Every PE Portfolio Hits These Workflow Problems After Acquisition

Post-acquisition value creation plans often assume operational improvement is a matter of rolling out best practices.

In reality, portfolios struggle for a simpler reason:

core workflows are inconsistent across companies, and inconsistency compounds.

After watching many post-close initiatives slow down, the same workflow problems show up repeatedly.

These are patterns, not anecdotes.

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Pattern 1: The Same Workflow Exists in Multiple Versions

Across portfolio companies, the “same” process is executed differently:

• AP approval thresholds vary
• onboarding steps differ by team
• reporting definitions drift
• exceptions are handled ad hoc

Even inside one company, execution differs by person.

This makes standardization hard because there is no shared contract for how work should flow.

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Pattern 2: Approvals and Controls Are Invisible

Approvals often live in:

• email threads
• internal chats
• spreadsheets

Controls exist, but they’re not structured.

Operating partners can’t see:

• what is blocked
• why it is blocked
• how long it has been blocked
• what exceptions are accumulating

The portfolio becomes dependent on local heroes.

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Pattern 3: Reporting Is Slow Because the Upstream Work Is Unreliable

Most portfolio reporting pain is not a BI problem. It’s an execution problem.

When workflows are inconsistent:

• data definitions differ
• reconciliation becomes manual
• reporting becomes a monthly fire drill

You can standardize dashboards. But if the workflows that generate the underlying data remain unstable, comparability never holds.

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Pattern 4: “Tool Rollouts” Create Resistance

After an acquisition, teams are already under load.

When transformation is framed as:

• new tools
• new dashboards
• new requirements

…without redesigning day-to-day workflows, adoption suffers.

People don’t resist change. They resist unreliable systems that increase work.

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Pattern 5: Integration Efforts Stall at Exceptions

Integration work is dominated by exceptions:

• system mismatches
• policy differences
• missing data
• process variants

If exception handling isn’t designed explicitly, integration becomes open-ended.

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What Works at Portfolio Scale

The portfolios that move fastest share a different approach:

• standardize workflows as repeatable patterns
• keep local adaptation controlled (without breaking the core contract)
• treat approvals and exceptions as first-class steps
• create a shared execution layer that preserves auditability
• scale what is proven, not what is promised

The goal is not uniformity. The goal is repeatable reliability.

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How This Connects to RoboHen

RoboHen is built for repeatability:

• workflow definitions become the execution contract
• approvals and accountability stay explicit
• exceptions are governed
• execution remains observable across teams or companies

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