[Sarah Miller]

I agree with many of the points already stated. Our company has taken a light integration approach for the first year which is beneficial in this regard. Things run as they have, eliminating the uncertainty, retention issues, etc. It has hurt us as well in my opinion, so there has to be a balance. I think the biggest thing is that you are there to help them and figure out a way to blend processes as it makes sense. It is definitely important in the due diligence phase to make sure there aren’t extreme differences if the companies will be working together closely.

[Nora Sophia Martin]

I think, HR DD is the beginning and fundament, but afterwards it’s important to chose the right strategy: There are five different final stages of cultural integration during M&A, which differ according to the degree of change expected by the acquiring and the acquired company. In the framework that I mean from Marks and Mirvis the stages are absorption, transformation, best of both, preservation or reverse merger. I can recommend you all to check this framework for orientation.

[Yeonlin Leonard Lee]

Cultural clash is definitely one of the key factors contributed to success/failure, think it is better to hire professional HR DD for unbiased approach as over the years the company HR tend to adapted to the company and might not be a unbias as an third party, also the HR might not understand the business enough to provide insightful recommendation in terms of staff relocation/job rotation.

[Ashley Hooton]

I do not think their is a guaranteed way to prevent “culture clash”, however, the more focus on their during the due diligence process the more likely you are to help prevent this. I do not think this is solely an HR topic as culture starts at the top. It is important that top level leaders at each company are talking about culture and supportive of how the merged culture will look once the acquisition takes place. HR can play a large role in this and help facilitate these conversations, but at the end of the day the top level leaders need to come to a consensus.

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