Resonance: Voices, insights, conversation
"If strategy shows the way, culture determines whether the team follows along..." Here we bring together voices from owners, supervisory boards, private equity, executive boards and management – condensed into what really matters in deals: situational awareness, trust, and compatibility.
Culture is not simply discernible in behavior… – but reveals itself in the depths of how people think, understand and evaluate what it is really about.
Oliver Borchmann
The management board and supervisory board need a shared understanding of culture and its priority within PMI. Without this unity, culture remains a secondary issue – yet it is the enabler or obstacle to achieving strategic goals.
Dr. Andreas Häberli
Culture as a strategic factor:
If the middle management is not won over, the planned synergy areas will collapse.
Interview, anonymous
Value realization & integration logic
Buy-and-build only works if I consider the cultural architecture early on.
Interview, anonymous
People Trust & Owners
perspective
This is an employee's market – you can't afford to lose people just because they feel left out and their culture is ignored. If anyone can convey that credibly, it's someone like you.
Florian Welz
It's about what the seller really wants – often it's not just money, but respect for their work and the people.
Interview, anonymous
Interviews: What comes up again and again!
From the conversations: Why culture makes the difference
These insights don't stem from a survey, but from confidential dialogues with people in positions of responsibility: owners and supervisory boards, private equity (PE) and operating partners, board members and managing directors, CFOs and corporate development. Across industries and deal logics, we spoke with professional friends, clients, and referral contacts – not about programs, but about lived experience: where integration works, where it falters, and why culture often remains under-examined in the M&A context, even though it visibly shapes results.
We listened, asked questions, and discussed contradictions. We were interested in what decision-makers really need:
- a cultural situational picture that reveals compatibility and tensions;
- Guardrails that ensure connectivity;
- Tips on how to maintain trust with teams and customers.
No heroic poses, no fireworks display of methods – but rather condensed experience.
From these discussions, five recurring themes emerged – our “Big Five”. They are not a dogma, but a compass: focused practice that provides orientation without oversimplifying complexity. A basis for decisions – and an invitation to further reflection.
Interviews: Die "Big Five"
From these discussions, five recurring themes emerged – our “Big Five”. They are not dogma, but a compass: focused practice that provides orientation without oversimplifying complexity. A basis for decisions – and an invitation to further reflection.
Culture decides after the closing.
The strongest cultural effects become apparent after the closing. This is when it becomes clear whether strategic synergies take hold, whether people stay, and whether leadership is effective. Culture is not a soft factor – it works subtly, but with clearly measurable consequences for value creation, leadership, and integration.
Example: "Everything looked good on paper – but the decisions were made in middle management."
Situation report instead of list of measures
CEOs, entrepreneurs, and HR professionals don't need measures first and foremost – they need situational awareness to make decisions! Almost all respondents clearly state: cultural work must be relevant, objective, and directly impactful. Not training, not a change management tool – but a precise picture of the current cultural landscape that is relevant for decision-making and management.
Example: A page with a cultural thesis, 3-5 red/yellow flags and initial guardrails.
Governance Management: a shared perspective
Partial governance in the context of M&A is effective when it recognizes and prioritizes cultural dynamics. Supervisory boards and shareholders don't want to actively shape culture – but they do want to understand where tensions lie, where trust is lacking, or where integration might fail. Clarity and prioritization of the topic of culture thus become a strategic lever for governance and trust.
Example: A joint session clarifies understanding, role, communication line and “decision gateways”.
Credibility beats rhetoric
Credibility builds trust – more consultant rhetoric won't. Acceptance of the topic depends heavily on the credibility of the person presenting it. Experience, clarity, and an entrepreneurial perspective are essential. Avoiding "esoteric" terminology and taking a clear stance on the issue make all the difference.
Example: A navigator with experience, clarity, and an entrepreneurial perspective.
Culture navigates the success factors
It can either accelerate or hinder time-to-value, key employee retention, and customer trust. Deciding early on what to integrate, what to preserve – and in what order – is crucial. Furthermore, the key is not "homogenization," but understanding cultural tensions. The concept of a situational overview, supplemented by a Culture Risk Index, has been repeatedly validated.
Example: A navigation map with do's/don'ts, sequence and possible tipping points.
A conversation in a dream: Peter Drucker meets Christoph Strömer
One night, a library… I meet Peter Drucker in a dream. We talk about how leadership in challenging integrations takes direction and why culture is the medium in which decisions actually take effect. My presence encounters a brilliant mind of clarity.
… Peter Drucker (nods slowly): “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” – I’m often accused of that. I never said it like that. Rather, I believe that culture determines whether strategy even gets digested. Culture decides whether people are even willing to engage with something new…
Find out how the enchanting dialogue between Peter and Christoph continues soon. Stay tuned and sign up so we can send you a message...
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Note: Fiction; inspired by interviews and practical experience. No connection to any estate/foundation.
Key findings at a glance
- Situational awareness instead of change measures: A compact picture of fit, risks/opportunities, route – compatible with PMI teams.
- Resonance before scorecards: Internal images and clear guidelines make decisions sustainable; numbers where they have an impact.
- Securing value realization: Culture acts as an amplifier or brake on synergies, commitment, and time-to-value.
- Optional risk assessment: Identify cultural risk situations (optional: Culture Risk Index) – without methodological fireworks.