Post-merger integration program management

General characteristics of the workRelevance of the research topicWith the economy development the companies face the challenges that they have to overcome in a proper manner. Therefore, today organizations are modeling new business strategies, set new goals and priorities, and adjust their business processes to the changing environment. Many of them choose business restructuring as a growth strategy. As a result, by comparison to the previous years, the number of such deals is increasing year by year not only in the international scale, but also in a Russian market. The most popular form of reorganization is mergers and acquisitions, which are considered the most complex and risky. The main goal of these transactions is the desire of initiating companies to reach synergy effect, realized in economies of the scale, product or service expansion, setting competitive positions in the market, etc. The companies face a lot of problems in each step of the transaction, especially on the physical integration stage; so, in order to complete the deal successfully thorough research of this question is required. Scientific problemDespite the huge volume of available literature about the whole merger process and its separate parts like financial analysis of the target company, law issues, managerial and organizational decision making, transaction planning, the level of successful deals are low. According to statistics, only 30% of transactions are considered successful, the rest are not reaching planned values and synergy. Preliminary research has shown that the main problem, which is connected with the success of the deal is physical integration of assets. To my mind, there is lack of focus on this particular stage of the transaction, when the main documents are signed and the deal is closed. Today a lot of approaches, methods, models, general recommendations exist. However, there is no complete methodology of post-merger integration.Novelty of the researchAs a result of the research there was developed a model of integration program management based on the MSP standard. In addition, there was suggested the system of integration performance measurements. This model might be valuable for the companies that actively integrate or acquire with other organizations or management consultancy companies who often provide an expertise in mergers and acquisitions. Research objectives and tasksThe main objective of the dissertation is to develop the model of post-merger integration program. In order to reach this goal it is necessary to complete the following tasks:1.Make a literature review to understand key concepts and models of the whole process of mergers and acquisitions, focusing on the post-merger integration aspects.2.Compare existing program management standards to validate the research hypothesis about the MSP viability. 3.Analyze the cases of company integrations to define the best practices.4.Interview local and international mergers and acquisition experts.5.Analyze the research results and make research implications for the further model development.6.Design and review the post-merger integration program, based on standard methodology.7.Analyze the key integrations performance measurements.Research subjectThe subjects of the research are the processes of mergers and acquisitions and the set of approaches to the integration process, designed to achieve synergy effect. Research objectThe available best practices and the experts in the field.Research base-theories and developments in a field of mergers and acquisitions of such experts as D. Depamphilis, T. Galpin and M. Handon, P. Gaughan -articles in international scientific journals like International Journal of Project Management, Harvard Business Review, The Journal of Business Studies, Journal of Management studies-official press-releases and publications of management consultancy companies such as McKinsey, Accenture, Roland Berger, Oliver Wyman, Capegemini, Pritchett, Catenion, which suggest their integration models. In addition the official information about Cisco and ArcelorMittal companies about their merger and acquisition experience. -exiting program management standards MSP, SPM, P2M, GOST R 54871-2011-professional network LinkedIn, which was used to conduct expert interviewsDissertation structureThe paper consists of introduction, 3 chapters, conclusion, references and 4 applications. Also there 8 tables and 21 pictures. The general volume of the dissertation is 91 pages.The main content of the dissertationThe introduction presents the relevance and the scientific novelty of the paper. In addition, there is discussed the research problem and key objectives and tasks are established. Moreover, the research hypothesis, subject and object are set. In the first chapter there were studied the main concepts of business restructuring and its types, Furthermore, the transactions of mergers and acquisitions were examined. In addition, synergy effect was studied as the main reason of the transactions. Later, it was presented the analysis of the approach of consultancy companies and experts in the field of mergers and acquisitions. The second chapter was focused on the practical research of the data to test the scientific hypothesizes, which were set and the beginning of the paper. In the beginning it was completed the comparison analysis of 4 existing standards. Further, the author used the case-study method to learn about the best integration practices to apply them in the final model design. And finally, there was held an expert interview.In the last chapter the author suggested the model of post-merger integration program based on the MSP standard. The suggested model consists of three projects: business-models integration, integration of functional departments and corporate cultures. In addition, there was analyzed the main set of integration measurements.The main results of the research1.The main concepts of the mergers and acquisitions are learned2.The whole process and integration stage is examined3.The expert approach and management consultancy models are analyzed4.Research hypothesizes about the viability of program management approach and the choice of the best standard are tested 5.The main research objective to develop post-merger integration management program is reached