FREE online courses on Mergers & Acquisitions - Chapter 6 - Closing the Cultural Gap

 

One of the biggest challenges within PMI is to close the cultural divide between the two companies. Cultural differences should have been identified within Phase II Due Diligence. One way of closing the cultural gap is to invent a third, new corporate culture as opposed to forcing one culture onto another company. A re-design approach can include:

 

• Reducing the number of rules and policies that control people. In today's empowered world, it has become important to unleash the human capacities within the organization.
• Create a set of corporate policies centered around the strategic goals and objectives of the new organization.
• Implement new innovative approaches to human resource management, such as the 360-degree evaluation.
• Eliminate various forms of communication that continue with the "old way" of doing things.
• Re-enforce the new ways with incentive programs, rewards, recognition, special events, etc.