There was a lot of discussion around cultural due diligence and the importance of cultural fit in this last module. Our recent M&A merged two large organizations with the target company being a faith based organization (related holidays off, devotions daily in which no meetings were supposed to occur, prayer before meetings, Bible study over lunch, etc.) which is the exact opposite of the acquiring company. We had to work early on to identify some guidelines around meetings that was rolled out to integrating areas (HR, IT, facilities in the same city), but not to the whole combined organization. We’ve been officially one organization since 1/1/2019 and no timeline in sight for this as other distractions have taken priority over the roll-out of cultural items (new mission/vision/values, meeting norms, etc.).
Have you had any experience with combining two entities with different cultures and best practices for making that a priority for leadership?