When two companies come together in an acquisition , they often do not come together. For that reason, they do not often succeed.
The chances of success would be enhanced if the two companies tried to increase their collaborative quotient, that being the creative use of their joint efforts.
There is usually only a vague notion about what will happen to achieve better results as a combined new force. In companies where there is an open mind about collaboration, a joint effort should be made to figure out the merger intent. A vision of what the new organization will look like from a strategic, operational, financial and organizational perspective in a year or so should be communicated.
Whether you have managed to collaborate early on or not, once the companies merge, collaboration will definitely pay off. As many people as possible must be engaged to deliver improved performance. It pays to identify the most important, high-payoff integration opportunities and launch a collaborative effort to accomplish results in 3 month cycles.
When this is done, the benefits will be significant.
Posted by: Paul Robbins
