Two thirds of mergers and acquisitions fail to achieve expected returns. Many mergers and acquisitions actually fail, many others fall short of meeting planned returns and only about a third of all mergers and acquisitions achieve or exceed planned returns. M&A failure is usually due to a combined lack of adequate cultural, leadership, process, technology and product integration.

Getting the people or soft intangible part of M&A integration right is often the hardest part of M&A planning and execution. It requires the merger/integration of two ongoing organizational and operational entities, two cultures, two management styles and two groups of people that are motivated to keep their jobs/positions and in some cases to get the upper hand.

Some mergers and acquisitions are particularly complicated in that they require the integration of two companies that are themselves the products of previous mergers and acquisitions that were never successfully integrated.

How merger/acquisition surveys facilitate M&A integration success

Merger & acquisition surveys and employee surveys are one of the most important sources of management information for measuring M&A integration success before, during and post merger and acquisitions.

Quantisoft's merger/acquisition surveys/M&A surveys are employee surveys that are customized to include the special issues involved with M&A integration. Each merger and acquisition survey provides important information and insight about employee satisfaction, engagement and commitment in supporting upcoming, underway and previous mergers and acquisitions. Merger & acquisition surveys also assess what needs to be done as well as progress and success in integrating corporate cultures, the organizational structure, business processes and practices, policies, technology and products/services.

Merger/acquisition surveys and employee satisfaction surveys/employee engagement surveys are highly effective in measuring where resistance is likely to occur, where resistance is occurring, and identifying which departments and business units need specific attention.

A merger & acquisition survey/employee survey is also a key way of demonstrating to your employees that you value their opinions. Pre merger/acquisition surveys and M&A surveys conducted while integration initiatives are underway identify critical gaps between the organizations being merged. After a merger or acquisition an M&A survey/employee survey is crucial in measuring as well as celebrating the success of the M&A integration.

Why many mergers and acquisitions fail to achieve expected returns

Mergers and acquisitions that fail to deliver expected returns typically fall short due to one or more of the following reasons:

Failure to understand integration opportunities and costs, and to set clear objectives for integration
Failure to create and communicate a clear vision, mission and values of the newly combined organization
Failure to adopt a unified leadership approach
Failure to effectively plan integration activities
Failure to effectively execute integration plans
Failure to focus on important corporate culture integration issues
Failure to integrate and deal with differences in compensation and benefits across the merged organization
Failure to identify and take action to keep critical talent
Insufficient ongoing communications from senior management regarding M&A integration
Tolerance of disruptive political activities
Failure to identify and deal with resistance to change
Unrealistic integration schedules
Failure to appoint an effective M&A integration project manager and project team
Failure to provide resources needed to effectively integrate the organizations
Insufficient integration support from senior leadership
Ineffective integration of business processes, technology, business practices and policies
Insufficient/ineffective integration of products and services and product branding
Insufficient/ineffective communications of M&A related changes to customers

When to conduct merger and acquisition surveys/M&A surveys

The risk associated with achieving expected returns from mergers and acquisitions are very significant and potentially very costly. Given the low cost and ease of conducting a merger & acquisition survey/M&A survey, it makes sense to conduct M&A surveys at both of the merging organizations before merger/acquisition integration gets underway in order to assess and understand their corporate cultures, fears about the merger/acquisition, and to identify the gaps between the two organizations.

Merger & acquisition surveys/M&A surveys should also be conducted at key intervals during integration (e.g. every 6 months or so) to measure progress and to identify barriers to successful integration. A merger and acquisition survey should also be conducted after integration is perceived to be achieved to determine if expected objectives have been achieved and to identify any integration issues that still need attention.

The success of a merger or acquisition depends heavily on the level of commitment, cooperation and communication between the people working at the merging organizations. Quantisoft's merger & acquisition surveys/employee satisfaction surveys/employee engagement surveys enable you to measure success and achieve expected benefits from mergers and acquisitions.