Making a corporate marriage work. B

Making a corporate marriage work.
By Stefan Stern

Bringing two companies together is an enormous task, as executives at Procter & Gamble and Gillette, the consumer goods giants that announced a deal last month, will now be discovering. There are grand, big- picture questions that need to be resolved, such as the new group's strategy and direction. There are also administrative, logistical and technical challenges. Will new contracts of employment be required? Where should the headquarters of the combined operation be located? How can the companies' information technology systems be integrated?

"It takes a certain humility to make a merger work," says Charles Hampden-Turner, co-author of Building Cross-cultural Competence. "It doesn't follow that your company is a better one simply because it has taken another company over. It just means that you've got more money and have been prepared to pay," he says.

Work on bringing the partners together should start well before the deal becomes public knowledge. But how can executives start planning integration without the news leaking out? Some use a so-called "clean room", where trusted counter-parties to a deal can meet and discuss future plans confidentially. Computer manufacturers Hewlett-Packard and Compaq, for example, adopted this approach in their $25bn (£13. 3bn) merger.

Speed is of the essence. Roger Pudney of the UK's Ashridge business school says: "There is often a tendency for companies to relax once the deal is signed, but this is precisely the point at which speed of implementation becomes crucial. Successful M&A companies stress the importance of quick wins as a way of demonstrating that the new combination is already producing added value. "

HP and Compaq ran a series of "Fast Start" seminars for their staff as soon as the deal was announced, to provide reassurance and a sense of direction - seminars that had been planned in advance in the clean room. Offering employees detailed information is essential at the early stage. An internal human resources website set up for HP and Compaq staff received 2m hits on the day the merger was unveiled.

Managers will inevitably be occupied with practical, administrative changes, such as establishing new terms and conditions and pushing through any redundancies. Yet dealing with the cultural issues in a merger is more subtle and challenging. And when things go wrong in this context they can go wrong very quickly.

Michelle Bligh, a professor at Claremont Graduate University, California, has suggested measures leaders should take to avoid the worst consequences of mergers. After studying a merger of health organisations in the US, Prof Bligh advised leaders to avoid taking a dictatorial, top-down approach or micro-managing the transition. They need to respond as the new situation demands, she says, and must "help followers negotiate, modify and even manipulate cultural similarities and differences in the post-merger environment".

Prof Bligh identifies a few simple ground rules. Managers should recognise cultural differences between the companies, for example, by learning about the history of the new partner. They should give employees reasons why change is necessary, and find practical ways of communicating. As one manager told her: "When you sit down and start showing employees the nitty-gritty, you get buy-in a lot quicker. "

Symbolism matters too. "Instead of making great speeches," Dr Hampden-Turner suggests, "why not start acting differently and providing a lead that way? Words are too easy, but actions will be noticed. " Even apparently mundane gestures can count. Discussing employees' new working conditions and being visible on the "shop floor", for example, may reassure staff that management has an interest in their well-being. One manager in Prof Bligh's study said: "We have to start with the little things: they really matter to people. "

How do the most successful acquirers handle the process of merger integration? General Electric, the US engineering conglomerate, has made more than 400 acquisitions in the past 20 years. But it is still learning how to make these deals work better. When GE bought Amersham, the UK bioscience company, in 2003 for $9bn, it made a big effort to reassure the acquired business that it would not be steam-rollered.

Talk of a revival in merger and acquisitions activity is on the rise. Investment bankers and management consultants are once again seeking out potential deals and making flattering noises as they lead candidates to the altar. But marriages succeed or fail in the years following the wedding. Even before the hangover has worn off, the hard work has to begin.

From The Financial Times

Результаты (баскский) 1:

