Case Study

Case Study

Resolving post-acquisition cultural and operational issues for future success

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:

    • 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:

    • 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.


Share

Industry