23 Insights from The 2019 Merger Integration Conference
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23 Insights from The 2019 Merger Integration Conference

May 31, 2019 | Brief

"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." 

Mike Tyson

Integration as a Catalyst for Transformation

Mergers continue to be big business. 2018 marked a resurgence in global M&A activity, thanks to a rebound in large and mega deals led by Europe and North America. Seven out of 10 deals were domestic; 18 percent were global. Whatever the size of the deal or the function, cultural alignment and talent selection are paramount, and planning, patience, and proper pacing will make the difference between a deal that falters and a deal that transforms its legacy partners and the business they create together.

When 148 practitioners and experts met to talk about merger integration, we took notes. Here are the highlights:

Culture is how work gets done. You can’t change it by putting a slogan like “We believe in people” on the wall. You change culture by driving behavior changes through changing processes and practices. 

  1. Companies that focus on healthy cultures outperform the market, outperform competitors, and have higher EBITA scores. And culture explains up to 50 percent of performance within companies.
  2. Why is integrating cultures so hard? It’s a perception problem:
  • Culture is perceived as an art. But it needs to be treated as a science.
  • Culture is perceived as HR’s job. But it needs to be everybody’s job.
  • Culture is perceived as a luxury. But it’s a value-added activity.
  1. In a merger, both sides tend to say, “We already know our culture.” This keeps them from being able to compare the two cultures to
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AUTHOR

SusanStewart

Senior Publishing Writer


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