A Research On Culture Conflict And Integration Of M&A Enterprises

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have been favored as an effective way for corporate rapid expansion. So far, the world has experienced five waves of M&A. Stepping in the 21st century, M&A shows new features such as higher transaction amount, wider range and larger scale. However, its performance is not as good as expected. According to institutes and scholars, the low success rate of M&A is because of unawareness of cultural differences and inappropriate cultural post-merger integration practices. Therefore, it is significant to study how to perform cultural integration to improve the performance of M&A for synergies. With rapid economic growth in recent years, M&A activities have been increasing in China. Chinese enterprises are new players in this arena, it requires great attention to learn from others mistakes.The thesis contains five chapters. Chapter 1 is about the background and the significances of the subject selected, researches in this field, the research ideas and the main content. Chapter 2 introduces theories of M&A, theories of corporate culture, theories of and culture integration and culture conflict. Chapter 3 analyses the root cause of corporate culture differences and conflicts, introduces principles and modes of culture integration, points out the mode of culture integration needs to be matched with corporate strategy and culture. Chapter 4 is a M&A case study, by introducing two companies background, operation and management, analyzing the root cause of culture conflict, evaluating the culture integration model to offer improved strategies for Chinese enterprises. Chapter 5 summarizes the thesis and points out the direction for further study.The main conclusions are followed: 1) M&A is one of the best ways to obtain sustainable competitive advantage. 2) Cultural differences are two-sided, the disadvantage of its destructive side needs to be controlled, and the advantage of its cultural diversity needs to be encouraged. 3) Main suggestions: Make culture survey before M&A happens, control culture conflict properly, apply suitable integration mode, form new corporate culture, earn government's support, etc.