What Impact Does Cultural Integration Have on Strategic Acquisitions?

Copyright © 2020, Ruben Cintron. This article is published under a Creative Commons BY-NC license. Permission is granted to copy and distribute this article for non-commercial purposes, in both printed and electronic formats Practitioners and researchers highlight cultural integration as a critical cause of failure in acquisitions. However, to what degree it plays a part is still unknown. This leads to the following research question: “What impact does cultural integration have on strategic acquisitions?” . As businesses and industries consolidate, organizations that can successfully navigate the merger process will have an advantage in achieving the desired financial and nonfinancial goals of the acquisition. Many explanations, such as overbidding, poor strategic fit, and governance, have been offered as causes. However, the verdict remains elusive on what actually causes so many acquisitions to fail. Successful cultural integration may provide the foundation of cooperation for integrating key postmerger integration activities such as technology, enterprise systems, and human resources. Understanding key themes within the landscape of cultural integration impact on strategic acquisitions is a vital aid for leaders to assist in navigating the delicate integration process. This paper identifies nine critical themes within the literature of cultural integration on strategic acquisitions: acculturation, sociocultural integration, organizational culture, merger and acquisition (M&A) success, integration, integration success, integration failure, M&A failure, and best practices. Leaders who grasp the themes captured within the article will develop a foundation for navigating the cultural integration process of strategic acquisitions. There are various contributing factors cited as causes for the high failure rate of acquisitions. This article explores the cultural integration factor.