THE CLIENT
Mylab is a leading Nordic provider of healthcare laboratory and diagnostic information systems. In 2021, the company acquired Swedish-Danish Autonik AB as part of its ambition to strengthen its position across the Nordic market.
Financially, the acquisition had been successful. But three years later, the organisation was still operating largely as two separate companies. Teams worked mainly within their existing markets, collaboration across countries remained limited, and the ambition of becoming one Nordic Mylab had not yet translated into everyday behaviour.
The leadership team faced a strategic question that could not be solved by changing structures or communications alone:
How could Mylab turn an acquisition into a genuinely shared organisation and unlock the business potential of operating as one Nordic company?
THE WORK
Co-founders began by interviewing employees and leaders across Finland, Sweden and Denmark to understand how the organisation was experienced from different parts of the business. Rather than treating the challenge primarily as a branding exercise, we looked for the assumptions, loyalties and organisational boundaries that were keeping the two companies apart.
The interviews revealed both strong common ground and important differences in how people understood the company, its future and their own role within it. These insights gave the leadership team a clearer picture of what needed to change for the Nordic strategy to become real in practice.
We then brought people from across the organisation together to explore what one Mylab could mean beyond a shared name. Through a series of facilitated working sessions, employees and leaders shaped a common direction for the organisation, identified practical barriers to closer collaboration and translated the emerging thinking into concrete actions.
The work included the articulation of a shared company narrative and Employee Value Proposition, but these were not treated as ends in themselves. They became tools for making the wider strategic transition visible and actionable across markets, teams and customer-facing activities.
WHAT CHANGED
The process helped Mylab move from seeing integration primarily as a post-acquisition branding task towards understanding it as an organisational and strategic transformation.
A shared Mylab narrative was created that incorporated the history and strengths of both organisations. More importantly, cross-country collaboration began to increase in areas directly connected to the business. Teams started working more closely on tender proposals, business development opportunities and internal development initiatives.
The work also created a clearer foundation for Mylab’s ambition to operate and be recognised as a Nordic company rather than a collection of national businesses.
“Co-founders’ positive yet challenging approach helped us to infuse the essential and focus on that.”
Hannu Honkala, Chief Commercial Officer, Mylab