Korporatiboa ezkontza lan bat egitea.
Stefan Stern By bi enpresa hurbiltzea elkarrekin zeregin handia da, Procter & Gamble eta Gillette at exekutiboak bezala, kontsumo-ondasunak erraldoiak akordio bat iragarri zuen joan den hilabetean, egingo dira ezagutzeko. Grand, big- irudi galdera ebatzi behar duten, hala nola, talde berriaren estrategia eta norabidea daude. Erronka administratiboak, logistiko eta teknikoak ere badaude. Enpleguaren kontratuak berriak behar dira? Non eragiketa konbinatuak egoitzan egon beharko luke? Nola egin dezaket enpresen informazio teknologia sistemak integratuta? "Apaltasuna jakin bat hartzen du fusioa lan bat egiteko", dio Charles Hampden-Turner, co-egilearen Eraikuntzako Cross-cultural Gaitasunaren. "Hori ez da zure enpresaren hobe bat baino gehiago da beste enpresa hartu du, besterik gabe, delako da. Besterik ez du esan duzula got diru gehiago eta dute ordaindu behar dira", dio. Bazkide bildu behar lan egin hasten baita akordio ezagutza publikoa bihurtzen aurretik. Baina nola exekutiboak hasten integrazioa albiste leaking gabe plangintza? Batzuk llamado "gela garbi" bat, non fidagarria akordio bat kontrako alderdiek bete eta etorkizuneko planak eztabaidatzeko isilpekotasunez erabili. Computer fabrikatzaile Hewlett-Packard eta Compaq, adibidez, planteamendu hau onartu beren $ 25bn (£ 13. 3bn) fusioa. Abiadura esentzia da. Roger Erresuma Batuko Ashridge negozio eskola Pudney dio: "Ez dago sarritan enpresek erlaxatu akordio sinatu da behin joera bat, baina hau da, hain zuzen ere, puntu horretan ezartzeko abiadura funtsezkoa bihurtzen arrakastatsua M & A enpresek azpimarratu bezala azkarreko garrantzia. . konbinaketa berria dagoeneko balio erantsia ekoizten da frogatzeko modu bat " HP eta Compaq ran serie bat" Fast Start "langileentzako mintegiak aurre iragarri bezain laster, lasaitasun eta norabidea zentzu bat emateko - mintegi hori izan aldez aurretik planifikatutako gela zurian. Langile eskainiz informazio zehatza ezinbestekoa ere hasieran dago. Barneko giza baliabideak webgune bat sortu HP eta Compaq langileek jaso 2m egunean fusioa inauguratu zen hits. Zuzendariak ezinbestean egon praktikoa, administrazio-aldaketak, hala nola, termino eta baldintza berriak ezarri eta edozein redundancies bidez bultzaka bezala okupatu. Hala ere, kultura-gaietako fusioa ere sotilagoak eta erronka da. Eta gauzak joan Testuinguru honetan oker oker joan ahal izango dute oso azkar. Michelle Bligh, Claremont lizentziatua University, California irakaslea, iradoki du neurriak hartu behar liderrak fusioak ondorioak txarrena saihesteko. Osasun AEBetan erakundeen arteko fusioa ikasi ondoren, Prof Bligh aholkatu liderrak diktatoriala, goitik beherako hurbilketa bat edo trantsizioa mikro-kudeaketan hartzen saihesteko. , Egoera-eskaera berriei erantzun behar dute, adierazi du, eta behar "laguntzeko jarraitzaile negoziatu, aldatu eta are kultur antzekotasunak eta desberdintasunak manipulatzeko post-fusioa ingurunean". Prof Bligh erraz batzuk lurrean arauak identifikatzen. Zuzendariak enpresen arteko desberdintasunak kulturalak aitortu behar da, adibidez, bikotekide berriak historiari buruz ikasiz. Langile arrazoiak eman behar dute zergatik aldaketa beharrezkoa da, eta komunikatzeko era praktikoa aurkitu. Manager bat bere esan bezala: "Noiz eseri eta langileen nitty-gritty erakutsiz hasten zara, erosi-in asko azkarrago lortuko duzu." Sinbolismoa ere garrantzitsua da. "Horren ordez hitzaldiak handia egiteko," Dr Hampden-Turner iradokitzen, "zergatik ez hasteko ezberdinean jarduten eta beruna duten modu emateko? Hitz errazegia dira, baina ekintza nabaritu egingo da." Nahiz eta itxuraz eguneroko keinuak tantoak. Langileen lan baldintza berriak eztabaidatzea eta ikusgarri egoteko du "denda solairuan", adibidez, langileen lasaitzea daiteke kudeaketa beren ongizatea interesa du. Manager One Prof Bligh en azterketa ere esan zuen: "Gauza txiki batekin hasi behar dugu: jendea benetan axola dute." Nola arrakasta gehien eskuratzaile fusioa integrazio prozesua kudeatzeko? General Electric, AEBetako ingeniaritza konglomeratua, 400 baino gehiago eskuraketak egin du azken 20 urteotan. Baina oraindik ere nola jorratzen horiek lan hobea egiten ikastea da. GE erosi Noiz Amersham, Erresuma Batuko biozientzien enpresa, 2003 $ 9bn da, ahalegin handia egin zuen, eskuratutako enpresa litzateke ez dela lurrun-rollered izan lasaitzea egin da. Fusioa eta erosketak jarduera berpizte baten Eztabaida gorakada da. Inbertsioa bankariak eta kudeaketa-aholkularitza dira berriro ere bilatzen balizko eskaintza eta flattering zarata egiten aldarera hautagai gisa eramaten dute. Baina ezkontzen arrakasta edo urteetan huts ezkontza jarraituz. Ajea du gastatu off aurretik ere, lan gogorra hasteko. Du Financial Times