hand, as illustrated by Evans et al. (2002), acquiring a ‘culture’ may be part of
the reason behind an acquisition, such as in one takeover of an Anglo-Saxon
competitor by a French multinational that is the global leader in its industry.
Top management in the French corporation had known for some time that its
own culture had to change, but it was unable to do so organically. The most
attractive feature of acquiring its competitor was not the expanded market
share but the opportunity to accelerate change in the mother company. Senior
management recognized that the whole integration process would have to be
managed with this aim in mind.
In the process of culture building or cultural assimilation after an acquisi-
tion, values and norms have to be translated into action. One model of change
implementation argues that it is a four-step process (Beer, Eisenstat and Spector,
1990). It starts with establishing the new roles and responsibilitiesafter the
restructuring, ensuring that skilled champions of the desired culture are in
place to drive the culture change process. The second step is coaching and train-
ing, helping people to develop the desired competencies and behaviors.
Meanwhile, the third step is being prepared, focusing on recruitment, succession
planning, and rewards. People who do not respond well to the coaching will be
replaced, and those who respond very well will be given broader responsibili-
ties. The fourth and last step in the implementation and culture change process
is the fine-tuning and formalization of the new systeminto a coherent, consistent,
and transparent whole.
The quality of coaching is particularly important for the effectiveness of
culture change. Take AXA as an example, another French company that in the
space of a decade has grown via acquisitions from being a local player in the
French insurance industry to becoming a top global financial services institu-
tion. Just like BP and GE, it makes no pretensions that its acquisitions are merg-
ers, acting quickly to AXA-ize the cultures of the firms it acquires. Managers
from companies brought into AXA commented that one of the most helpful
tools for them to assimilate quickly into the company is its 360° feedback
process. The AXA values are encoded in this instrument, and to accelerate the
process of cultural integration, all managers and professionals in the acquired
company go through feedback workshops. It makes the desired culture and
values concrete, identifying personal needs for improvement and leading to
follow-up coaching in the AXA way.
Managing the transitionIntegration manager and transition teams
The post-merger integration is always a delicate and complicated process. Who
should be responsible for making it happen? After closing, the due diligence
team with its deep knowledge of the acquired company disbands or goes on to
another deal. Meanwhile, the new management team is not yet fully in place.
104 International Human Resource Management