Challenge
When three former Bell System Companies merged into a fully separate
subsidiary that would build and manage the backbone network for
the 14 – state telecommunications company, the newly appointed
president and senior management team faced a unique and difficult
challenge. Each of these divisions had distinct cultures with significantly
different operating systems and organization structures. In addition,
it was clear that one of these Bell Companies had landed the majority
of the officer positions and was seen as having “won” the
battle for leadership. This led to a very competitive environment
across the newly formed operating subsidiary and resistance to
change within the management team. Nonetheless, the team was tasked
with completing the merger, achieving economies of scale, implementing
a common technology and improving performance while continuing
to deliver services to manage and upgrade the backbone network – in
short, achieve a smooth integration and formation of the subsidiary.
Solution
Gain Alignment of a High Performance Leadership Team – For
Network One’s integration to be successful, it would first
need to establish a high performance leadership team that could
manage the day-to day – business, quickly evaluate and
draw on the strengths of each division and come to an agreement
on one common technology. The initial task was to complete a
senior management teambuilding process. Doing so allowed team
members to overcome their resistance to change and create alignment
to creating a vision and merger integration plan that the team
would be committed to implementing throughout the organization.
In addition, senior managers received on-going executive coaching
to improve their leadership effectiveness during this period
of significant change.
Envision the Future – Once the senior management team
gained alignment on its direction, the next step was to host
Organizational Vision Conferences for the entire leadership team
of Network One. These were one-day conferences that included
continued focus on overcoming the resistance to change that most
members were experiencing. They were also highly participative
involving leaders in the development of a common vision for the
organization. This resulted in a significant increase in trust
and engagement by all members of the leadership team. In addition,
there now existed a common vision that the entire leadership
team was committed to achieving.
Conduct Organizational Re-Design – Based on a need for
a new organization structure, an organization re-design process
was completed engaging the majority of the leadership team members
across the region. Within three months Network One had a new
fully staffed structure. To increase employee productivity within
this re-designed structure, new team start-up processes were
carried out at the functional unit levels.
Results
With the help of Martin Marquardt’s services, Network One
exceeded corporate expectations in every area including:
• Merger Integration – The original time line called
for full integration at the end of the first year of operation.
This was accomplished in just six months.
• Innovation Delivery – The parent company expected
the new backbone network to be designed and delivered at the
end of the second year. It was delivered at the end of the first
year.
• Day-to-Day Service – All service – level
commitments were met while accomplishing the integration.
• Cost Reduction – Network One exceeded the cost
saving targets established by the parent company.
This success was achieved by overcoming people’s resistance
to change and by engaging them in the creation of the new subsidiary.
Not only did Network One achieve its integration goals, it built
a high performance culture that sustained this level of performance
for several years. This case illustrates the benefits of building
a leadership team’s capacity to lead change and the power
of engaging people in setting, planning and achieving common
goals. |
