Making Training the New Tradition
by Jim Jeffries, Chairman of the M&A Leadership Council
After all these years, the ability of most organizations to quickly and effectively digest mergers and acquisitions remains fragile, risky and evasive. Even the most acquisitive companies must admit that the majority of transactions failed to deliver on the promises made when the deal was crafted. And in this dynamic economy, can we afford to make acquisitions that don’t contribute significant value? Most acquirers have built competencies around structuring and closing the deal, but still struggle to deliver the value (Diligence through Integration).
Mastering M&A requires that acquirers break from traditional business practices and provide their organization with the training, discipline and tools to succeed. The most successful acquirers have a different “absorption capacity” than those who fail – no matter the deal particulars and the amount of effort applied.
To determine your ability to properly absorb an acquired organization and create value doing it, answer the following questions:
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Are we truly good at acquisitions? Has growth by acquistions become an art within our organization, or are we still in a “hit or miss” learning phase?
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What kind of targets should we pursue? What can we handle? What is our growth strategy?
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What are the risks we face with future deals?
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Who should implement our deals? Do we have the right people? The right skills? The bandwidth?
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Is our management team properly prepared? Do they know their roles for optimal outcomes?
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What about culture? What is our culture? What role will culture play?
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What methods, tools and systems are in place to track our progress?
These and many more questions can be answered when the key executives recognize that M&A requires training, top to bottom, throughout the organization. Hit or miss just won’t work. The integration phase often requires counterintuitive approaches, and governances versus traditional business tenets.
As we approach the new year, make sure your organization is budgeting for M&A training. The M&A Leadership Council has trained more corporate executives from around the world than any other organization. Whether you intend to grow by acquisitions, divest loss leaders or both in 2019, let us equip your key leaders through our training programs.
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