Organizational Issues of Mergers and Acquisitions - Part 2

Process and Procedure

Cultural Influence

Process and procedure are integral parts of corporate culture and as such must be closely scrutinized at all times, but never is it more critical than in a post-M&A scenario. More often than not, daily routines define a corporate culture when in fact the enterprise should infuse the organization with cultural standards that drive the ongoing development of process and procedure.

An organization's collective beliefs, behaviors, and assumptions affect daily business routines on two levels: the overt level, representing observable, intentional, and direct influences on operations (e.g., goals, policy and procedure manuals, and corporate philosophy statements), and the covert level, characterized by obscure, unintentional, and indirect influences on operations (e.g., informal ground rules, unofficial guidelines, or "the way things are around here"). (Connor, 1992, p. 166).

A corporation is an artificial culture that brings together persons from a variety of other naturally occurring cultures to form an organization designed for a specific purpose, which is, of course, to generate profit. The organizational design will be subverted over time by the influences of the multiple cultures imported by the individuals that comprise the organization unless there is a conscious effort to monitor and refine the culture as the enterprise grows.

Corporate cultures cannot be allowed to evolve in the manner in which social cultures do; they start out as engineered communities and must be constantly reviewed to ensure that the design criteria meet the current requirements of the organization. As global market and economic conditions change, and as technology delivers new tools and methodologies to address those changes, so must the culture of the enterprise be adjusted to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by a constantly shifting environment.