Mergers and acquisitions can seem like an early episode of the Brady Bunch. Two families — businesses — are brought together under one roof, and now they face the sometimes uncomfortable, uncertain reality of learning how to live together and thrive both individually and jointly as a family.
Sure, now young Bobby and Cindy have new playmates in each other, Mike and Carrol have more help in their older kids Greg and Marcia — everyone brings unique, new capabilities and strengths to the household. But within that, there is often a threat of individual resistance, of role confusion or outright mutiny to change.
Though often with a merger or acquisition, employees remain separated by location and no one is expected to truly see one another as a family — despite due diligence, if there is not an adherence and assimilation to a singular and uniting mission, negative impacts can ensure.
The Assimilation Pitfalls
