Overhead Door Company to Present Merger Success Story at Denison Best Practices Forum

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Denison Consulting, a leading provider of culture change and leadership development solutions, announced today that Ken Mahlke, Vice President of Human Resources at Overhead Door Company (ODC), will present a merger success story at the 2012 Denison Best Practices Forum, January 18-20 in Delray Beach, Florida.

For more information and to register to the Forum, visit http://www.denisonconsulting.com/events/conferences/DenisonForum2012.aspx.

At the event, Mahlke will share how ODC leveraged the Denison solutions to effectively integrate rival cultures in its acquisition of Wayne Dalton—a smaller yet fierce competitor in the residential and commercial garage doors and openers business.

"Wayne Dalton was much more entrepreneurial, customer-centric, and quick to make decisions, while Overhead Door is much more methodical, meticulously planful, and deliberate in its decision-making," described Mahlke.  "As such, our challenge was to better understand and embrace the differences that could actually be synergistic in a new company culture."

To ascertain and manage these differences, ODC leveraged the Denison solutions and worked with The Keystone Group—an M&A integration expert and Denison Consulting Network Partner.  "The use of the Denison tools helped make this challenge less emotional and more objective," said Mahlke, "and allowed us to establish the common ground necessary to gain synergy.  As a result, we were able to successfully merge the strengths of each organization into a single, high-performing business."

"This cultural integration was an exceptional endeavor," commented Tim Kuppler, President of Denison Consulting. "We're really looking forward to hearing more from Ken about ODC's company culture at the Forum in January."

In addition to ODC, speakers for the 2012 Denison Forum include:

• The Clorox Company,  Matthew Berberich, Organizational Empowerment and TQ, World Class Operations
• Coca Cola Icecek, Turkey Alper Tokalp, HR and Corporate Development Director
• Defense Logistics Agency, Brad Bunn, Human Resources Director
• Family Health Council of Central Pennsylvania, Cindy Stewart, President/CEO
• W.W. Grainger, Inc., Mike Pulick, Senior Vice President & President, Grainger U.S.
• W.W. Grainger, Inc.,  John Borta, Director, U.S. Strategic Planning
• Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals, Phil Morley, Chief Executive
• PayPal, Scott Day, Senior Director, HR Global Financial Services & Risk
• Sutter Physician Services  Ken Buback, Chief Administrative Officer
• Trane North America, Jason Bingham, Vice President, Central Territory
• University of Michigan Health System, Christopher Wise, Program Director, Lean for Clinical Redesign Collaborative Quality Initiative
• Veolia Environmental Services, United Kingdom, Myra Cooke, Regional Head of Human Resources
• Whirlpool Corporation,  Mark Markram, Human Resources Director of Talent and Organization Development for the Global Product Organization

About The Denison Best Practices Forum
The Denison Best Practices Forum is an annual event for senior executives to learn about, share, and collaborate on culture change and leadership development initiatives.  It features leaders and chief executives who have created change, developed leaders, and improved their organizations' performance.  

About Denison Consulting
Denison Consulting provides the world's best research-based solutions designed to improve the bottom-line performance of leaders, teams, and organizations. Used by more than 5,500 organizations globally, Denison's organizational culture and leadership development solutions allow organizations and leaders to improve sales profitability, quality, innovation, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and financial performance. Based in Ann Arbor, MI, Denison has offices worldwide in North America, Europe and Asia, as well as a global network of consultants, partners and researchers.

For more information about Denison Consulting, please visit: www.denisonconsulting.com

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link.
Daniel R. Denison, PhD
https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=43717

Bryan Adkins, Ed. D.
https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=38348

SOURCE Denison Consulting