Mergers and Acquisitions - The Importance of Understanding Culture

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Client Testimonial from Nick Foster - Senior Vice President of Marketing
SOFTCHOICE Corporation

Determined that SOFTCHOICE’s acquisitions not become statistics in the long list of failed corporate M&As, Nick and his integration team worked to ensure that the strengths for which these companies were acquired remained intact. Throughout the ACHIEVEBLUE culture initiative, with an Ideal culture profile defined for SOFTCHOICE, Nick gave each organization the opportunity to voice what their core identity is, their concerns with the integration process, and most of all, what they felt it would take to successfully merge three organizations.

Certificate in Post Merger Integration

A partnership with Schulich Executive Education Center

Introduction

This Certificate Program covers four key learning components  that are critical for a successful merger. It is essential learning for leaders in today's merger-driven organizations.

Learn what you need to know to give your merger the best chance of success. The numbers don't lie; over 50% of all mergers fail to realize the projected synergies and gains. In fact, they actually  result in a decline in productivity following an acquisition. If you are involved in – or will be involved in – the merging of two or more organizations, this program is ideal for highlighting potential issues and assisting you in putting together a strategy for successful integration.

About This Course

Designed for leaders, this flexible program features a 3-day Foundation  core component which takes a comprehensive view of post-merger  integration from the people and culture point of view.

Who Should Attend

  This program is vital for:

  • Executives and managers of teams joining together or impacted by a merger or acquisition
  • Human resources professionals in merged organizations
  • Project managers
  • Members of the post merger integration team
  • Anyone planning or undertaking a merger or acquisition

What You Will Learn

Foundation Component (3-days)

  1. Understand the impact of colliding  cultures on successful mergers and  acquisitions
  2. How to use the Human Synergistics Organizational Culture Inventory® to  understand the dynamics of integrating two or more cultures
  3. Understand the role of strong leadership  in change and how to develop an  integration communications strategy
  4. How to effectively implement a change management strategy focusing on the  people and cultural side of change
  5. Effectively plan for the impact of M&A on human capital
  6. How to identify critical roles, establish retention and redundancy strategies

Content

3-Day Foundation – Program Content

The three-day Foundation component is available to be taken on its own. However, to earn your Certificate in Post Merger Integration, you  must take the Foundation component as well as one's pecialization option. If you take both specialization options, an Advanced Certificate
in Post Merger Integration will be awarded.

Pre-Work Package
Your learning process will begin as soon  as you register. You will be sent three  important and powerful instruments that  will help you understand the "current"  culture of your organization as well as  your own style when it comes to accepting  and leading change and your personal leadership style. These instruments will  be used in the program to assist you in  planning for culture integration and leading  change and the team toward successful integration.

You will also receive your planning journal  that will prepare you with the information required for the session.

Culture Integration: Keys to A Successful  Merger

  • What is culture?
  • Where culture fits into strategy  alignment and organizational execution
  • The impact of culture on mergers and  acquisitions
  • Geographical culture – M&A in a global  environment
  • Culture assessments – what can they tell  us and their usage during a merger
  • Planning for cultural integration based on    types of merger

  Strategy, Vision and Values – Yours, Theirs  and Ours

  •    Validating the values of each organization  against overall vision and strategy   
    • Renew, reinvent, re-engineer
    • Synergies and differentiators
    • Getting buy-in through leadership
  • Values group exercise – company mission,  vision and values
  • Reviewing the ideal and current  circumplexes of the new organization

Applied Learning Session

  •    Based on culture surveys completed by  the merging organizations, this will be a  working session examining three areas:   
    • Will the proposed 'ideal culture' allow  the new organization to gain all the  synergies expected and achieve the  values expected?
    • How different are the two current cultures? What challenges will we have  to address in order to both move toward the new Ideal?
    • Action planning – what are the action plans that can be put in place to get the  new organization in sync and moving  toward the desired future state?

  Change Management Principles for Sustainable Results

  • Using the Impact of Change Model on  people   
    • Understanding the adapting behaviours
    • The role of the individual
    • The role of the leader
  • Planning for change in a merger
  • Change Style Indicator® assessment and  exploration exercise
  • Understanding the "what is" (Current  cultures) vs. the "ideal future state"  (Ideal culture)   
    • Where are we?
    • Where do we need to be?
    • How will we get there?

