Managing Corporate Culture after a M&A (example DaimlerChrysler)

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 2,0, Nürtingen University (International Management, Intercultural Communication), language: English, abstract: In terms of globalization, enterprises have to be aware of their own identity, values and

thoughts and develop a grasp for interaction with foreign cultures. So it¿s not only some kind

of business behavior necessary, it is also important to know something about the values,

morals and attitudes for a better interaction. Even more important is a survey, if you plan a

merger or an acquisition with a foreign company. Researches proof, that 50-70 % of all

mergers don¿t succeed. This essay deals with the difficulty of consolidating two different

corporate cultures to one common culture. In order to visualize this issue, DaimlerChrysler is

taken as an example. Culture is an ¿everyday thing¿, it is present in every situation. It is a guideline for living

together in large groups, giving rules to act and behave. In most instances these facts are not

written down but unexpressed rules. There are many definitions in literature. The most

widespread definition is likely

¿Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes,

meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the

universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of

generations through individual and group striving¿.

Already the Egyptians and Romans created their own distinct hierarchies, laws, knowledge

bases and values and tried to preserve it over several hundred years. Culture is needed to organize and administrate a group of people or whole population. Nowadays this lead to

sophisticated cultures in every country of the world. These cultures are non-static grown

individual reflections of society that are always adapting to their environment.