Long term goals · Build, buy or ally · Component
Integration plan
How an acquired business is combined with the buyer: the approach chosen, what is kept separate, and who runs each workstream.
The deliverable
What it is
Haspeslagh and Jemison distinguish integration approaches by two needs: how much the combined value depends on the businesses working together, and how much the acquired business depends on staying autonomous. Absorption, preservation, symbiosis and a holding arrangement follow from different combinations of the two.
The plan is drafted before completion, while the rationale is still clear. How the combined organisation is later judged against the case is part of the post-investment review under Investment appraisal.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
Integration approach
Which of the integration approaches fits this acquisition, judged on interdependence and the need for autonomy.
2 attributes: Approach · Reason
LearnPreserve list
What in the acquired business is deliberately kept apart — teams, brand, processes, decision rights — and the reason.
3 attributes: Kept separate · Reason · Review
LearnWorkstreams
The integration tasks grouped by area — finance, systems, people, customers — each with an owner and a target date.
3 attributes: Workstream · Owner · Target
Learn
Write the preserve list before the workstreams. Integration moves faster than reflection in the first months.
The other components in build, buy or ally
Growth mode decision
For one growth move of the business: what it requires, the answers to the mode questions, and the route chosen.
LearnAcquisition case
The reasoning for acquiring a particular business, the value expected from combining it, and the price above which the deal is declined.
LearnAcquisition diligence scope
What is examined in a business whose ownership, liabilities and people will pass to the buyer, and what the examination found.
Learn