mismatches in company cultures can create friction. Addressing this early with transparent communication helps.
Systems Integration: IT and operational systems can be difficult to merge, delaying synergy realization. Careful planning and phased integration are key.
Employee Retention: Losing key talent during integration can disrupt operations. Offering retention bonuses and involving HR early has been effective in keeping crucial personnel onboard.
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