Cultivating post-acquisition employee engagement: the Danaher business system

Abstract

PurposeOne 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/approachThis 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.FindingsThe 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/valueThis 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.