When the integration stalled, the strategy wasn't the problem

THIS IS AN EXAMPLE. Replace it with a real case study, or delete the file once you have your own. It is written in the SPG Advisory voice so it doubles as a template for tone and structure. The text above the line (between the --- marks) is the “frontmatter”: the structured fields that appear on the listing page. Everything below is the case study itself.

The situation

The deal logic held on paper. Two payments businesses, complementary footprints, a synergy case the board could defend. Six months after completion, the integration was behind, and the explanations had started: systems were harder to join than expected, the market had moved, the teams needed more time.

What we found

None of those explanations was wrong. None of them was the cause. The cause was that the synergy case had quietly assumed a set of organisational conditions that did not exist: two operating cultures that trusted each other’s judgement, a shared definition of what “done” meant, and a decision-making rhythm that survived the merger. The strategy was sound. The conditions for executing it had never been built.

The work

We mapped where execution was actually breaking, separated from where it merely felt uncomfortable, and put that in front of the leadership team without softening it. The uncomfortable conclusion (that the integration plan had been costed for a company that did not yet exist) was one they reached themselves, because the evidence made it unavoidable.

The outcome

Replace this section with the specific, measurable result of a real engagement. Keep it concrete and keep it honest; a precise number you can stand behind does more than a confident adjective you can’t.