POST-MERGER PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT INTEGRATION: A CASE STUDY
DS 48: Proceedings DESIGN 2008, the 10th International Design Conference, Dubrovnik, Croatia
Year: 2008
Editor: Marjanovic D., Storga M., Pavkovic N., Bojcetic N.
Author: Gries, B.
Section: Organizational understanding of product development
Page(s): 935 - 942
Abstract
Combining different companies through mergers or acquisitions (M&A) is a common management strategy nowadays. For companies whose major business activity is focused on product development, the complexity of design processes adds another dimension to the already existing challenges of a post-merger integration (PMI). The purpose of this contribution is to discuss this impact, focusing on the question how to achieve a successful transformation of design organizations. The described case study shows that harmonizing the product development processes of different organizations needs to take the following steps: a) analyzing the “as-is”, b) defining the “to-be” and c) ensuring the successful transition from a) to b).
Keywords: product development transformation, post-merger integration, design management