M&A Activity Presents an Opportunity for BRMs to Provide Value
For BRMs that have close partnerships with the business organization(s) they support, a merger or acquisition can be an excellent opportunity to help grow your working relationship and value delivered to the business. For BRMs looking to build a relationship with a business organization, M&A can present an ideal scenario to demonstrate value as a business peer.
For the purposes of this discussion, we’ll assume that a strong partnership is already in place. The BRM is involved in strategic discussions and understands the business objectives, so they will likely then know why an acquisition would be a good fit and how it would help the business meet its objectives.
The deal is announced—so what’s next?
When BRMs are involved, business succeeds.
- BRMs partner with business leaders in identifying and prioritizing opportunities for synergy between entities. For example, is it more important to integrate supply chain organizations and processes or standardize pricing and customer engagement model, given the business strategy and objectives? BRMs are aware of the areas of process strength and weakness in their business, so they can look for ways to leverage the strengths and improve weaker areas.
- BRMs are a focal point for conveying business priorities and vision to the various enabling business functions that will be responsible for the tactical integration activities. This will help the enabling business functions develop “right-size” solutions from the beginning, built with an eye towards future business requirements. If a plant expansion or new product deployment is planned immediately after the deal closes, then groups such as HR, IT, Finance, and others can begin their integration activities with that direction in mind.
BRMs think about how to best extend support to the new and larger business entity, working to ensure that the new organization is properly represented and supported.
- BRMs ensure business leaders understand the impact of the M&A activity on in-process or planned projects. BRMs know the status of current business initiatives and can recommend the efforts that should be completed, delayed, or cancelled in light of upcoming M&A-driven demand. They can then communicate the updated priorities to current project leaders and the broader organization.
M&A are great learning opportunities for BRMs—new business peers, corporate culture, business processes, and often geographical locations all offer great avenues for BRMs to grow professionally and personally by honing existing relationship skills or broadening process and industry knowledge.
Depending on the size of the acquisition, BRMs think about how to best extend support to the new and larger business entity, working to ensure that the new organization is properly represented and supported. While that may mean defining and explaining their role to new colleagues and re-deploying resources, generating enthusiasm for the role and securing management commitment as early as possible in the process will contribute to the long-term success of the acquisition.
Once an acquisition is finalized, corporate and business leadership move on to the next opportunity, leaving the implementation and realization of their vision and strategy to a team of trusted individuals.
The BRM role, by its very nature, requires adaptability, openness, and a passion to help the organization improve. A BRM that embraces change and commits to the M&A effort can be a key member of the implementation team and will be valued by the business.
Jason Spinner has over 25 years of experience in IT and project management, with a particular focus on delivering maximum value through technology-related efforts. He is a BRM at a large chemical company and has led multiple teams and multi-million dollar projects to success.
