ABSTRACT
The integration plan is a tool to monitor and manage the different steps that need to be addressed during the integration process. It is designed to schedule actions and set deadlines, allocate responsibilities, monitor progress, provide feedback, and ensure the adaptability to change in the integration process. In a number of M&A integration guides, integration manager may find that defining the integration plan comes in as the first step in the process and not as a second step after the Due Diligence review. In most cases however, the integration manager will report to the CEO. It is most important to ensure that one person, and one person alone, manages the integration plan owner and does not interfere with the groups that he or she will subsequently set up. There are few people who would argue that the quality of internal communication is one, if not the key component to the success of an M&A integration process.
