Horizontal mergers
Horizontal mergers have always been a little difficult to implement because of the existing history between the firms that have been brought together. Taking the firms in the case study, it is evident that the firms did not have a smooth transition, and this has been a source of problems within the newly formed organization. There are several reasons as to why the remaining employees are not excited and motivated to work in the new environment, and they include group favouritism, lack of trust and communication and the absence of organizational expectation and norms. There is a lot of group favouritism which comes from the firm that was more dominant in the market because the employees of the dominant firm feel that they are superior to the other employees and need to retain their unique culture. The reason for any merger is to form a larger and much stronger business organization. However, in this case, there is also of in-group and out-group favouritism that beats the purpose of having the horizontal merger. There is a lack of trust and open communication within the new firm, and such a situation significantly reduces the efficiency and level of productivity of the remaining employees. This arises mainly because the two firms were competitors in the industry, and the employees are now finding it hard to trust each other because of their previous rivalry. The remaining employees are not motivated because there is a lack of vision and guidance from the management as a result of failing to establish the norms and expectations of the newly formed organization.
There are several strategies that can be implemented as a way of trying to get all the employees to work together as a team. The first step is to try to establish clear channels of communication, whereby everybody can air the views and opinions. Face to face communication is important because it brings the employees together (Kennedy & Brewer, 2016). The next thing is to create a platform where every employee feels comfortable whenever they want to voice their concerns about the newly formed business organization. By creating an avenue through which all employees can provide feedback without fear of retaliation from other employees, a culture of open and friendly communication will start to grow and eventually fostering trust between the employees who came from different firms. It is also important that the new management of the firm collects employee feedback on the activities and operations of the organization as well as engaging the employees in the process of making decisions that concern them.
The best way of creating a good culture for the organization is by communicating the vision and mission of the organization to all stakeholders of the organization so that all parties are focused on achieving the vision (Jain & Jain, 2013). It is also important to set goals and targets for the short term and long term periods as a way of showing the progress that the organization is making. The management should also put emphasis on the wellness and wellbeing of employees as a way of showing the organization cares about its employees. The solution to tackling group favouritism is by actively listening to one another and offering constructive feedback which will allow all employees to grow and develop at the workplace (Li, 2020). Switching management teams will also show that all employees are equal when it comes to being selected from management positions. After implementing the above solutions, the organization’s employees are bound to become excited and motivated to work together.
References
Jain, A. K., & Jain, S. (2013). Understanding organizational culture and leadership-enhance efficiency and productivity. Pranjana: The Journal of Management Awareness, 16(2), 43-53.
Kennedy, L., & Brewer, G. (2016). Creative methodologies to enhance communication. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 44(1), 35-42.
Li, S. X. (2020). Group Identity, Ingroup Favoritism, and Discrimination. Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics, 1-28.