Managing bank mergers

This article describes what bank managers can do to effectively manage organizational and cultural change and the people involved as a merger or acquisition unfolds. It is partly based on interviews with bank executives from Europe and the U.S. about their experiences in "making a merger work" - probably one of the most difficult management tasks. At the same time, it is a task that any top manager is very likely to be faced with at some time during his or her career, given the high speed of consolidation in the banking industry worldwide. The article follows the authors' previous study on "Merger motives in European banking" (ÖBA 3/95), by taking up some of its conclusions: A successful bank merger depends on economic, strategic, and cultural "fit" as well as integrative management skills.