Academic MBA Question:
Case Study: You are brought in as the new Director of HR for a company in the distribution industry which is the merger between Company A and Company B. Company A began as a family business which acquired several small companies over time. As a result of all of these acquisitions, the company was less standardized and more decentralized internally and was somewhat of a combination of cultures, to begin with.
The culture of Company A is quite varied. Some areas of the
company are focused on metrics and quality, others are focused on job
satisfaction and employee attitudes, and still, others are not focused on
either. Generally, the company strives to produce a range of high-quality
products and services, but the way that this occurs is unstructured throughout
the company. Company B was a large company which was standardized internally
with a strong culture surrounding processes and procedures. Company B has a
centralized structure with clear employee policies. Company B is focused on
quality control. They stress standardized processes and procedures across all
business units. They have a clear mission and goal that emphasizes one thing:
productivity. Company B has been successful with strategy monetarily, but its
employees are often overworked and overwhelmed. Both companies have fears
regarding losing desirable aspects of their current culture.
a. Discuss the role of strategic HR functions in Mergers and
Acquisitions?
b. What
strategy would you use to resolve the cultural differences between these two
organizations to create a new organization with a cohesive culture?
Academic Assignment Answer:
