[Peggie Chan]

In a previous integration, we worked with an external consultant who conducted a detailed Cultural Assessment to support the integration. I’m interested in your recommendations for other Cultural Assessment Tools to support smaller integrations with smaller budgets. Thank you!

[Andy Aguiluz]

Great topic, Peggie! Interestingly, I’ve found that cultural assessment tools have huge pros and cons themselves. While there is great benefit in understanding culture (and a piece many companies overlook or deprioritize), people can have a negative reaction to being assessed (specially personality and style) and these can create blindspots. It seems like we’ve made progress in recognizing that there’s a human element to take into consideration in m&as, but not sure what the best way to set both companies up for success might be without “categorizing/boxing” their people.

[Helen Mitchell]

Deloitte provide a fantastic service and tool. Do check out their services.

[Eric Kunitake]

Back in grad school, we were introduced to these folks: http://www.iopt.com/index.php We all took the assessment and were pleasantly surprised with the results. Potential uses may include having key stakeholders take the assessment to better understand the best way to communicate details or gain support for critical decisions. Group assessments are also available. Payment options and much more are available on their website.

[Rachael Bewley]

I’m curious to hear of anyone who has experience leveraging one of these tools and how they assessed and implemented the results in their integration strategy.

[Max Eager]

Having the right tools when conducting the cultural assessment during M&A integrations, regardless of size, is essential. Here are three that I can recommend:

1. Hofstede Insights Cultural Navigator: This tool is based on Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory. It allows a detailed comparison of deep-level values between two or more cultures.

2. Culture Amp: This is an excellent platform that simplifies the collection, understanding, and actioning of employee feedback to better align with the merging cultures, which can be particularly helpful in M&A situations.

3. The GlobeSmart Profile: This is a web tool that helps you quickly understand how your cultural preferences, and the preferences of others, align with work-related behaviors.

[Leah Roderick]

Great tools Max, thanks for sharing! A thorough, yet balanced cultural assessment is key to successful acquisitions, since without cultural synergy a deal does not really make sense financially or strategically.

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