Culture as a success factor in integration
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I have just completed the final assignment for Integration Management & Synergies where we were asked to explain when culture was an important part of integration.
My example was merging and integrating a white collar with a blue collar business.
These cultural difference were routed in the foundations of the history of each business, however based purely on expertise, these two business were a great match.
We resolved this by understanding that we needed to maintain and excel in delivering value to our clients, which is why the tow business merged in the first place.
Our cultures are based on our foundational expertise – based on our expertise we are a great match; therefore culture is a critical success factor for the success of the merger.
Has anyone experienced culture being a critical success factor? what was the outcome and how did you overcome your challenges?I have found time and time again that a business can look amazing on paper, but if the culture is misaligned it can greatly impact the success of the acquisition.
An example is of a deal I did 5 years ago when a company was acquired purely for its talent (people) and the capabilities that the people would bring to the acquirer, plus the complementary skillsets that would help clients. Culture is a critical success factor for the success of the merger. Without undertaking a deep dive into the cultures, identifying the gaps, orientation and synergies the deal would not have been a success. What was successful was identifying the key synergies and then highlighting them frequently when the two firms came together, through corporate communications, townhalls and leadership speeches. Co-creating the future through workshops and highlighting synergies there made the deal a success since the teams worked together.
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