A merger or acquisition is a powerful tool for accelerating growth and expanding reach by leveraging additional channels, customer segments, or other assets. By joining the retail presence of a company with the distribution channels of another creating an extensive range of products that caters to different demographics. It can also create new markets, such as by acquiring or merging companies that operate in a specific geographic area.
Companies that fail to manage M&A integration properly risk losing value by taking up too much time and energy. They could lose talented employees who feel secluded by a new organization and decide to move on to pursue other opportunities. Additionally, poorly managed system migrations could distract managers from focusing on the business at hand.
A common error in M&A integration is the desire to transfer acquired systems and processes too quickly in order to realize cost savings. But this can lead to major customer disruptions and result in a lot of work that is not worth the cost.
It is preferential to establish clear guiding principles and the degree of integration required to achieve the requirements. This helps leaders build strong relationships with functional work stream leads and IMO to promote transparency and accountability. It also helps to improve communication around the program. It’s also crucial to set up an annual schedule between IMO teams and the SteerCo to ensure that the SteerCo is able to monitor daily progress, increase risks, and resolve issues. This gives the IMO the accountability and visibility it requires to direct the execution of the integration plans.