Discussion Post Response #2

<<< Replied to post below >>> Authored by: Amy Farrell Authored on: Sep 18, 2019 6:48 PM Subject: Discussion Week 1: Merger and Unit Integration Issues

Good evening,

If I was chosen to be the leader of a newly merged group, the first key issue would be working cooperatively with the other manager that was not chosen.  This can also be construed as the challenge if you did not get along before the merger.  Another key issue would be working with the other employees.  If some of the employees were loyal to you and some were loyal to the other manager, they could be some conflicts.  The conflicts would not be just between you and the employees but also between the employees themselves.  These can be both short and long term issues.  A possible opportunity could be learning different approaches from the other manager.  Say, the other manager was really good at finding ways to improve morale in the work team and you were good at solving problems.  The opportunity is there to learn something from each other. 

A few years back, I was part of a company merger.  The owner of our parent company decided he wanted to merge our metal stamping company with his plating company, due to some family conflicts.  Our company would remain the lead while others would have to help oversee the smaller company.  There were some conflicts due to the employees still at the smaller company but in a few months, they were able to see that we were going to help them.  I was in charge of the accounting for both companies and was given leeway in how to set everything up so that it was smoother for me.  My boss mainly wanted all the employees to feel that they were valued.  Looking back I believe my boss used supportive leadership and directive leadership.  Supportive leadership creates a good atmosphere for employees and looks at the needs of subordinates (Martin, 2012).  Directive leadership means making sure employees know the rules and what is expected of them (Martin, 2012).  By working together, we were able to keep the other company in operation and start making more profit.

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