Successful integration process in seven steps
Research from Harvard Business Review indicates that 70-90% of acquisitions fail to deliver the anticipated value for the buyer. These failures often stem from difficulties in achieving expected synergies, meeting financial targets, or overcoming integration challenges. Boer & Croon identifies the critical areas of focus for successful integration.
Synergies do not arise automatically:
It is important to have a clear picture of an acquisition's strategic principles. Ensure that exploiting the identified synergies is a spearhead in the integration plan.
Have a clear picture of the organisational design of the merger product:
A clear organisational design supportive of the intended synergies is essential to design the integration process.
Poor (resource) planning causes long lead times and suboptimal integration:
Having detailed activity and resource planning is key to a successful integration journey. Integration processes are labour-intensive, often delayed, and have quality problems due to a lack of available time among the staff involved.
A clear governance structure ensures control of the integration process:
Management involvement is essential for the success of an integration project. Not only from a role model role they play but also by providing the right tools for adjustment in the integration process.
Communication is the lubricant of integration processes:
Ensure there is a detailed mapping of the stakeholders in the integration process, which requires clear communication and tailor the narrative and communication plan accordingly. Communication is continuous as long as the integration process is ongoing, and therefore, not just a party at the announcement of an acquisition.
Creating a new shared culture is instrumental to the success of the integration:
Ignoring differences in corporate cultures is disastrous for integration. Understanding these differences is the starting point in merging into a new shared culture. Culture can also be made concrete, where combining hard and soft elements is the key to success.
Start the integration process as early as possible:
The earlier a PMI Specialist is involved in the transaction process, the more value can be created in the integration process.
