Four Steps to make a Merger Work
One of the most difficult operational issues is the merger of two corporate cultures.
If you are running a micro-business or even a small business at the smaller end of SME’s, you might think this does not apply to you. I disagree.
From time to time small businesses will “merge” with another culture. You may buy a business that is already operational and with staff who have been there for some time. In this case you will need to “merge” your personal business culture with that of the business you just bought. If indeed you already run a business, you might buy a smaller one – that’s a merger of two cultures. Perhaps you are in a situation where one of your competitors or colleagues suggest you “get together” – that’s an obvious merger.
Whatever the situation, if you are faced with having to put together two people or two groups of people, it is not a simple equation of 1+1=2. Different organisations have different values, different processes, and different ways of doing things that are justifiable to each. The key is to get together and start working efficiently as soon as possible.
Mergers can be successfully managed if you understand some key success factors and there is actually a “formula” that you can apply.
The key success factors of a merger are:-
- Effective planning and execution
- An overall and well communicated vision of why this is taking place
- Effective and quick alignment and integration
- Fast and focused transition.
I summarise the implementation of these key success factors as “Plan well, Fit Quick, Work Quick, and Grow Quick”.
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