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Lift outs: how to acquire a high-functioning team.

Boris Groysberg1, Robin Abrahams

  • 1Harvard Business School, Boston, USA. bgroysberg@hbs.edu

Harvard Business Review
|December 23, 2006
PubMed
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Hiring entire teams, known as lift outs, can accelerate company growth but carries risks. Successful lift outs require meticulous management through four distinct stages: courtship, leader integration, operational alignment, and cultural assimilation.

Area of Science:

  • Business Strategy
  • Organizational Behavior
  • Human Resources Management

Background:

  • Expanding companies increasingly utilize "lift outs" to acquire high-functioning, cohesive teams.
  • These teams bypass the need for initial relationship-building, enabling rapid integration and impact.
  • However, lift outs present significant risks, including financial loss, missed opportunities, and talent attrition.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the risks and opportunities associated with corporate lift outs.
  • To identify the critical stages and management factors for successful team acquisitions.
  • To provide a framework for navigating the complexities of integrating lifted-out teams.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of over 40 high-profile corporate lift out cases.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Interviews with team leaders across diverse industries and international contexts.
  • Qualitative research to understand the dynamics of team integration.

    • Main Results:

    • Successful lift outs follow four interdependent stages: courtship, leader integration, operational integration, and cultural integration.
    • Effective management of each stage is crucial for mitigating risks and maximizing benefits.
    • Team leader integration with senior management is identified as a key success factor.

    Conclusions:

    • Lift outs offer a strategic advantage for expanding companies when managed effectively.
    • A structured, four-stage approach is essential for successful team acquisition and integration.
    • Organizations must prioritize leadership alignment, operational synergy, and cultural assimilation for optimal outcomes.