  Stakeholder Analysis Exercise

  • Teams will complete a stakeholder  analysis of all groups impacted by  the merger and their current level of  knowledge and expected support

  Communications Strategy Exercise

  • Using the key stakeholder analysis  and understanding of change styles,  complete the communications strategy  that will assist the various stakeholders  in understanding what is required from  them in order to make the merger a  success
  • Creating a question and answer strategy – for both Internal and external stakeholders

  Impact on Human Capital: Managing the  'Human' Side of the Integration

  • How to manage the human capital side  of a merger/acquisition, aligning people,  processes, culture, and strategy
  • Talent management   
    • The Talent model critical roles
    • Understanding current resources
    • Finding the best match
    • Establishing the right criteria –  competency modeling
    • Selecting the right candidate
    • Redundancy
    • Selection and rationale
    • Developing the package
    • Delivering the message: who, how and when
  • Retention Strategies   
    • Communication
    • Development plans including transition  team assignments, training, high  potential programs, coaching and  mentoring, succession planning and  replacement strategies
  • Managing expectations through  performance management   
    • Establishing clear accountabilities
    • Defining measures – "what does good  look like?"
    • Managing expectations through strong feedback

2-Day Specialization Elective 1: Leadership

The Role of the Leader in Post Merger Integration

  • Merger challenges and changes
  • Facets of change leadership
  • The individual contributor   
    • How the change impacts you not as the  leader but as an individual
  • The team leader   
    • Organizing your team
    • Focus on protecting your team  throughout change
  • The business leader   
    • Understanding the change and how it impacts the long term strategy of the business

  Using Human Synergistics Life Styles Inventory®

  • "The Leader Within™" – how does it differ  from the great leader profile?
  • Managing spheres of influence
  • Comparing your LSI® to the Ideal and  Current culture profile of the organization   
    • Where do you fit in?
    • How do you impact the culture of the  team?
    • How does your LSI® profile compare to  the Leader Within profile?
    • How will you use this to drive personal  and cultural change?

  The Impact of Mergers on the Team

  • Culture – moving to the new Ideal culture
  • Integrating two teams – the Haves and  the Have Not's
  • Positioning them for success
  • The power of communication
  • Effective delegation – defining new tasks
  • The Active Coaching Model™ – coaching  to task, performance and potential
  • Effective Feedback Model™ and dialogue

  Meeting the New Business Imperatives

  • Keeping your eye on the ball - meeting  your goals before, during and after  integration
  • Balancing "running " the business with"changing" the business
  • Action planning for creating a  constructive culture at the team level

2-Day Specialization Elective 2: Project Management

    Project Management Essentials

  • Initiating and scoping a project through  inception and the business case   
    • Establishing project and product scope
    • Managing requirements change
  • Building the project team: key roles,    key stakeholders and keys to successful  delegation   
    • Stakeholders who are internal to the  business area
    • Stakeholders who are external to the  business area
    • Stakeholders who are external to the  organization
  • Meeting management meets  conflict management: pre-empting  conflict through clarity, precision and  communication
  • Managing the triple constraints of time,  cost and scope
  • Defining project relationships by  deliverables
  • Successful time, cost and resource  estimating and scheduling through work    breakdown analysis
  • Choosing the correct project  management methodology: waterfall, iterative and agile
  • Project phases, milestones and gate  processes
  • Dealing with the realities of time and  resource commitments: how to configure personnel availability for maximum value working with distance teams
  • Rightsizing your project documentation  set: timely and stress-reduced review and sign off approaches
  • Managing the solution acceptance process and closing the project
  • Application release management   
    • What happens after the project?

  Integrating Change and Culture into the  Project Plan

  • Integrating new work streams
  • Managing change and the project – who's in charge?

