When organizations undergo mergers and acquisitions, some processes must by necessity fall by the wayside as their energy goes into ensuring a successful transition. However, management must maintain momentum in the meantime. If either of the base businesses suffers, then the future of the new company will be at risk.Typically, a CEO needs to spend the majority of his or her time focused on existing customers and on maintaining momentum by encouraging close monitoring, setting targets, and providing incentives. Altogether, about 90 percent of the employees of both organizations should be focused on maintaining the baseline and communicating to customers and stakeholders as to what to expect as the transition takes place. Bundling communications to both parties in the same package can boost confidence all around by keeping the message consistent. Metrics to keep an eye on during integration include employee retention, sales leads, and call center volume. By following these metrics closely, companies can preempt issues to ensure that the business of both companies remains stable following the transition.
A management system developed by Richard Kaplan and David Norton, the balanced scorecard methodology is fundamentally a value-based management philosophy. The approach highlights four specific elements of success. A company can advance its vision and strategy by focusing on these four elements, which must be carefully balanced with each other.The first is the financial perspective, which asks how the company should appear to shareholders to continue garnering support. Included in this perspective is traditional financial data. The second is the customer perspective, which focuses on how customers perceive the company and the image that it wants to portray. Companies need to focus on customer satisfaction to achieve success.The third element is the internal business perspective. Shareholders have certain expectations, and it is important to identify the business processes involved in meeting them. The final element is the learning and growth perspective, as leaders must figure out how to sustain change and improve over time. Employee training is vital for success in this area. This perspective also involves creating a supportive corporate culture.
In his two decades of experience, media strategist and executive Ehab Al Shihabi has worked as a consultant to major international corporations, media organizations, and cable networks. Currently an advisor to the director general of Al Jazeera Media Network, he accepted his first position with the company in 2006 and went on to serve as a driving force behind the establishment of Al Jazeera America. Ehab Al Shihabi has also served as Al Jazeera’s executive director of international operations with responsibility for overseeing the work of dozens of news bureaus. Today, Mr. Al Shihabi also holds a senior fellowship with the Edward R. Murrow Center for a Digital World at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. The Center’s namesake, one of the most noted American journalists of the 20th century, is perhaps best remembered for his dramatic live broadcasts as a witness to history during the years of World War II. Mr. Murrow, who died shortly after his 57th birthday in 1965, was widely renowned as a courageous and outspoken defender of free speech. He even took on Senator Joseph McCarthy by issuing a report dedicated to exposing the anti-Communist politician’s questionable tactics during the “Red Scare” years of the 1950s.Mr. Murrow hosted the television program Person to Person for seven years before accepting President John F. Kennedy’s appointment as director of the United States Information Agency in 1961.
