Cultivating post-acquisition employee engagement: the Danaher business system
ISSN: 1475-4398
Article publication date: 13 July 2023
Issue publication date: 12 October 2023
Abstract
Purpose
One of major concerns of serial acquirers is to ensure value creation. However, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are well known for the key management problems they generate such as change management, cultural clashes and increased managerial turnover. Despite this, M&As also offer opportunities for integrating best practices. This paper aims to demonstrate how Danaher attempts to cultivate employee engagement in companies it has recently acquired.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts a single-case approach to show how Danaher implements its in-house method – the Danaher Business System – a management system during the take over and the postacquisition phase.
Findings
The findings from this paper demonstrate best practice management and strategies needed to ensure successful M&As. Almost 40 years after serial acquisitions, Danaher is cited as one of the most successful serial acquirers. Its human approach to takeovers has been a central part of this.
Originality/value
This paper offers a concise and clear outline of the management strategies used by Danaher to ensure successful acquisitions relying on Kaizen and LEAN with a strong focus on the human side. During the takeover and postacquisition integration, Danaher’s human approach would appear to be a key differentiating element.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
None of the authors of this article have any affiliation or pecuniary relationship with the Danaher Corporation. The authors contributed equally and are listed in alphabetical order.
Citation
Durand, M., Hansen, G. and Thomas, M. (2023), "Cultivating post-acquisition employee engagement: the Danaher business system", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 22 No. 5, pp. 159-163. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-06-2023-0035
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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