Eclectic Change

Are we really beginning to see other factors than financials at play in M&A’s?

My thanks to for sharing this information from Terrill Frantz who points out as he puts it - A nice 5-minute interview video of the managing director of M&A integration for Getzler Henrich & Associates LLC. Some points Dino Mauricio makes:  1) Cost savings may not be there  2) Importance of softer side of integration  3) Need a 100 day plan  4) Expect some short term results early on for shareholders  It takes a couple of minutes to get to the meat. The customer experience (maintaining...

Mergers and Culture Clash

Last month, The Financial Times UK had a short article called: Can the new CEO end a culture clash after a merger?  To begin there was no analysis of any cultural / DNA due diligence which would lead to the proper culture strategy but that is a discussion for another time and to be fair beyond the scope of this piece. What was particularly interesting and enlightening was the take from four perspecitves: The Academic: Maintaining the illusion that there were no losers in the merger merely sust...

Frameworks and Models from McKinsey to help analyze decisions

I have been negligent.  For the past couple of months I have been wanting to share the Enduring Ideas and Classic's from McKinsey.  I have always enjoyed McKinsey articles and research and have been enjoying the interactive presentations immensely. According to them: The central characteristic of an enduring idea is that both it and its uses evolve over time. In September, Kevin Coyne describes the GE–McKinsey nine-box matrix, a framework that offers a systematic approach for a multi-business an...

Becoming a Strategic Leader of Influence Means Learning to Collaborate

Having worked with managers as they move up in an organization, I have seen one key issue arise again and again over the past 20 years.  One of great challenges seems to be how to shift from having an operational perspective (for which middle managers are typically rewarded) to having a strategic mindset.  This became so prevelant that I developed the following tag line for my coaching:  "I help individuals who know how to manage out and down become leaders who lead up and out."   The Center fo...

Leadership, Judgment and Follow-Through

In their book, Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls  Tichy and Bennis identify the stages of the decision making process: sensing a need, getting it "framed and named," mobilizing others, making a judgment and seeing the execution through.   Good judgment doesn't just happen, says Noel Tichy, a business professor at the University of Michigan. "When we looked at leaders that make big decisions ... it's not a blink, it's a process," Tichy says. "You own it from beginning to end."   I c...

The current pendulum is swinging towards decentralization

Based on recent research  by Kellogg School of Management, contrary to expectations, decentralization might be the best strategy when the need for coordination among divisions is paramount.  In an age of cheap communication, decentralization is best even when coordination among divisions is critical. Centralization can be a good choice if the divisions are heterogeneous or if managers are especially biased in favor of their own divisions.  Hence the irony . . . this implies that with poor merger...