|
By Kathryn C. Church, Cheryl D. Foss,
and Peter J. Swanson
The number of mergers and acquisitions
seems to be steadily rising over the past decade. However,
with industry examples like AOL Time Warner, Cisco Systems
and Washington Mutual, we need to ask the question – is
there a secret for success? While the magical answer may
be elusive, there are several principles executives can
follow prior to merging or acquiring another company that
will help ensure success. While consulting with companies
regarding merger integration, we have found that the keys
to a successful merger lie in the planning prior to the
merger and managing the integration of the two companies
after the merger.
WHAT IS CULTURE?
A formal definition of culture is a “pattern of shared basic
assumptions, learned by members of an organization or group
in solving their external problems of survival in the environment
and internal problems of integration. Culture is considered
the glue of an organization. It is the collective attitudes,
beliefs, symbols, and behaviors of the organization’s members.
Simply put, culture is “the way things are done here.”
Cultures develop over time. They are expressed in the myths
and stories that become important to retell, and are embodied
in the language of the organization. Organization’s cultures
go through stages -- from formation to stability to maturity.
Over time, beliefs and assumptions develop to act as filters,
regulating the flow of information in the environment.
WHY IS CULTURE IMPORTANT?
In today’s organization, culture is taken for granted as
a management issue. Managers, employees, and executives
all want to understand where their organization is going
and that their efforts contribute to its success. An organization’s
individual identities are cultivated by internally identified
heroes, shared common values, and recognized rituals and
symbols. When organizations do this well, align their culture
with their strategic direction and operate out of a set
of shared values, they become unstoppable. They are much
more able to achieve business results rapidly and effectively.
In addition, when a strong culture exists, employees are
often more productive - they do not need to wonder what
their next step in any given situation. They also tend to
feel better about their work, confident that their work
on any given day is important to the success of their organization.
CHANGING ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
Every organization has a unique culture. When an organization
goes through a significant change of any kind, all of the
old myths, assumptions and beliefs are called into question.
Will those things that were important in the old still be
important? Will people still be treated the same way? Will
we continue to do things as we have, as we relate to each
other and work together? The goal during a major change
in the organization is to have a planful examination and
re-negotiation of the culture.
|
Process.
The process for changing or aligning culture is one that
calls for:
- Understanding the cultural assumptions and beliefs of
merged companies or new leaders
- Sharing the myths of merged organizations or with new
leaders
- Identifying the behaviors and actions that make up the
culture
- Building a common language for all to begin to use as
we build a vision of the new culture (one where everyone
would like to work)
- Deploying the new language (as expressed in the vision,
mission, values, and principles) across the entire organization
in a very deliberate manner.
|
Simply put, corporate culture is “the way things
are done around here.” Ignore it at your peril.
|
Deliverables.
The products of the culture change process are:
- New vision for the organization
- A set of new values that expresses how people wish to
work together
- A set of guiding principles that operationalize those
values
- Clear roles and responsibilities
- Mechanisms for coordination and integration within and
across the organization
- A clear action plan for culture change tied to the vision,
goals and objectives of the organization
TOOLS
The tools for changing culture include, but are not limited
to:
- System-wide audit and review.
The purpose of the audit and review is to understand the
problem from the outside and solve it from the inside.
You can use observation, questionnaires, interviews, group
self-studies with facilitation: these are most useful
if the groups selected represent microcosms of the organization.
- Design workgroups: Organization
design workgroups help achieve widespread buy-in if the
changes have full executive support but are not top-down.
Such workgroups should be charged with the actual design,
representing a microcosm of the whole organization (including
people from all levels and functions within the organization),
and have top leadership involvement. Out of such groups,
new, charismatic leadership often emerges, along with
new ways of doing things.
- Confidence Building Measures:
Create a cadre of change agents (see work groups notes
above) and train employees and managers in communication,
negotiation, and conflict management skills. In addition
identify sites for collaborative interventions (pilot
projects) and publicize successes.
|
About the authors:
Kathryn C. Church (kathyc@strategicfocus.us),
a partner in Strategic Focus Associates, has over
twenty years experience in the design and facilitation of
comprehensive organizational change with an emphasis on
strategic planning, work flow design, employee motivation,
team building and multi-party disputes; the ultimate objective
of these efforts is to create a healthy, results oriented
workplace. She coaches top executives, has helped individual
managers and staff understand how to thrive in dynamic and
uncertain environments and has developed landmark employee
assistance programs in both the private and public sectors.
She is co-author of “Whole-Scale Change: Unleashing the
Magic in Organizations.”
Cheryl D. Foss (cherylf@strategicfocus.us),
a partner in Strategic Focus Associates, has successfully
consulted and provided coaching with organizations for the
past twelve years in the areas of whole system change, strategy
development, process design, organization design, employee
motivation, team building and increasing collaboration,
all in service of achieving rapid business results. Cheryl
draws from her experience as a leader and manager as well
as her years of consulting experience, offering her clients
a powerful balance of operational expertise and consulting
expertise.
Peter J. Bryan Swanson (pjbswanson@aol.com),
Partner, Carr, Falkner & Swanson is a former Commissioner
of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and played
a key role in developing that agency's Alternative Dispute
Resolution program. For over 14 years, Pete has worked domestically
and internationally on the cutting edge of collaborative
process management as a mediator, facilitator, trainer and
consultant. He has achieved notable success in public policy
mediation, dispute systems design, and training. Pete has
lectured and written extensively on these topics.
|
Solutions
