Most M&A experts and merger integration managers would agree that a successful outcome from any single merger or acquisition is far from certain. Studies repeatedly confirm that half of all business “marriages” fail. Yet when M&As work, they create significant value-as demonstrated by the 50 percent of corporate unions that succeed. The secret to their odds-beating success? Strong leadership combined with professional execution and the pursuit of growth, right from the start.
A decade after our first study on merger integration, A.T. Kearney has revisited the topic and discovered new insights into what makes for a successful merger integration. Among our conclusions: Some of the most commonly accepted wisdom surrounding M&A strategy needs to be revised. From personal interviews with more than 30 integration managers in Europe, the United States and Australia, we learned that successful unions no longer rely on reducing costs as heavily as in the past, nor do they focus as keenly on managing cultural differences. Success is certainly not all about speed or applying sophisticated tools for managing the process.
Instead, today’s successful integration managers use a different, more nuanced approach. For them, success is found by establishing clear structures-skillfully combining leadership with execution and placing greater emphasis on achieving growth. In this paper, we outline the key findings of our study and discuss their implications for achieving successful integrations.
In das Gespräch mit Experten aus Industrie und Wissenschaft fließen jüngste Erkenntnisse ein - ob beim Vortrag, in der Diskussion oder bei einer der A.T. Kearney-Veranstaltungen.
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