Mergers & Acquisitions

M&A activity is at the heart of many growth strategies for organizations.  Regardless of how many stories we hear about ‘failed’ mergers and acquisitions, this tactic remains a viable and common practice. The reason offered most often for the failure of M&A’s is quite simply – culture ‘clashes.’

 Denison Consulting has played a role in a number of mergers and acquisitions throughout the years, including some of the biggest corporate marriages of the past 2 decades.  We have learned that there a number of activities that are critical to the culture integration process.  We have been invited to join the integration effort at various stages in M&A’s – and have developed a set of recommendations for addressing culture issues at each stage we have encountered.  The ultimate goal is to provide a culture solution that meets the current needs of the client organization(s) and positions them for future success as a combined entity. 

Today we partner with organizations that:

• Recognize that culture is a critical piece of the integration puzzle – positioning the organization to leverage the combined talents of the merging organizations or becoming a strategic ‘roadblock’ to success.
• Utilize culture and leadership assessment activities to reduce the inevitable uncertainty that accompanies M&A activity
• Incorporate leadership and culture activities wherever they might be in their M&A process:

• Development of their growth strategy
• Identification of potential targets
• Conducting due diligence
• Launching their cultural integration efforts
• The creation of ‘One’ organization
• Developing and sustaining the desired culture