The ugliness of organizational growth: Analyzing developments which help merging organizations

Abstract

Merging organizations is inherent in our global sphere. As Aristotle shared: “the sum is greater than the parts on their own.” Organizational merger often involves rapid decision-making in quick succession; when there are a multitude of decisions in a short time interval, the fallout can be uglier without a pathway. In review of existing strategic frameworks, Jim Collins’s Good to Great and John Hayes’s The Theory and Practice of Change Management, the paper also unfolds a separate strategy: to unify, to focus growth, to establish leaders, to distribute influence, and to reflect on the ability to repeat a similar merger. The U.G.L.I.R. strategy is applicable in non-profit and for-profit organizations to simplify the uglier and complex organizational process of merging organizations. When reviewing non-profit mergers specifically, the study finds that the characteristics of a non-profit board of directors offer more challenges to a potential merger. In addition, for-profit intra-agency mergers are resembled by non-profit interagency mergers and vice versa. Finally, there are inherent challenges to merging nonprofit organizations, such as geography and organizing documents. Still applicable, the U.G.L.I.R. strategy shows that many non-profits demand more time and patience to fulfill a merger than a for-profit might require. Multiple mergers, in quick succession, are more common in a for-profit arena.