A bad marriage or a power kiss?

27Mei08

Integration and merging of companies is a sensitive undertaking. If it goes to fast, you loose momentum, if it goes to slow you also loose power. Integration also means; taking time to learn, adjust only at the proper time and respect both cultures of the companies involved.

One culture always survives and usually it is the strongest one inside one of the companies. Bringing a culture to another company will always cause problems. Bottlenecks between people, organizational differences and many more issues are subject to a lot of collateral damage. Many mergers and integration fail because of this. However if the proper people act smart and think carefull about the future on the long term, there is a good chance it will work. The ‘new’ company’ needs the right people, who can be objective and have a helicopter view.  Pride and past plans need to be cleared in everybody’s head in order to move forward.

With the proper management, sales and marketing structure the organization will gain more power, more possibilities and a stronger market position. R&D, salespeople and product managers with long experience need to be protected if they want to stay on board. They are the legacy and can be part of the foundation of the new structure. However, new people with a bright and fresh view are also needed to be the bridge between the two companies and to help the company to go towards the right direction.

Which medical devices companies have merged in the past? If you have examples, comment on this article.

Regards,

Bart Verleg

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Tags: Gyrus ACMI, integration, interim management, management, medical devices, merger, Olympus, product development, sales&marketing