Blended Corporate Mazes

Presenters:-Purnima MitraNidhi ChhibbarDarshana RaiAnita Sabui

Snippets of the case study

• Synergon Capital was a US based financial services company under the umbrella of Nick Cunningham.

• He never embraced the idea of Beauchamp acquisitioning his company.

• The company head hunted worthwhile acquisitions in the form of turnaround candidates emerging from small companies, with a powerful market stand, but mediocre in management.

• But Becker & Company, Beauchamp, a British based financial services company did not fit into the standards of acquisition slated by the company and particularly Nick.

• However, Nick’s boss J.J was adamant about Beauchamp acquisition and hoped for monetary gains.

• Beauchamp’s Long time Managing Director, Julian Mansfield was a strong player who could facilitate Synergon up the growth ladder.

• Nick, on his visits to London, witnessed a fairly stable Beauchamp operations, as compared to his own company Synergon Capital.

• Challenges grew deeper and deeper and the future of Synergon Capital became a towering QUESTION MARK???

Understanding the roots and its pillarsA little about Synergon:-

Owned a power packed team of performers Possessed a panel of ‘crack’ auditors and professionals Denoted terms like Neutron bombing, commando squads, war rooms, etc to their work styles Very tough and rigid work culture 24 X 7 defined their work pattern to achieve targeted deals Highly mechanized and business machine type work style Showed people the exit door within 12 months, which amounted to a turnover rate of 21%. Average tenure of Managers was 6 years The CEO of the company swore by the ‘Take no prisoners’ philosophy and emphasized on the “Go And

Get It At Any Cost” attitude onto the fresh recruits. Immune and Indifferent towards any obstacles hindering their way towards their targets. Never encouraged the process of learning

A little about Nick:- Competent by Nature Was against Beauchamp Acquisition. Showed a considerate side towards his subordinates. A true visionary who could foresee what could work well and against the company. Believed that Julian Mansfield could anchor the company powerfully, if on board.

A few more knowledge crumbs…A little about J.J:-

o Authoritative by natureo Laid the rules his way and expected his employees to work his way aloneo Never gave a listening ear to his subordinateso Over confident about the Beauchamp Acquisition and his monetary gains through it

A little about Beauchamp:-

A powerful workforce of 700 associates Surprisingly a stable company, with a powerful market stand and good market reputation Tenure of Managers were 21 years with experience People in the company have been working for more than a decade Very less attrition rate

A little about Julian Mansfield:- Long standing Managing Director of Beauchamp company Known and honored for his generosity His sound business sense and character earned him tons of respect from his company A true ‘Godfather’ of his professional world

• Cultural Mismatch spelt the biggest enticing web for acquisition.

• Synergon spent money on itself while imposing austerity measures on “Beauchamp” the acquired company, which could give rise to an implosion

• No concern for growth and only emphasized on retaining their loyal and wealthy client base

• Boasted about their Neutron Bombing strategy , sacking people and making them jobless

• Attrition/Turnover rate was more of Synergon compared to Beauchamp

• Never in favor of having Beauchamp in their professional journey

• Drastic changes will lead to very high resistance to change. Work styles need to be integrated and not clone its twin

What’s the Problem???

The problematic facets continue…

Synergon expected its culture to be uniform, which flickered flames of issues and differences

Synergon was trying to impose their method of functioning on Beauchamp

Synergon tried to tamper with the delicate balance that prevailed in a stable but mid-sized company like Beauchamp

Synergon also showcases Resistance to Change which portrays the elements of Shock, Denial, Awareness, Acceptance, Experimentation, Search and Integration

The Solution Mesh Synergon should have just acquired Beauchamp to provide finances for growth. The focus

should be on Synergon cross selling its own products to Beauchamp’s loyal customer base and attaining new clients for growth.

Reinstate the bonuses that were scrapped for the general staff of Beauchamp

Remove all the layers of approval and paperwork in the area of travel, credit to existing customers.

Treat the staff of Beauchamp with respect. The staff needs to be kept together intact so that they can continue on the road to success by doing what they have already been doing.

Instead of implementing cost cutting measures on Beauchamp, the austerity measures should be implemented on the staff and operations of Synergon

SHOCK

SEARCH

AWARENESS

ACCEPT

ANCE

EXPERIMENTATIO

N

DENIA

L

INTEGRATION

Riding of the ‘Resistance to Change’ Wagon by the Synergons

The Mesh Continues…

• Infuse capital to grow Beauchamp. Operations were never a problem for Beauchamp. They just needed more money to grow

• Change happens slowly. Therefore change must take its own course in time and merge the operating trends/styles of the two companies accordingly and only if possible

• Role Negotiation Technique can be thought upon, as not only does it focus its limelight upon problem solving, but also on empathy building

• Appreciative Inquiry can also feature as one of the ways and means in capitalizing the positive aspects, skills and focusing on productive and effective solutions

• Introspection and at the same time, gradual inclusion of new techniques and methods proves to be a worthwhile measure

On a Concluding Note…

All organizations have their own culture. Sometimes they differ a lot from our own and sometimes we can hardly notice them. At the same work, operational and functional differences have their own essence of importance in all organizational journeys.

According to a recent article published in Business Trends, it is said that organizations must value any kinds of diversity especially culture oriented in order to enhance organizational effectiveness. Diversities play an upper hand on factors like resource acquisition, creativity, marketing, problem identification, organizational flexibility and many more.

As per this case study, it is wise to stay away from the functionary of Beauchamp and instead concentrate on cross selling and providing finances for growth of business and existing clients. Introduction of new product lines could be one of the

effective techniques.