There are a lot of issues behind the sale this week of the Tribune Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and a number of other newspapers and TV stations, to Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell, but the No. 1 issue in my book comes down to a culture clash.

Tribune’s acquisition of Times Mirror back in 2000 put it in a position where its longtime flagship property (the Chicago Tribune) was no longer Tribune’s top dog. The newly acquired Los Angeles Times was now Tribune’s largest (and best) newspaper, and its single largest source of revenue.

Problem was, Tribune Co. management never really gave the Times its due. Not only did it resist graciously acknowledging the Times’ achievements (13 Pulitzers in five years), but it also prodded and poked editors and managers in Los Angeles to manage their newspaper more like the Chicago Tribune. This didn’t sit well with the Times folks. Like Judea under the Romans, Los Angeles became the most troublesome and difficult province to govern in the Tribune empire. Eventually, something had to give—like a sale.

And at its core, this was a culture clash. The styles of two companies, Times Mirror and Tribune, never matched. The Los Angeles Times was never appreciated by Tribune management, and the newspaper staff took every opportunity to point this fact out. On the other side, Tribune never fully embraced Times Mirror as a respected and full member of the Tribune family.

Merging cultures is never easy, especially when the acquiring company isn’t as big or famous as the company being acquired. It’s rare when corporate ego doesn’t get in the way. And it’s rarer still when the acquiring company can subjugate itself to the greater good of the new company. Norwest did this in 1998 when it acquired Wells Fargo
and Co., a much more well-known bank. Norwest not only took on the name of the newly acquired company, but it moved its longtime corporate headquarters from Minneapolis to San Francisco. In addition, it put together a team to analyze the cultures of the two companies and to advise management how to avoid missteps. The new company won a 2005 Workforce Management Optimas Award (in the General Excellence category) for its efforts.

Tribune management was never able to check its ego or refashion the company in a way that made the Times and other new Tribune properties feel that they were part of a new and greater enterprise. It’s a lesson that others seeking mergers would do well to learn, but sadly most will fail to heed.