06 - 07 June, 2013

Acquiring companies tend to outperform industry peers that don’t pursue an active M&A strategy—in good times and bad. Yet despite the increasing professionalism of corporate M&A efforts over the last decade, acquisitions are still a high-risk endeavor even for the most seasoned, serial acquirer.

You may ask yourself, what kinds of resources are needed to build a sustainable, integration capability? How do you institutionalize processes and manage performance to a set standard yet build in the needed flexibility to respond to unique, increasingly complex situations in far-flung places? How do you pay attention to the “softer” issues that have the potential to derail your efforts, like culture and employee engagement? How do drive performance and accountability and for how long?

Please join us for The 2013 Post Merger Integration Conference, in its 9th year, this program has been completely redesigned to address the many suggestions attendees have voiced over the years. We’ve included longer, more interactive, break-out sessions that separately address the needs of new and experienced integration managers. We will present a business school case study that will generate much discussion. Facilitated roundtable discussions will encourage peer sharing and draw out the collective expertise of the audience. Dave Gitlin, VP of Integration at United Technologies will discuss the recent $16.5B Goodrich Corp. acquisition. And don’t miss the talk by Duncan O’Brien, General Manager, Global Business Development at General Electric Company. Learn from these experts and many more in this interactive, focused two days designed to get to the core of what it takes to build a successful integration capability.

This year’s conference will feature:

• Business leaders from experienced acquirers like General Electric, United Technologies Corporation, IBM, and many more
• Tracked sessions for new and experienced integration managers
• Business school professors from Harvard Business School and The Wharton School who will discuss the habits of savvy acquirers
• Longer, more interactive sessions designed to encourage peer sharing

Thursday, June 6, 2013 

REGISTRATION AND CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST 8–8:30 AM 

A 8:30–9 AM 

Welcome and Industry Perspectives 

Oliver Engert, Director, McKinsey & Company, Inc. 

B 9–10 AM 

Executive Perspective: Leading an M&A Function 

Duncan O’Brien, General Manager Corporate Business Development, General Electric 

NETWORKING REFRESHMENT BREAK 10–10:15 AM 

CONCURRENT TRACK C1 10:15–12 NOON 

New Integration Managers 

Nathalie Benzing, Director, Corporate Development, M&A Integration, Autodesk Ltd. 
James Kemp, Director, Operations, Digital Marketing Business Unit, Adobe 
Philip Pratt, Director M&A Integration, Corning Life Sciences 

Attendees will choose one of the following tracked sessions for new or experienced integration managers based on their own assessment of experience; it is recommended that attendees join the same track for the morning and afternoon sessions.

CONCURRENT TRACK C2 10:15–12 NOON

Experienced Integration Managers

Moni Miyashita, Senior Advisor, Merger Management, McKinsey & Company, Inc., & Former Vice President, M&A Strategy & Investments, IBM Corporation
Jai Sundararaman, Integration Director, Dell

LUNCHEON 12 NOON–1 PM

CONCURRENT SESSION D1 1–2 PM

M&A As The Ultimate Leadership Test: Are Your Leaders Ready?

Michelle Nasir, Principal, Leadership Consulting Practice, Heidrick & Struggles
Carolyn Vavrek, Partner, Leadership Consulting Practice, Heidrick & Struggles

CONCURRENT SESSION D2 1–2 PM

Engaging and Connecting Through High-Impact Merger Communications

Sandi Lee, Vice President Communications, UTC Aerospace Systems

CONCURRENT SESSION E1 2:05–3:05 PM

Opening the Aperture: Re-thinking Value Creation 

Paul Price, Director M&A Integration, Corporate Development, IBM Corporation

CONCURRENT SESSION E2 2:05–3:05 PM 

Protecting the Top Line: Flawless Sales and Marketing Integration

BREAK TO ASSEMBLE FOR CONTINUATION OF TRACK DISCUSSIONS 3:05–3:15 PM 

CONCURRENT TRACK F1 3:15–4:15 PM 

New Integration Managers 

CONCURRENT TRACK F2 3:15–4:15 PM 

Experienced Integration Managers 

BREAK TO ASSEMBLE FOR CLOSING KEYNOTE 4:15–4:30 PM 

G 4:30–5:30 PM 

Executive Perspective: Leading a Mega-merger 

NETWORKING RECEPTION 5:30–6:30 PM

Friday, June 7, 2013

CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST 8–8:30 AM 

H 8:30–10 AM 

Cracking the Case: Developing Patterns for Success in Post Merger Integration 

Emilie Feldman, Assistant Professor of Management, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania 

I 10–11 AM 

“Best of Both” Mergers 

Kathy Woods, Senior Director of M&A Integration, Applied Materials Inc. 

BREAK TO ASSEMBLE FOR CLOSING REMAINS 11–11:15 AM 

J 11:15–12:15 PM 

Building an Integration Program 

Moni Miyashita, Senior Advisor, Merger Management, McKinsey & Company, Inc., & Former Vice President, M&A Strategy & Investments, IBM Corporation 

WRAP UP AND EVALUATIONS 12:15–12:30 PM 

ADJOURNMENT 12:30 PM

Other scheduled dates and locations for Post Merger Integration Conference:

02 - 03 May, 2013 – The Westin New York Grand Central, New York, NY

For speaking and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Hannah Sohn at hannah.sohn@conferenceboard.org.