A Comprehensive Guide to Mergers & Acquisitions: Managing the Critical Success Factors Across Every Stage of the M&A Process

14. Human Capital Issues and Practices

Plenty of attention from executives, employees, and consultants is paid to the financial, legal, and operational elements of the M&A. But, executives who have been through an M&A, especially the post-merger integration (PMI) process, now recognize that in today’s economy, the management of the human capital side of change is the real key to creation of value in the M&A. Recent studies consistently show that more than 50 percent of experienced executives think that the human factor is critical for successful integration of the two parties in M&A. However, the combination of culture clash and ill-conceived HR integration strategy is one of the most common reasons for the high failure rate of the M&A. The purpose ...