Macvicar Consulting

Digital Strategies - Change Management - Custom Publishing
Home
Think Tank 3.0
Custom Publishing
Marketing
Business Community Networking
Specialist Search
eLearning
Integration
Innovation
Client feedback
About Me
Contact Details

Post Acquisition Integration                                                            

 

 

The Triumph of Imagination over Intelligence.....

 
 

 

  ....is how Oscar Wilde once described marriage. Judging by the recent failure rate of company acquisitions over the past 20 years or so, the same could probably be said of corporate M&As as well. Most research commissioned on the subject comes up with the same depressing conclusion - that somewhere in the region of 30-50% of takeovers end (just like marriages these days) in divorce; and that one of the principle causes is a lack of forward planning around the integration of  recently acquired businesses into their new corporate homes.

 

 This is not just about incorrectly identifying operational synergies as a means of cutting the cost base; it is about neglecting the impact that a change of ownership, mission and ultimately culture can have on a company's most important asset- its people. Employees in a targeted business frequently (and understandably) equate the loss of autonomy with a feeling that they are now second-class citizens and, worse, that they do not belong any more. A failure to address this issue from the outset can result in drops of productivity and emplolyee satisfaction, an increase in leadership turnover and the loss of key members of staff.

 

 Effecting cultural integration requires hard work and commitment from the very top of the acquiring company, but it isn't rocket science. There are a few basic boxes that a purchasing organisation needs to be able to tick if they want to be on the right side of the statistics - in their coporate lives, at any rate

 

 

Checklist

1) Be clear about what you are buying and honest  with yourself about why you are doing it. Identify any overlaps and inbuilt conflicts between the two organisations and be prepared to deal with them from day one. Keep emotion out of your decision-making process, but recognise that acquisitions should never be just about the bottom line.
 

2) Avoid alienating your new colleagues. You are your company's standard bearer and as such, you need to be visible and accessible and you need to win their respect. You must also treat them with respect and most importantly that means talking to them.
 

 3) Communicate. Telling compelling stories is part and parcel of successful leadership and you need to  explain the reasons for the acquisition, your vision for the future and how you expect your new colleagues to contribute to this until they beg you to stop. Use an idiom they understand - and be ready to engage in some robust if not downright hostile debates. They are only human, probably  a little scared and certainly feeling insecure.
 

4) Be decisive. Indecision is 90% of stress- and that holds true for you and for your nw colleagues. It is vital to identify, retain and motivate key new members of staff as soon as possble so that everybody can move forward. Inevitably that will mean disappointing and probably losing some people whose career expectations have been thwarted, but that's life.
 

5) Build a common culture. Probably the hardest task of all, but if you can identify common values and terms of reference, then you will be half way there.