The Endocrine Society’s merger with an academic group ends a “transactional” relationship, allowing it to better focus on its mission.
On July 30, the Endocrine Society announced that it was merging with the Association of Program Directors in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism (APDEM). On the surface, this seems like a simple arrangement: The leading umbrella organization in a medical field brings in a smaller group working in the same area. But as with many mergers, the reality is more complicated.
Endocrine Society CEO Kate Fryer, CAE, explains that the society has had a long relationship with APDEM, effectively serving as an AMC for it since 1998. But over time, that relationship became more of a pain point than a source of unity. “It had moved into a place that was more transactional—we were having conversations about how many hours staff were spending on this job [of administering APDEM], and how much we were charging,” she says. “It ended up taking conversations away from being about our groups working together, on getting our shared missions accomplished.”
Fryer shared a few ideas about what made the Endocrine Society-APDEM merger worth the effort, and which may apply to associations considering a merger discussion of its own.
Conversations start around the question of, What are we trying to achieve? Let’s blue-sky what the world could look like if we came together.
Endocrine Society CEO Kate Fryer, CAE
Know your purpose going in. Endocrinology has a pipeline problem: Demand for specialists in the field outstrips the number of doctors working in it. The two organizations are both invested in speeding and widening the pipeline, which made the merger discussions easier. “Because APDEM’s focus is on training the next generation of endocrinologists, we felt like this is exactly the partnership to help drive that conversation into a really more transformative space, as opposed to sort of incremental stuff that both organizations have been doing,” Fryer says. “We’re envisioning a world where we can drive many more people into the pipeline.”
Start with trust-building. The process from initial merger discussions to final announcement took two years. Patience with any merger discussion is essential, and Fryer says she’s found that discussions with APDEM succeeded when board leaders across the two groups, rather than staff leaders, led the sensitive conversations. “We’ve found that it works best when it is member leader to member leader for that first outreach,” she says. “Those conversations really start around the question of, What are we trying to achieve? Let’s blue-sky what the world could look like if we came together.”
Respect autonomy. Though the organizations have merged, APDEM maintains its own board, and the Endocrine Society deferred to APDEM leadership on how to approve the merger on its end. The merger was approved by the board, which was required by its bylaws. But APDEM also took the question to its membership, which wasn’t. “It wasn’t a legally binding vote, but it gave them a lot of comfort that their membership was behind this decision,” Fryer says. “And that vote was near-unanimous.”
Recruit for a merger mindset. Like a lot of medical disciplines, endocrinology has a host of subfields and associations representing them, and Fryer says the Endocrine Society is looking for ways beyond the APDEM merger to better connect with them. That may involve mergers, but not necessarily. Regardless, Fryer says she is mindful that good relationship-building starts with board members who are open to building those bridges. “Our nominating committee has been incredibly focused on partnerships and a strategy of not trying to go out into the world to compete with our sibling and partner societies,” she says. “Rather, we want to look at how we can partner, and that skill set has been one of their focuses.”
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