Moderator, "Merging Two Cultures: Post-Merger Cultural Integration and Organizational Alignment," 2018 Northwestern M&A and Corporate Integration Forum, Seattle

Once the deal is done and the ink has dried, the acquirer is faced with the daunting and complex task of actually marrying, or fusing, two distinctly separate companies, and two distinctly different cultures. Variances in technology systems, business ethics and codes of conduct, operating procedures, communication standards and even dress code policies, all come into play and If not properly managed, marked differences in organizational cultures can cause even the most well executed M&A deals to unravel without an effective, post-merger integration strategy.

This engaging discussion addressed:

• Building a healthy organizational culture
• Leadership development and retaining and engaging key talent
• Change management, triangulation, and coordination between shared services (IT, HR, and finance and accounting)
• Unique challenges to reverse mergers
• Integration of IT enterprise systems
• Leveraging the Integration Management Office
• The critical importance of communications
• Measuring and quantifying post-merger integration success