A knowledge audit in a merger and acquisition.

Abstract

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) are a common business practice in today’s highly competitive business environment. This takes place to either eliminate competition or acquire various assets which are either in tangible or intangible form to gain entry into a market place or leverage on the acquired company’s expertise to build on product portfolios to gain market leadership.

Hence when an M&A takes place, it is vital for the acquiring company to determine the market strategy and business proposition of the acquisition, especially whether current knowledge management strategies are congruent with overall corporate strategy. Important knowledge sources and assets reside in individual organisations. Therefore it is necessary to determine where these sources reside and who owns such knowledge. It is also crucial to determine what employees expect from a knowledge angle to enable them to perform at the highest level when the two companies are integrated.

This research poses the above inquiries in the form of what is known as a material knowledge audit, and with the observation of an actual M&A exercise, establishes what has to be done post M&A. The analysis of the data collected leads to a preliminary recommendation to preserve knowledge sources in the new business entity. The recommendations include the establishment of an enterprise knowledge portal service, the creation of corporate knowledge directories, the use of knowledge mapping and social networks analysis to identify proximity in which knowledge owners are with the knowledge seekers.