A merger and acquisition (M&A) is not a strategy, but a means to pursue one. Although there are multiple reasons to pursue an acquisition, the primary challenge in doing so is that M&A consistently fails to improve firm performance.1 Poor integration between the acquiring and target firms provides and explanation for M&A performance falling short of expectations, because integration is pivotal in creating value from M&A. Without integration there is little justification for paying premiums for targets that average 40 percent.2 Integration, however, is difficult to execute, and existing frameworks describing M&A integration and its impact on performance have limited usefulness.