  Bringing it All Together – Measuring for  Success

  • The balanced score card
  • Creating checklists & priorities
  • Creating the timelines
  • Working with the key stakeholders

 Program Tuition:

  • 3-Day Foundation program: $2,395.00 + applicable taxes
  • 2-Day Leadership Elective: 1,995.00 + applicable taxes
  • 2-Day Project Management Elective: 1,995.00 + applicable taxes
  • Foundation + Leadership (5 days total): $3,990.00 + applicable taxes. (Save $400)
  • Foundation + Project Management (5 days total): $3,990.00 + applicable taxes. (Save $400)
  • Foundation + two Specialization Electives (7 days total): $5,745.00 + applicable taxes. (Save $640)

This includes instruction, all seminar materials, lunches, refreshments, but not hotel accommodations.

Special Team Savings: Save $150 each when two or more team members  from the same organization register for this program at the same time.  Please Note: Fees, dates, speakers and applicable taxes are subject to  change. York's liability is limited to reimbursement of paid tuition fees.  One free transfer is permitted, provided written notice is received at least  14 days in advance of the seminar start date. Late transfer requests, less  than 14 days in advance of the start date, will incur a $100 fee. Additional  transfers are $200 each.

Cancellations received in writing at least 14  days in advance of the seminar start date will receive a full refund.  Written cancellations received less than 14 days prior to the seminar will be subject to a $500 administration fee. Participants must attend all  program days and fulfill all program requirements in order to receive a  certificate. HST# R119306736.

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Assessing Culture Pre and Post Merger

Based on statistics that 50% of mergers fail to realize projected synergies and gains, our contention is that when different organizational cultures meet, what gets lost is a shared sense of how the work gets done that is carried by an organization’s culture.  No matter which culture was the acquired and which was the acquirer, the mixture often creates a breakdown.  People are accustomed to doing things in certain ways and it's not always obvious to them why it is that “they do the thing they do” in “the way they do”. 

The way we do work is embedded in the culture.  An organization’s culture is defined as “the attitudes and behaviours” that are expected in order to fit in and be successful. 

A Culture Profile describes the Current culture’s strengths and vulnerabilities. This quantitative information helps the executive team to articulate the Ideal cultural attributes critical for the execution of the integration plan and identifies the leverage points for growth and change. Our research has shown that organizational culture is one of the lead indicators of long term effectiveness.

With the above statistics, executive teams are recognizing the value the role of Culture and People in the Post Merger Integration success to ensure that their merger or acquisition is not part of the 83% failure.

ACHIEVEBLUE Culture Assessment

Our assessment represents a credible, unifying approach by providing a common language and vision for benchmarking organizational culture.  Our recommendations include qualitative and quantitative measurements of the Ideal and Current culture profiles with each organization.  We will determine how closely aligned the Current culture is to the Ideal culture profile and what the gaps are to enable the integration of the merged organizations.

Our program helps leaders, managers and employees to understand both the Ideal culture for both organizations and the Current operating culture profile of the two organizations to determine the gabs between the two. To obtain this profile, ACHIEVEBLUE™ will use its Organizational Culture Ideal and Current Diagnostic tools.   These tools will provide answers to these important questions:

  • What supports (or hinders) embedding a high performance culture after post acquisition?
  • What is the connection between culture and innovation, brand promise, talent attraction and retention?
  • What are the precise underpinnings of culture that generate extraordinary results, sustainable high performance and organizational excellence?
  • What is the Ideal culture profile for each of the merged organization and how aligned are the two to ensure a culture that is accountable, cohesive and collaborative: a culture that will result in a high retention of current talent and the acquired talent while fostering employee engagement throughout the post acquisition integration phase?
  • What is the Current operating culture for each of the merged organizations and the Culture profile of both organizations that now form the new merged organization?
  • How does its Current culture impact performance as it relates directly to supporting the merger strategies?
  • How does the new organization increase loyalty and knowledge sharing within the merged organization?
  • How does the new organization sustain the momentum of “employee engagement and service excellence” of both organizations during the post merger integration?
  • What does it take to develop one unified culture? What support do all levels of leadership need to show and how do they become the champions to create this type of shift?
  • What is a resilient culture?  How is culture preserved and strengthened in times of change and growth?

 Call us at 416-236-3005 to learn more about our Pre and Post Merger Culture Assessment Programs