An international IT company supplying desktops and laptops both direct to businesses and through retail outlets, had acquired a high-end server provider. The staff of the two companies did not get on well together and there was a bad atmosphere around the office. Even worse, customers had begun to complain that they were receiving mixed messages about what the company was seeking to do. The new, enthusiastic Chief Executive had a very clear strategy but this had not been well communicated to his team and was not accepted by some of them. We were asked to find out what the problems were and suggest ways of resolving them.

A Shared Future?
An international IT desktop and laptop company headquartered in continental Europe had made what was regarded as a strategic acquisition in order to provide total solutions to business customers. The acquisition was a company offering high-end servers to large corporate clients. There was some resentment on the part of those who had been acquired: they were used to multi-million contracts won on the back of long-term client relationship building, whereas the acquiring company was based around one-off transactions, or as the CEO described it: “shifting tin”

Our brief
We were given free rein to talk to anyone in the organisation on a confidential basis and to report back our findings and recommendations to the Chief Executive. The whole exercise had to be completed within a couple of weeks.

How we did it
We reviewed copies of the organisation structures and brief CVs of the senior management of both companies. We interviewed all of them on a confidential basis using a structured questionnaire. The discussions were confidential and the final report was anonymised. We uncovered a good deal of unhappiness in these interviews. There was no love lost between the staff of the two companies and the new Chief Executive did not have the complete trust of his staff. In addition to the difficulties between the two companies there were a number of long-standing issues in the acquiring company which had not been resolved, including demarcation lines between sales and technical staff, and lack of transparency in career structures. Everyone took the opportunity to bend our ears! We were able to prepare a comprehensive report for the Chief Executive prioritising the issues which needed to be addressed and suggesting how that might be done.

What Happened?
It was obvious that the two businesses were very different and that needed to be reflected in the organisation structure. The opportunity was also taken to create career structures for technical and sales staff removing some of the friction between them. Once he had his top team in place the Chief Executive held an off-site meeting with them to explain and seek buy-in to his strategy. Team briefings were then held to roll out the strategy to the rest of the staff. A handful of staff who found it impossible to support the strategy were helped to leave the company with proper support and advice. The atmosphere in the office was noticeably different, customer complaints decreased and the Chief Executive had won the respect of his organisation by tackling their problems head-on.