Knowledge Jam: Three Disciplines to Beat the Merger Performance Odds

Researchers agree that between 40 and 70 per cent of mergers fail, yet there is a lack of practical advice for identifying and integrating knowledge that is dispersed through a merged organization. The Knowledge Jam is a process, set of disciplines, and culture that seeks to surface and translate knowledge into productive work in a merged organization. This article explains how knowledge fragmentation is a key impediment to a merged firm, and breaks down leaders’ under-investment in identifying and transferring the knowledge that is dispersed throughout two merged firms. It then details the five steps of Knowledge Jam, as well as its three disciplines — facilitation, conversation, and translation.