Our series, Strategic Imperatives for the Chemical Industry discusses the issues that industry organizations are most concerned about going forward in 2015. Based on extensive research performed by the Eventful Group, these key issues come directly from players in the industry ranging from small blossoming organizations to the household name manufacturing giants.
For part two of our series, we will explore the questions and concerns facing chemical manufacturers regarding mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. If you missed part one, follow the link below to catch up.
Strategic Imperatives for the Chemical Industry – Part 1: Evolution through Digital Transformation
The chemical industry is accelerating the pace of mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, driven by a need to expand into emerging markets and provide a one-stop-shop for their customers. The greatest emphasis and interest from the community is focused on how companies combine their operations, integrate their systems and develop a unified set of clear and well communicated business processes. However, at the same time, organizations are finding value in keeping some aspects of culture and business processes unique and unchanged when merging and integrating. Striking this careful balance is a core theme in the merger and acquisition space.
With most organizations experiencing at least one merger, acquisition or divestiture in the past five years, the challenge of combining and integrating systems has become paramount.
- Are there differences in approach and best practices when integrating financial versus operational systems?
- How are organizations developing cross-functional expertise to develop an optimized integration strategy? Who owns the integration strategy and governance?
- What are best practices on how to best integrate two or more disparate systems that must come together as a result of merger and acquisition activity?
- When is it appropriate for an organization to not integrate systems and operate on different instances?
- What is the legal exposure and regulatory requirements of dealing with post-merger, acquisition or divestiture data?
- What are the implications of “clone and go” approach?
- How are organizations utilizing SAP Landscape Transformation
- How can SAP Master Data Management (MDM) be used to manage the integration of data post-merger or acquisition?
Is your organization searching for answers during a restructuring related transition? Please reach out or continue the discussion in the comments section.
To get answers to these, and other top industry questions, be sure to participate in our SAP Best Practices for Chemicals Conference on March 14-16, 2016 at the Woodlands Waterway, Texas.
We look forward to seeing you there!
