The scenario depicts the difficulties that arise when two companies merge and highlights the role conflicts employees face in such situations. Analyzing this case will generate a rich discussion of the issues involved in promoting the acceptance of change and managing a difficult change process.  

II. Learning Objectives

To assess students' understanding of change concepts and the challenges of change management.

To identify ways to decrease resistance to change.

To analyze and evaluate change leadership behaviors.

III. Scenario Description:

Overview: A national media communications company acquires a regional communications company. As a result of the merger the regional marketing department is re-organized, combining the staff of the two organizations. Our Manager is overseeing the restructuring process and is having a lot of difficulty with people shifting roles, sharing assignments and adapting to new hierarchies.

The manager meets with two department members who are very displeased with the new changes. The employees eventually ask the manager to leave the company and head a start-up - funding is already in place.

Profile:

Carlos Alarcon is the Vice President of Marketing at MediaWorld and manages a team of 120 people. MediaWorld recently acquired Franklin/Warner a regional company where Carlos has worked for 14 years. Carlos was a key player in organizing and managing this merger.

Rita Finch is the Associate Director of Advertising and has worked at Franklin/Warner for eight years. Since the merger, a second Associate Director of Advertising, Ronny Peters, has been moved into Rita's office suite. Over the course of their six months working together, Rita has found Peters insulting and uncommunicative.

Juan Rayes is the Creative Director and has worked at Franklin/Warner for seven years. Since the merger, a second Creative Director, Bill Jackson, has been moved into Juan's office suite. Like Rita, over the course of their six months working together, Juan has found Jackson uncooperative and deficient in his creative skills.

Back History: Alarcon, Rayes and Finch have been working together at MediaWorld for over eight years and have a very amicable working relationship. Since the merger, Finch and Rayes are now sharing their roles with two employees from the merger company, Jackson and Peters. They both perceive Jackson and Peters to be incompetent and a hindrance to the productivity of their departments. Each have different issues, complaining of arrogance, condescension, slacking, and poor communication skills, but at the root of the problem, they are furious that they are in essence working under people who are less experienced and less knowledgeable than they.

Scene Set-up: Alarcon is having check-in meetings with all of the employees in his department, to assess the progress of the reorganization since the merger took place.

Scene Location: Alarcon's Office, MediaWorld; 3:00pm Friday

The Meeting - Summary: Carlos apologizes for the delay in meeting and asks them to share their feelings. Rita and Juan complain that their new counterparts are difficult to work with and they are very dissatisfied with their roles and their jobs in the new organization. Carlos says that they need to work out the personal issues on their own. Juan and Rita both indicate that they don't see a future and are ready to quit. They insinuate that they would like Carlos to leave with them so they can work together "on their own". Carlos firmly rejects this offer and, while he admits the transformation is difficult, he says he plans to stay focused to make it work.

Afterthoughts - Summary: Carlos is concerned about Rita's and Juan's actions before they leave. He wants to protect company property and clients because he is sure that they will leave the organization sooner or later. He did not think that it was ethical for them to approach him about leaving the organization with them - especially in the workplace. He is concerned that they indicated that many people are unhappy and admits that he needs to ensure the communication channels are open so that he can prevent further turnover. Carlos suggests that he would have tried harder to keep them if he didn't think their minds weren't already made up. While he hates to lose this talent, the merger plan accounted for some turnover to occur.

What strategy would be the most effective in merging these company's organizational cultures? Provide justification for your answer based on information from the scenario.