The Culture Fix

When two companies merge, two cultures don't blend — they compete. The naive assumption is that cultures will naturally find equilibrium over time. What actually happens is that the dominant behavioral patterns assert themselves, and the result is unpredictable: the worst habits of both organizations can become the norm while the best of each gets discarded. Post-acquisition culture integration is not an HR task. It is a leadership decision that needs to be made deliberately and early, before informal norms calcify.