[Sean Casault]

I’m curious to get the perspectives on key risks to taking a “best of both” approach to function integration where you attempt to take the best practice (policy, process, technology, or framework) of either the parent company or the newly acquired company and drive it across the entire combined entity presumably to the benefit of all.

[Michael Maggiotto Jr]

‘@[email protected] — Good question. It boils down to the transaction thesis, the strategic vision for the merged entity, and buy-in from executive leadership. If a policy, process, technology, or framework does not advance the transaction thesis or align with the strategic vision for the merged entity, it does not matter how effective they were in either of the merging entities alone, they may not be “BEST” in the merged entity. It becomes challenging when elements from the independent entities do so (or not) fairly equally. Then it becomes a numbers game – determining cost of implementation in the other entities merged that do not have the particular system, process, etc.; evaluating the ability of the employee population to learn (their tech savvy or mental flexibility); cultural resistance, etc. Some of these challenges can be overcome with effective communication strategies and a strong L&D team. Absent these elements, it becomes really challenging. Will take some savvy planning to overcome obstacles and potentially engagement with 3rd party consultants which will drive up costs. In the end, you cannot and should not keep all policies, processes, technology, and frameworks. It becomes unwieldy, confusing, and costly. You got to make a decision. That’s why they pay you the big bucks, right? 🙂

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