On Managing Cultural Integration and Cultural Change Processes in Mergers and Acquisitions

This article discusses success factors of cultural integration and cultural change processes in mergers and acquisitions. The focus of the project is on the effects of frictions between structure and cultures, and frictions between different cultures, on the functioning of the organisation. The factors discussed are based on empirical findings, and on literature that, in the analysis, proved to corroborate these findings, or insights based on these findings. It is argued that cultural integration is furthered by mutual trust. Trust can be built by shared goals, by dialogue, by looking for shared norms, monitoring and handling deviance. Cultural change processes were found to be dependent on legitimisation of the changes, clarification of goals and changes in what is expected of organisational members, monitoring and guidance, conditions of psychological safety, and feedback on success and failure outcomes that is worked upon in a learning mode. © 2001, MCB UP Limited