Establishing a mission statement to drive merger integration

Merger Integration + Culture Change + Mission Statement

How we helped a SME to successfully merge nine departments into one new business unit

Initial Situation

Nine previously largely independent departments within an organization were gradually merged to form a new business unit.

However, animosities among managers that had developed over decades, an “old boys’ network,” and hierarchical management styles continued to promote silo thinking.

The new business unit’s efficiency and effectiveness suffered considerably as a result of the very weak culture of collaboration.

The overarching goal of this reorganisation ordered by the board was to ensure that the new division would be operational as quickly as possible.

Post-merger integration became necessary, and one of the viadoo Guides was commissioned to handle it.

Challenge

The head of division was concerned that it would not be able to successfully implement the PMI.

As expected, the nine independent department heads resisted the encroachment on their usual freedom of action.

They were driven by the fear of losing their status and privileges.

This resistance led them to put aside their animosities, some of which had existed for decades, in favor of opposing the merger.

Solution

The first step was to analyze the existing culture with individual interviews and surveys among the workforce (storytelling, narrative snapshot, appreciative inquiry).

As the cornerstone for the new culture (of collaboration), the employees then developed a shared mission statement in which they incorporated previously unwritten values and behavioral standards in line with the three-level culture model (Edgar Schein).

In the corresponding workshop, the managers (project team) first collected topics and elements that should be included in the mission statement. They then drafted proposals for the formulation of the vision, the mission and the guiding principles (incl. indicators). In the following days, a working group incorporated these results into the first version of the mission statement.

After several rounds of coordination and feedback from the managers involved with their teams, the vision, mission, and guiding principles were finally established.

The project team then presented the mission statement to the entire workforce. The managers anchored it in their teams by identifying previous behaviors (silo thinking instead of collaboration), rules, KPIs, parameters, etc. that ran counter to the new mindset.

Finally, the visible artifacts of the new corporate culture were conceived, designed, and introduced (logo, business stationery, door signs, etc.).

Results

Along with new processes, meeting structures, roles, responsibilities, governance, the mission statement helped get the new division up and running pretty fast.

The jointly established mission statement also served to identify all employees with the new structure.

It also sowed the seeds for a new culture of cross-departmental collaboration, which was able to blossom and mature over the following years.

As we naturally take the confidentiality of our clients seriously, we anonymize our success stories. However, the cases are real.