The Role of Company Culture in Mergers and Acquisitions

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2016 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,0, University of Linz (International Management), course: Current Issues in International Management, language: English, abstract: This thesis will provide a clear understanding of how and why company culture is such an important factor in M&A. First of all, mergers, acquisitions and company culture will be defined. Then, different types of company cultures are analysed regarding their mutual compatibility. This is followed by an explanation of how cultural integration can take place and how managers can facilitate it. Finally, important findings are summarized and discussed. As globalization progresses, so does the internationalization of companies. In the course of this development, over the last 30 years, the forming of mergers and acquisitions has become very popular. One of the greatest challenges in a merger or an acquisition is aligning the company culture of the merging partners before, during and after the merger. Company culture - or the lack of an integrated company culture - can crucially influence the success or failure of a merger or acquisition. However, in spite of the fact that there are a lot of ways to facilitate cultural integration, it is something that is often neglected in the planning phase, which makes it all the more difficult to accomplish successfully further along in the process.