Mergers and Acquisitions:
Smooth the Process
With Planning and
Open Communication
By Bruce Werth
Throughout my forty-three
years of employment, I
have been through the
merger/acquisition process on
three separate occasions. The
first was a merger of two
groups, with our company
being the more dominant
of the two, financially and
geographically. On the
remaining two occasions,
I worked for the group being
acquired. Interestingly, on all
three occasions, the key to a
successful reorganization was
not a matter of how well the
newly-acquired entity dealt
with operation integration.
Rather, success hinged on
how well and how quickly
new processes were embrace
by the workforce impacted by
forced integration.
In today’s global market place,
mergers and acquisitions are
key tools for acquiring
technologies and products.
They are also a shortcut to
improving productivity and
profits, honing a competitive
advantage, and reducing
overall expenses. The success
of these “takeovers” is
determined by a number of
factors, but resistance to them
has the potential to negatively
affect the workforce, harm
company credibility, and
ultimately impact shareholders.
These problems can be
minimized with careful
planning with regard to how
staffing, communications,
training and customer
relationships will be handled
once the merger or acquisition
takes place.
are at least two groups of
employees involved. Often these
groups come from distinctly
different cultures and uniquely
different managerial styles.
Certainly, adapting to a new
culture is challenging, but
this is especially so when
uncertainty exists with regard
to what the future may hold
and whose job may be on
the line.
During any merger or
acquisition struggle, there
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October 2015
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The Credit Professional