The client
A Midwest-based, globally recognized professional services firm was seeking to grow its business through acquisition. A recent acquisition presented a number of unforeseen management-level challenges that threatened to derail a successful integration.
The challenge
The acquiring firm recognized that there was a cascade of issues that, if left unaddressed, would jeopardize their ability to meet annual strategic, financial and operational goals. Chief among these:
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- The management cultures of the two firms were challenging to align productively.
- Key stakeholders of the acquired company were resistant to adopting a number of the acquiring firm’s core philosophies.
- A series of organizational, operational and process issues severely threatened the acquisition’s success.
- Several critical internal business processes at the acquired firm were poorly defined, executed and governed.
The solution
E78 Partners’ team of professionals performed a rapid situational assessment, created action-ready mitigation plans and implemented a series of activities to accelerate a productive integration. The newly combined firm was better positioned to move forward with a more stable and aligned management team, a success-oriented culture and a stronger perspective on the requirements for future acquisitions. In particular, E78 Partners:
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- Performed a post-acquisition integration assessment to identify and prioritize high-impact areas.
- Developed and executed a 1-month rescue plan to address the greatest cash-drain issues including loose bonus and expense policies and procedures as well as poorly enforced HR policies that exposed clients to potentially costly litigation.
- Planned and executed a 2-month short-term plan to address near-term priority organization and process issues including payroll, hiring, business development, accounting and financial reporting.
- Rationalized the client’s executive team, concentrating on those who were committed to positive change and helping the company grow profitably.
- Instilled in client’s culture an emphasis on long-term, design-sustainable processes to minimize the opportunity for similar concerns to manifest themselves in the future.
The result
Unforeseen management-level challenges threatened to derail a successful integration were assessed and accelerated to align and place a successful management team.
