Even before an acquisition deal is closed, successful assimilation of the two companies needs to begin. The financials, processes, systems, and people of two separate entities need to be integrated into one fully functioning organization with a single overarching culture. Many organizations underestimate the challenges such an undertaking can bring. Decisions need to be made regarding how to combine financial information to meet reporting requirements, processes need to be aligned, and systems need to be integrated. If cultural issues are not addressed, culture clash will likely ensue, inevitably leading to an unproductive, demoralized, frustrated, nervous, and unhappy workforce. I will work closely with business leaders through the assimilation process, which should begin long before the deal closes. The process begins with identification of differences between the pre-acquisition organizations as well as assessments of which processes, systems, and cultural characteristics of each organization should be preserved. Once the new vision is articulated, work needs to begin immediately to identify key objectives, or areas in which the company must excel to achieve the vision. It is imperative that the objectives span the entire organization across the financial, customer, internal business process, and employee perspectives. Next, we will pinpoint the appropriate measures to monitor success in the achievement of each objective. The strategy will then be translated into action with the development of key initiatives at all levels of the organization that will support execution on the assimilation strategy.