Context

A global engineering and consulting company had acquired a US-based organisation as part of its international growth strategy to be merged with the US division.
At the same time, the company was seeking to better understand and articulate its own global culture across regions and business units.

Leadership recognised that successful integration would depend not only on structure and processes, but on cultural alignment — both between the two organisations in the US and between local practices and the company’s global values.

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Challenge

The acquisition brought together organisations shaped by different organisational cultures. There was a risk that cultural differences could slow down integration, create friction in collaboration and dilute the intended value of the acquisition.

In parallel, leadership needed a clearer, evidence-based understanding of the existing global culture to ensure that integration decisions were grounded in reality rather than assumptions.

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My Role

I was engaged as a culture expert for six months to conduct cultural analyses that would inform the integration strategy for the US acquisition and provide insight into the organisation’s global culture.

My responsibility was to design and deliver the analysis, synthesise findings into actionable insights and support executive decision-making through structured dialogue.

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Approach

Together with a colleague, we planned and led a comprehensive cultural analysis covering the acquired US company, the existing US organisation and the global organisation as a whole.

Data was collected through a combination of surveys, interviews and focus groups forming the basis for a gap-fit analysis, highlighting areas of cultural alignment and divergence — both between the merging organisations and between local practices and global values.

The findings were consolidated into clear reports and translated into executive-level insights. Based on the analysis, we designed the process and content for a series of executive workshops, enabling leadership to reflect on the implications for integration, leadership behaviour and future ways of working.

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Outcomes

The insights supported informed decision-making around integration strategy and created a structured foundation for executive dialogue on culture, leadership and organisational identity across regions.

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Insight

Cultural integration succeeds when leaders work from insight rather than assumption. Making culture visible — and discussable — creates better decisions and stronger alignment in moments of organisational change.