Explore practical steps to align stakeholders, integrate strategies, and use KPIs to navigate the complexities of mergers and acquisitions effectively.
Strategic Challenges of M&A in 2025
The crisis we are experiencing serves as a stress test for many companies and is also a known trigger for increased business consolidations. A 23% rise in global M&A deal values has been reported by Financial Times1, reasonably driven by the strategy of acquiring high-quality assets at a discount.2
In 2025, overall trends in strategic planning are adding new layers of complexity to existing challenges:
- Changing stakeholder landscape. Shareholders focused on quick returns and employees facing job insecurity require balancing cost-cutting measures3 with talent retention4.
- Cultural integration challenges. Merging companies often face difficulties in aligning organizational cultures.5
- Technology integration challenges. The technical stack needs to be unified effectively. 6
- Regulatory compliance challenges. Meeting regulatory requirements in cross-border transactions remains a significant challenge.7
If you are preparing for a merger or acquisition, consider two key areas for improvement:
- Ensure clarity in your existing strategy. This includes a clear understanding of the stakeholder landscape and proper decomposition of high-level objectives.
- Introduce controls to track the M&A process. These measures ensure that critical success factors are effectively monitored.
Below are some practical recommendations for both acquiring and target companies.
Define Clear Objectives of Acquisition
Use one of the strategic planning frameworks (the Balanced Scorecard typically is the best choice) to define acquisition objectives and cascade them into scorecards for specific departments.
Example:
Set strategic goals like “Expand market share by 15% post-acquisition” and translate these into departmental sub-strategies and KPIs.
The approach for strategy implementation and cascading is discussed in detail in our strategy implementation system.
To facilitate the strategic alignment, the target company can use a one-page strategy map combined with strategic sales approach to showcase how the company fits into the acquirer’s long-term goals.
Prepare Integration Strategy
Create functional scorecards for integration teams, focusing on key areas like operations, IT systems, HR, and compliance. Include KPIs to track integration milestones.
Mergers and Acquisitions Scorecard Template. Example:
A goal like “Integrate financial systems within six months” can be further decomposed into sub-goals, specific initiatives, and can be measured through a progress-tracking scorecard.
Conduct Scenario Planning
Create scorecards with possible scenarios to simulate risks and opportunities. Assign leading and lagging indicators to track readiness and outcomes.
Example: a manufacturing company acquiring a competitor simulates three scenarios:
- Scenario 1. Economic Recovery. Focus on expanding production; KPI to track: “Increase sales by 25% in year 1.”
- Scenario 2. Economic Downturn. Prioritize cost-saving; KPI to track: “Cut operational costs by 15%.”
- Scenario 3. Competitor Disruption. Accelerate product launches; KPI to track: “Launch new product in 9 months.”
Engage Stakeholders
Do stakeholders analysis to align internal and external stakeholders with clear communication goals linked to strategic objectives.
Example for employee stakeholders:
- Interests identified: job security, career growth, cultural fit.
- Initiatives: host Q&A sessions; implement retention bonuses for key talent.
- KPIs to track: “Employee retention rate during integration,” “Employee engagement survey results.”
- Alignment with overall objective: ensure a motivated workforce to minimize disruption.
Cultural Alignment Strategy
Cultural integration remains one of the main success factors of the merges and acquisitions.8
Support cultural integration objective with clear initiatives:
- Conduct a Cultural Audit. Assess cultural differences in leadership styles, work practices, and decision-making processes between merging entities. Use surveys and interviews to identify potential areas of conflict and alignment. KPI to Track: “Percentage of cultural gaps identified and addressed in the integration plan.”
- Integration Training Programs. Create training sessions focused on cultural integration for employees at all levels. Deliver workshops on key cultural topics (e.g., communication styles, work ethic). KPI to Track: “Percentage of employees completing cultural training programs.”
Merger and Post-Merger Monitoring
Implementation of proper controls and continuous monitoring is critical to ensure the integration process achieves its intended goals and creates tangible value for all stakeholders.
By using scorecards developed during the planning phase, organizations can track progress on key financial, operational, and cultural integration metrics. These scorecards provide transparency to stakeholders, demonstrating how the merger delivers value – whether through improved operational performance, enhanced customer experiences, or better financial outcomes.
For the more precise metrics and controls, create a dedicated merges and aquisition functional scorecard. The template for such scorecard is available among the templates in BSC Designer platform.
Mergers and Acquisitions Scorecard Template. Case Study: Example of Implementing M&A Strategy
XYZ Eco Group, specializing in urban greening, planned to acquire a company specializing in smart irrigation technologies.
To prepare for the acquisition, they established a high-level objective and cascaded it down to the functional scorecards of integration teams. As part of this, they introduced a series of measures to ensure stakeholder engagement, including an analysis of stakeholder needs in the context of the new acquisition and informative sessions for stakeholders.
Learn more about the practical implementation of the M&A strategy in the detailed case study.
Let’s Discuss!
- How can organizations align strategies and engage stakeholders effectively during an M&A?
- What are the best approaches to overcoming cultural and technological integration challenges in mergers?
- Which KPIs are most crucial for tracking the success of an M&A process?
Join the conversation! Share your thoughts, experiences, and questions in the comments below.
Use Mergers and Acquisition Template
BSC Designer helps organizations implement their complex strategies:
- Sign up for a free plan on the platform.
- Use the
Mergers and Acquisition template as a starting point. You will find it in New > New Scorecard > More Templates. - Follow our Strategy Implementation System to align stakeholders and strategic ambitions into a comprehensive strategy.
Get started today and see how BSC Designer can simplify your strategy implementation!
- Global M&A lurches back to life, Financial Times, 2024 ↩
- The 2019 M&A Report: Downturns Are a Better Time for Deal Hunting, Boston Consulting Group, 2019 ↩
- Knowledge at Wharton, 2024, Wharton ↩
- Retaining talent during an M&A transaction, 2022, Deloitte ↩
- The importance of cultural integration in M&A: The path to success, 2024, McKinsey & Company ↩
- 9 Key Phases of IT Integration in Mergers and Acquisitions, Burnie Group, visited 7th, January 2025 ↩
- Hot Topics in Cross-Border M&A, 2024, KPMG ↩
- Organizational culture in mergers: Addressing the unseen forces, 2019, McKinsey & Company ↩
Alexis is a Senior Strategy Consultant and CEO at BSC Designer, with over 20 years of experience in strategic planning. Alexis developed the “5 Step Strategy Implementation System” that helps companies with the practical implementation of their strategies. He is a regular speaker at industry conferences and has published over 100 articles on strategy and performance management, including the book “10 Step KPI System”. His work is frequently cited in academic research.