Business Transformation is based on Consensus not Conflict

Business Transformation, Working across Cultural Boundaries

Companies committing to business transformation enjoy the benefits of adapting quickly to changes in the marketplace.  Business Transformation, rightsizing, re-engineering, restructuring and rethinking strategy are all components that lead to the need to innovate.

Change becomes the Culture

The simplest method for preparing and assessing one's readiness for such large scale change is to build the culture from the inside out. 

There is no fast solution.  There's no point flying in highly paid consultants to drive the required cultural change, because if they don't integrate change into the culture right from the start, then business transformation will only ever be regarded as fad or flavour of the month. 

Relying wholly on external consultants can halt your change agenda.  As soon as they leave, so your culture change will lose  momentum. 

To have lasting change requires a different mindset.  Sustainability and implementation are only real outcomes when you create a culture that is ready for, and can accommodate, change from the inside out.

Building a strong team of internal consultants has to be the only strategy that will work.  And no, they don't report to HR!  but to the line where they are most valuable

Just suppose that you could convert your top managers into real active masters of change.  What impact would that have on your effectiveness, your speed of response and the bottom line?

Internal Consulting

The strategy is simple.  Build the culture from the inside out, using line managers and team leaders.  Just imagine what you could achieve if you could improve the present skills of your existing managers by  20%. 

Now imagine we could reschedule their mindset to completing their role but also to fulfilling the ability to manage your change agenda.

Change Champions

I work with your management team to devise a strategy to work with staff who you would identify as change champions.  Working with these people  will convert those 'early adapters' within your business to demonstrate the same enthusiasm as the Change Champions. 

We continue this process working through the different levels of commitment to change.  We  bring on board the whole of the middle management and the team leaders, and equip them with the requisite skills to deal with the variety of changes that will impact your business.

This change strategy supports the sustainable agenda for continuous transformation.

	Merging a Cocktail of Business & national Cultures

Working Across Geographic and National Boundaries

When working with several companies who are about or in the process of merging their interests in terms of merger or a JV there is an interesting juxtaposition of which culture will lead the business.

Which Culture should predominate?

The answer to the problem is neither culture - that is unless the stronger partner really does have a dominant high performance culture that will take the newly merged business to the next level of exceptional delivery to shareholders.

No integeration results in a Cocktail of Cultures

The usual response is a cocktail of cultures or a mess with no business taking charge and ultimately a poor integration of two cultures will emerge with the casualty being the new business entity which is supposedly the 'star' of the integration.

Needless to say, most dealmakers focus on reducing overheads, streamlining logistics and distribution, rationalising products and services, cutting headcount and disposing of poorly performing business units and assets and reducing middle and senior management to focus energies for the future.

Focus is on IT systems working, preferred supplier networks and paying everyone on time.  The dealmakers are so busy getting this right they forget about the fabric that holds the business togther - the business culture.

Did you know that between 56-80% of mergers never achieve the synergies for which the merger was intended purely because little attempt was focused on post acquisition integration for the new business entity.

No one wonder so many shareholder groups are wary of large takeovers.  It companies like RBS and GE who seem to have got the formula right with few emulaters practising their skills.

Okay, that's Difficult - what about across Geographic Boundaries?

Now, consider this position - but factor in a cross border merger where two or more businesses come together from a number of diverse geographies.  How do you integrate them?  The response with extreme caution!

It's critical that the OD specialist has a depth of understanding of working with international cultures.  But there is a problem here.  Don't believe the obvious truth which is believing that all one Nationality portray the same traditions, beliefs, attitudes etc and band react in the same manner.

Its difficult enough in the greater UK & Eire where we have the UK, Northern Ireland (UK), Wales, Scotland.  Eire is not part of the UK but joint ventures and agreements  and JV's between various companies in Eire and the UK create some interesting dynamics.  Who would have thought that - especailly when we apparantly share the same language!

Genesis Consulting and Stena Line Integration

I was lucky enough as a member of Genesis Consulting to work with Stena Line, when they purchased Sealink.  That work involved regular travel, business and integration meetings and workshopsbetween the UK, Scotland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belguim, the Netherlands, France and the Eastern countries such as Estonia, Russia etc.

Cross Border Mergers require Soft Due Diligence

That was an interesting integration with working practises varying widely between each country even theough they were members of the same business.  So it is no surprise to find that cross merger integrations are quite complex and require a great deal of consensus seeking and testing of understanding between cultures and their management teams.

It does not mean that the merger will not work - just that you have to put alot more energy into the process than you would uniting two businesses from the same country.