Merging Organisations & Cultures
What is very clear from history is that mergers are extremely difficult to achieve effectively. Two key areas have been identified as particularly challenging when merging organisations - incompatible IT systems and incompatible cultures. We focus on the cultural aspects of merging organisations
Important issues when considering modifying organisational cultures is that they are very slow to change, they cannot be changed by edict or command and cultures are learned (and therefore can be re-learned)
Many managers do not understand the elements that make up the culture of any organisation. Often organisations do not spend time considering what they wish the culture of the new merged organisation to be. Sometimes senior managers try to replicate the culture of their previous organisation - inviting failure with the imposition of an alien culture
To help those whose role it is to shape cultural change in the restructured organisation, Hurst offers a 1 day practically focused workshop:
- To make staff aware of the importance of cultural dimension at a time of radical change and the component parts that make up a culture
- To encourage staff to give serious thought to the kind of culture they want
- To give pointers to the way cultural change can be shaped and facilitated
Our specialist Consultant team has first-hand experience of helping organisations through mergers and has worked in both the private and public sectors (including the NHS)
