Culture

Webinar: Getting Culture Fit Right in Post-M&A Integration. We believe that culture is one of the keys to unlocking lasting M&A success. Leaders and dealmakers need strategies for minimizing risk and maximizing upside potential by dealing effectively with culture. I joined JP Laqueur of BrandFoundations to discuss the importance of planning for culture intentionally. We then reviewed two simple but effective tools for building and harnessing the power of an integrated post-merger culture

Do Compatible Values Predict M&A Success?     In many M&A deals, the similarity in values is an early sign to would-be acquirers of cultural compatibility. Culture differences are often cited as the third rail of M&A integration success, so having some comfort on that front is reassuring, to be sure. Ask these seven questions to find out whether the culture is really similar, and begin the discussion of culture initiatives during due diligence.

Telling Stories: The Antidote to Culture Clash in M&A.  Speaking about culture in the context of an acquisition, people are often on the defensive. On both sides, people tend to defend the culture they know, and conversations about culture tend to be unproductive. Exchanging stories about culture will strengthen the ties between people, reducing resistance to change and greatly improving the odds of generating growth synergies that are otherwise hard to realize in an acquisition. 

The Missing Intent in M&A: Most articles about the impact of culture in M&A focus on deals imploding due to cultural mismatch. We take a more positive view, that focusing more on cultural and people in the integration has great upside potential.

Can’t We All Talk About Culture? Cultural assumptions, beliefs and values that underlie visible elements of a company’s culture are rarely discussed. Why is it so hard when culture seems critical to competitive success? Here are some ways to get the discussion going.

Culture Block: Why is culture widely acknowledged informally, but rarely addressed thoughtfully in planning for post merger integration?

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