Global Manufacturer Merger Integration

CULTURAL INTEGRATION SPOKEN HERE

Merging corporate cultures is tricky. Merging corporate cultures, each from a different country and each with its own business processes and systems, is downright hairy.

Here’s that hair-pulling story.

Over time, one of the world’s leading multinational manufacturers of digital display products had made a series of acquisitions. The company’s purchases were located in France, Italy, Finland and the U.S.

Each company had different business systems, including purchasing, order management, and inventory control. The complex, diverse manufacturing processes threw a wrench in the works as well. These disparate business systems and processes had to be integrated into a single well-functioning organization.

And the solution had to be delivered under a tight timeline (what else is new).

ACME was brought in to manage the integration efforts, which centered around their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) function. Our objective was to define and implement common and consistent business processes, search for synergies and develop one comprehensive system for the entire enterprise.

We helped the company refine their integration approach and led all project management tasks, which included project and resource planning, documenting as-is and to-be processes, data conversion, testing, training and go-live coordination. We got loads of input.

Organizational dynamics and cultural backgrounds made it a rough road. Suffice to say, we spent a lot of time building bridges between groups and individuals — communication helped smooth the way. Adding to the challenge was the unavoidable job loss. There was lots of it. It was a politically charged environment requiring the utmost in tact and sensitivity.

To maintain focus, so we pushed team members hard to pursue the business objectives, without getting sidetracked. We also identified and mitigated risks with help from executive leadership.

Eventually, all the companies were integrated successfully – within the desired time frame.   Our takeaway on the project (other than some gray hairs) was this: Even though we may come from different cultures – corporate, social, political, ethnic – we can find common goals to rally around and work together.

All it takes is great leadership and a foreign language dictionary.