Vantaggi
Peers. I really enjoyed learning from and collaborating with peers across departments. There was a genuine vibe of helpfulness and friendliness in the (US) offices. Acceptance. Most American employees understood the Germans tolerated us simply because the US was far and away the largest revenue generating market. This acceptance helped us cope whenever an undeserving German manager was promoted over a more qualified American, Canadian, etc leader or manager. Resilient. The company has faced extinction in the past and is still here today. They’ve supported embarrassing movements during the 40s and 70s, but still remain one the most admired and profitable companies in the world.
Svantaggi
Monsanto. Legacy Monsanto = Smoke and mirrors. During the integration phase of the acquisition, Monsanto employees would seemingly always make disingenuous claims about having established policies or programs better than or on par with Bayer. (Yup you guessed it, was not normally true or just half truths). Made it difficult to believe anyone or anything from that company early on. Senior leadership. Honest, caring, and highly effective leaders left Bayer during and in the year after the deal closed. Some replaced by Germans, which was normal, but others succeeded by legacy Monsanto employees. Like I mentioned earlier, honesty was not a common virtue.