It was a hot afternoon in Cairo on June

$2$

$3$

$,$

$1$

$9$

$9$

$8$

$$when Ahmed El Bakry, chairman and CEO of Olympic

Group

$($

OG

$)$

$,$

$$the white goods giant, was discussing with his top executives the effect of their acquisition

of IDEAL, a state

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owned home appliance company.

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The acquisition was a great step for us; however, we

need to get the best out of it

$,$

$$

$$explained El Bakry. It was one year after OG had acquired IDEAL, and still

the company had a lot of issues to be solved. Acquiring a state

$-$

owned firm was a challenge, but what was

more challenging was how to integrate two companies with different organizational structures, visions

and values.

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The most challenging issue to us

$,$

$$

$$El Bakry went on

$,$

$$

is to merge the employees of both

companies together. We want them to share the same culture, ideas and values.

$$

$$OG also needed to

change the IDEAL brand image from a state

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owned to a private

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owned company. Accordingly, within a

month, El Bakry had to decide whether to start by changing the IDEAL brand image or integrating the

employees of the two companies. He also had to consider how and when to integrate the employees

without affecting overall performance. What methods should he use to boost the employees

$$

$$productivity$,$

especially at IDEAL? What areas should be worked on in order to improve the IDEAL brand image

without affecting its market share? What changes in IDEAL products were required to sustain its

competitiveness and market share?