It’s often discussed the importance of continuous improvement and taking learnings from one acquisition to the next. What are effective ways that others have found to identify lessons learned that is both objective and constructive? When is this done and who should be involved?
Difficult question. I’ve used online platform like mergermarket.com, capital IQ, etc, but sometimes feel difficult to find detailed information as M&As are almost always kept secret. In addition, some analyst reports might be biased.
I think the best way is just to start doing it: tracking lessons learned.
Make a presentation with different sub-topics: communication / work with external parties / financial valuation / DD / planning / whatever….
Document the learnings
Share the information, make working sessions, have it available for the next time
Maybe it is easier than we think
Better to have somethink simple and understandable rather then spend time and money developing complex processes
each transaction will be different, but main learnings can be captured in a way to easy read and make improvements