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Integrating the New Organization

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What is the impact of a merger on the organizational culture of both organizations?

One of the hopes of merger is a new organization, with a new culture that is more than the sum of its parts. Given this, the question above can be asked in another way that is really more appropriate for the situation: What is the impact of organizational culture on the merger process and on the newly created entity?

Culture has been called the DNA of organizations. It is about patterns of human interaction which are often deeply ingrained. While not directly observable, culture is the defining, and in many cases, limiting, factor in creating a new entity that will be healthy, integrated, balanced, coherent, and effective.

Our research has shown that some of the most critical issues that arise in post-merger integration are in the area of culture. When you have two organizations coming together, the challenge is to create, intentionally, a new culture that reflects the best of the parent organizations. Cultural integration in a merger situation is about understanding and melding what can be two very different “shared lives,” and growing a new one in the process.

La Piana Associates has created a cultural audit that asks some of the following questions of both organizations that can be used to reflect the culture that was, and build what can be.

Heroes: Who are our organization's founders, supporters, advocates; those people who have inspired us to become what we are today through their own contributions, vision, and leadership?

Values: What are the values, beliefs, traits, and qualities that our organization holds most dear?

Verses: Can you think of any “words of wisdom” or quotes that relay a sense of our values, or of how things really work in our organization?

Traditions: What recurring events or activities bring us together, and what do we value most highly?

Turmoil: What conflicts or issues have polarized or confused us over the years?

Stories: Can you recount any incidents or events that are especially significant to us as an organization?

Victories: W hat are some of our finest moments? What successes and achievements are we most proud of?

Losses: Can you recount prominent failures, and/or events that caused us to experience grief together?

Self- perception: How do we perceive ourselves as an organization?

Those who are tasked with furthering cultural integration have to assess the issues above for the pre-merger partners, and then address the questions below:

• What are the most compatible elements of our former organizations' cultures?
• What are the elements that suggest the greatest potential conflict?
• What would we like the new organization's culture to look like?
• What do we want to be certain to bring forward into the new culture?
• What will be some indicators of successful cultural integration in our new organization?

Through a deliberate and inclusive process of considering and discussing these issues, the new organization can build trust, camaraderie, and the beginnings a new culture that will develop and evolve over the new organization's future. This can be the most challenging and, in many ways, the most rewarding work of post-merger integration.