Sometimes getting acquired is a godsend. It can focus corporate leaders and staff. It expands the base of resources available to creative and product development teams. And integration often means eliminating redundancies and trimming the deadweight, which improves the bottom line.

But being acquired also requires adhering to the new parent’s rules and processes – which is a significant challenge. Prior to its acquisition by a major Asian media company, our client had already taken multiple steps to ensure its future. It had systematically analyzed its assets, its strengths and weaknesses, its available market, and the most viable opportunities for growth and how to tap them. It had formulated a cogent and actionable strategy – which included a carefully mapped out enterprise Risk Management (ERM) process – and was in the process of cascading the strategy to internal business units.

The challenge: suddenly needing to adopt and adapt to a new set of rules

When the acquisition was announced, our client suddenly had a new strategic task to contend with. The new holding company had its own Strategy Execution Management processes and plans. Moreover, it had detailed ERM requirements that did not always overlap with the basic requirements of our client. And when they did overlap, processes were sometimes incommensurable, making effective review and eventual assessment a major challenge.

To handle the transition in ownership, our client needed to create a new approach to its ERM process. First it needed to ensure its ERM processes synced with its new parent. Then it needed to be sure its revised ERM could still be integrated into the company’s Strategy Execution Management (SEM) process. It needed a Strategic Risk Management Framework.