Blog

See our experts’ latest contributions on consulting, execution, growth, simplification and other key topics in today’s industry-leading blog posts.

07.26.17  Patrice Murphy

Surviving M&A: A Personal Roadmap

There is almost nothing written about how to survive M&A as an individual – until now. Here are some practical tips for how to navigate the turmoil of a merger or acquisition and emerge with your career and psyche intact.

11.19.14  Ron Ashkenas

A Successful M&A Considers the Human Element

Some of the most popular stories in the business press are about mergers and acquisitions. And why not? Unlike standard financial reports with numbers, analyses, and projections, M&As include a sense of personal drama.

10.16.13  Ron Ashkenas

How To Avoid The Post-Merger Blues -- Before You Sign The Deal

Are mergers and acquisitions part of your company’s growth plan? Odds are the answer is yes. In 2012, thousands of merger and acquisition deals were announced globally, worth more than $2.73 trillion. And this was a slow year.

06.25.13  Schaffer Consulting

Growing through acquisition? Build success into the plan.

Integration is a challenge rooted in human behavior and organizational dynamics, where personal leadership, organizational alignment, and executional capability are paramount skill sets. Learn three points to consider as you think about successful growth-through-ac…

06.25.13  Schaffer Consulting

Interview - York Risk Services Group acquisitions

Recently we caught up with Pete Bellisano, SVP of York Risk Services Group. Pete was the executive in charge of the 2012 post merger integration of several acquisitions that effectively doubled the size of the company, an integration effort in which Schaffer Consul…

06.25.13  Schaffer Consulting

Build your own integration capability

One of our main objectives in all of the work we do is to build the capability of the organizations we serve. More of our work in acquisition integration is focused deliberately on capability building. We conclude this newsletter by offering our 5-step plan for bui…

02.06.13  Ron Ashkenas

Are You Really Ready for an Acquisition?

Are acquisitions part of your company's growth plan? Odds are the answer is yes. In the first half of 2012, thousands of merger and acquisition deals were announced globally, worth more than $900 billion. And this was a slow year. Predictions are that 2013 will be …

01.28.13  Evan Smith

To Reinvent the Business, Can Your Leaders Have the Right Conversations? (Lessons from HP and Autonomy)

In November of 2012, HP announced a write down of more than $8B amounting to approximately 80% of the purchase price it paid for Autonomy, the "big data" software-search company acquired in 2011. Autonomy was supposed to help HP reinvent itself – from a last-genera…

09.27.12 

Volume III, Issue III: Make this Quarter the Best of the Year

Make this Quarter the Best of the Year: The 100-Day ChallengeI always enjoy looking at this cartoon. It reminds me of our eternal optimism that with time, things will turn around. But what if we can do more than hope for improvement? What if we can inspire immediat…

01.09.12  Wes Siegal

To Optimize Organizational Culture, Use Both Sides of the Brain

Too often, management thinkers invoke the mysterious “black box” of organizational culture to explain performance. When a merger between two companies, one with tight supply chain capabilities and one with a great sales organization, fails to realize the expected p…

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