Chapter 5 The practical application of the M&A cultural framework: Input The cultural analysis begins for these firms as early as The practical application: Output possible, with the framework being used to capture the Once the basic information is gathered, however incomplete relevant information in one place. The process starts by — and it will be incomplete — the first pass in discussing collecting and organizing the basic facts and data for both the results forces leaders to be specific about the parts organizations, where the core elements shown reflect the they deem important. The preliminary answers give a faster building blocks of the organizations. and better understanding of both organizations and the likely integration challenges, including the complexity of the integration. These reviews serve as a catalyst to help map any one of the components to a specific goal or risk. They bring out the degree of change needed to successfully execute any At first, and like many other firms, we plans based on the integration strategy. worked on parts of the components The output helps determine exactly how the integration will in the model. But it was not very be approached as well as the funding and resources needed strategic. We needed a better starting to raise the probability of success: Any analysis can only point and for that starting point increase the probability of success but cannot guarantee to lead to a more, comprehensive, it. So begins the “ruthless prioritization” process, based on having better information at hand early enough to make better integrated, coordinated and decisions. connected approach within our organization.” Corporate Development Time is not your friend here, and as the intensity of the deal heats up, financial and legal issues dominate the due diligence stage, and then maintaining operational performance dominates the period from announce to close. And in talent deals, both periods, due diligence and announce- close can be very short. We needed an established starting point; we just don’t have time to develop new models or approaches during the heat of a deal.” Corporate Development How advanced acquirers approach culture in M&A 13