Mergers & Acquisitions

Hi - 

What assessments do you leverage to support M&A integration? I use a culture assessment and a conative assessment for key roles/individuals identified throughout the process. What do you use? 

Hi - 

What assessments do you leverage to support M&A integration? I use a culture assessment and a conative assessment for key roles/individuals identified throughout the process. What do you use? 

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Leslie Ellis
leslie@meaningfulchangeconsulting.com
Founder & CEO
Meaningful Change Consulting, LLC
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Hi Leslie! I can't say that I have actually used these assessments, but I'll float three ideas.

1. Formality/ Communication Cost Profile --> Advantaged or Disadvantaged?

In any innovation organization, there is a spectrum of formality.

• Informal = low emphasis on documentation = conducive to low intensity of innovation. A cost AND cultural disadvantage in a merger.
• Formal = high emphasis on documentation = conducive to high intensity of innovation. A cost and cultural advantage in a merger.
• If one company is formal and the other is informal, you have a culture clash.
• If both companies are the same, you have culture compatibility.

This concept playing a role in an assessment generates awareness that might light a fire for some areas of the company to increase or decrease their formality / communication cost profile.

2. Collaboration / Synchronization Profile --> Collaborative Advantage or Disadvantage?

In both companies' formal project plans, is there any evidence of keeping variability under control? One superficial way to gauge variability is the quantity of different verbs in the project plan.

• If project plans have low variability (evidence of patterns, rhythm, reusability) ... then the company is disciplined and has a "Collaborative Advantage." 
• If project plans have high variability (no evidence of patterns reflecting past lessons learned) ... then the company has low discipline, is "all over the place," undoubtedly reinvents the wheel, and has a "Collaborative Disadvantage."
• If the merging companies have the same variability, discipline, and advantage/disadvantage, you have culture compatibility.
• If the merging companies have different variability, you have a culture clash.

This concept playing a role in an assessment generates awareness that might light a fire for some areas of the company to decrease their variability (increasing their discipline) and evolve toward a less random, more collaborative culture.

Ideas 1 & 2 rely on something that might feel very administrative but is very telling about culture. I think this feature makes the assessment attractive since performing the assessment should not be complicated, complex, or time consuming. It's quite pragmatic. In the words of W. Edwards Deming, such an administrative approach is "a small hinge that swings a large door."

3. Use Case Assessment (see attached).

I'll let the attached pages mostly stand on their own. If this material and the template feels too granular, perhaps the concepts still enable you to zoom out enough such that some components are useful without getting into the weeds. As the world of improv tells us, "Even a bad idea can be a bridge to a good idea."

• If the assessment contains a lot of red, the merged organization has deep "innovation debt."
• If one merging company has a lot of red and the other has a lot of green, the red use cases might be candidates to euthanize, retaining and adopting the use cases that get a green rating.
• If both organizations have a similar level of high or low innovation debt, you have culture compatibility.
• If the organizations have different levels of innovation debt, you have a culture clash.

Questions, ideas, feedback, and pushback welcome! And I hope these ideas spawn ideas from others!

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Robert Snyder

Original Message:
Sent: 2024-10-01 15:25
From: Leslie Ellis
Subject: Assessments used in M& A

Hi - 

What assessments do you leverage to support M&A integration? I use a culture assessment and a conative assessment for key roles/individuals identified throughout the process. What do you use? 

------------------------------
Leslie Ellis
leslie@meaningfulchangeconsulting.com
Founder & CEO
Meaningful Change Consulting, LLC
------------------------------

Hi - 

What assessments do you leverage to support M&A integration? I use a culture assessment and a conative assessment for key roles/individuals identified throughout the process. What do you use? 

This is a great question. I have an opportunity to learn about the leaders from the seller's perspective. It can be tricky to use any tool when getting the 'culture' from the seller. I don't use an assessment for culture. But, would be interested in seeing assessment tools folks use. 

I do use a roles & responsibilities assessment. The seller does one during due diligence, then we review with the leaders to confirm, or what most often happens, adjust the assessment to fit what's really occurring and adjust JDs accordingly. 

Thanks for the question,

Teresa 

Hi - 

What assessments do you leverage to support M&A integration? I use a culture assessment and a conative assessment for key roles/individuals identified throughout the process. What do you use? 

Thank you Teresa! Is the role and responsibility assessment a standardize format you have, one you created or an off the shelf product? 

This is a great question. I have an opportunity to learn about the leaders from the seller's perspective. It can be tricky to use any tool when getting the 'culture' from the seller. I don't use an assessment for culture. But, would be interested in seeing assessment tools folks use. 

I do use a roles & responsibilities assessment. The seller does one during due diligence, then we review with the leaders to confirm, or what most often happens, adjust the assessment to fit what's really occurring and adjust JDs accordingly. 

Thanks for the question,

Teresa 

Hi - 

What assessments do you leverage to support M&A integration? I use a culture assessment and a conative assessment for key roles/individuals identified throughout the process. What do you use? 

Hi - 

What assessments do you leverage to support M&A integration? I use a culture assessment and a conative assessment for key roles/individuals identified throughout the process. What do you use? 

Hi Leslie

I had the opportunity to work on one  M&A initiative so my experience with M&A is limited, the assessments and strategies employed:

1. Cultural Assessment, We utilized the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) to evaluate and align company cultures.

2. Change Impact Assessment, We conducted a thorough analysis, focusing on:
   - Changes in roles and responsibilities
   - Modifications to employee benefits
   - Technological changes resulting from the acquisition

The company had a comprehensive training program to ensure a smooth transition for the merging teams. I worked with an excellent leadership team, which significantly contributed to the initiative's success.

Key Challenge -We faced the complexity of merging unionized and non-unionized workforces, which required delicate handling of communication and engagement strategies. Overall, these factors combined to make the initiative more successful than initially anticipated. Hope this helps.

Hi - 

What assessments do you leverage to support M&A integration? I use a culture assessment and a conative assessment for key roles/individuals identified throughout the process. What do you use?