Business Integration
We have recently purchased 2 smaller businesses. Many people spend lots of time on the deal doing and not enough thinking about how to integrate the businesses.
Integration is the make or break of any deal. On paper it may look great but if the people dont want to play ball, then often the value goes up in smoke. Culture has a lot to do with it and the merging of the cultures is critical.
The way we are approaching the integration of the two companies is simple and one that i would recommend to all people.
- We have appointed a senior person (direct report to the Chief Executive Officer) as a project sponsor – their job is to make sure that the integration occurs in the agreed time
- We have appointed a dedicated integration manager who has overall authority to make the integration work – this is a full time role
- We have clearly identified the org structure / reporting lines / seating etc … to ensure that people rapidly have a new home
- We have set an agressive 4 – 6 week deadline to get the businesses integrated
In the integration process, we are primarily focusing on the sales / product / pricing / go to market processes first – this will ensure that there is the least amount of confusion in the market.
Well there are some thoughts today … perhaps how we negotiated the deals tomorrow
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