Hi Bruce, would love to help-out with some suggestions, but it may be a bit tone-deaf without a bit more specifics to the situation. You'll likely find that when running a small business the specific context really does matter and one-size fits all approaches aren't incredibly effective. For example, where with the cultural/generational disconnect be most prevalent? Does it already exist in the business or is the catalyst the acquisition (e.g. you are going to create the disconnect because you hold different beliefs).

From experience, I would recommend - if you are already thinking about the cultural mismatch and how it will be a problem for you (if that's the case) - that you consider whether or not the specific company is right for you - the industry, financials, etc may be perfect but culture trumps strategy and past financial performance.

You are right to run to this issue as any missteps (and I promise there will be some) will be blamed (by the staff and others in the company) on the most evident/tension-creating reasons. So, more tenured in the industry folks will quickly blame your lack of experience, industry knowledge, and your "know-it-all MBA' approach; or perhaps folks who really feel the cultural divide will blame your progressive OR conservative personal views.

It is super important (and I can say this from experience) to quickly engage the leaders and influencers (sometimes not the same people) of an organization after the acquisition to excite them about the opportunity and gain some goodwill (so they don't automatically jump into the gossip or criticism mill in the break room, but rather show excitement for the opportunity and a "trust-until-proven-wrong" relationship with you as the new owner.

If this was helpful, I'm happy to connect further. If not, it was fun to write anyways.

Good luck! Sean

Hi Bruce,

Managing across cultures is challenging, to say the least. I agree with Sean that if the target is based on two cultures that have clashed due to a prior poor M&A or is a target that you are considering merging with one you already own, then I would look strongly at the upside to ensure it outweighs the cultural differences before acquiring. They are not easy to overcome, but certainly not impossible. As you know, we live in a world that has become flat with globalization, but lumpiness still exists with cultural differences. The more you try to flatten them or make them fit the US standard or the Northern standard, etc... the more you isolate the groups into silos.

Assuming it is the right target for you, when it comes to culture, listening, observing and learning is key. Try to identify your connectors in each of these cultures and learn from them. Once they recognize you actually care about their differences, you gain their trust and get them working together across cultures. They are the most likely folks to become your champions for the goals you have set with the greater population. While it would be wonderful for these connectors to be leaders within the two cultures, that does not have to be the case, and often isn't.

Second, get them out of their current silos and comfort zones. Find ways to create teams that intermix the cultures in a productive way. In a perfect world and with a nice budget, I would suggest personality and assessment tests to properly match teams, assuming this is a small business, you could do this on a smaller scale, but the point is to get them working together in a way that highlights each member's strengths.

I'm happy to hop on a call if you would like to chat about specificsredacted

Good luck and would love to hear how you overcome this challenge so we can all learn from you!

Christine