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Mergers Don’t Always Lead to Culture Clashes

In: Social Issues

Submitted By Bulina
Words 878
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October 8, 2012
By: Kary Wilson
Mergers Don’t Always Lead to Culture Clashes

1. In what ways were the cultures of Bank of America (BOA) and MBNA incompatible? Both giant organizations retained a dominant culture; however, their personalities were defined by different characteristics. MBNA featured a formal style. It was characterized as free- wheeling, entrepreneurial spirited, and secretive. This organization’s employees were accustomed to high-life, executive salaries, generous perks, and exhibited a formal dress code.
Its management was perceived as arrogant and autocratic. This giant believed in speed. Bank of
America (BOA) differed greatly from its merging counterpart. BOA was a less formal organization which grew by thrift, maintained low-cost, no non-sense operations, featured a more casual dress code, and believed in size and smarts rather than speed alone. Its management was perceived a bureaucratic. BOA resembled CEO Robert Keirlin’s personality who was notorious for maintaining a modest and frugal personal profile.
2. Why do you think their cultures appeared to mesh rather than clash? Both organizations have a dominant culture and several subcultures. Although different from one another, both organizations shared some similar core values. The primary factor preventing clashes is attributed to the way management handled cultural transitions. Different cultures may be a recipe for disaster however, these two mergers showed appreciation for each other’s characteristics, choosing the best ones from both sides and creating a new set of values that led to a new culture. For example, BOA’s wise ability to forecast which MBNA’s practices to change proved successful. It is noteworthy that management from both sides compared and integrated practices from both sides retaining the most successful ones. Equally worthy is to

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