The Consultants free essay sample

The Consultants, failed in getting their clients to concede to the difference in thinking about the merger. Susan Barlows lack of experience in mergers coupled with Kelloggs ineptness in handling sticky situations led to the chaotic mess. The consultants considered everything that the CEO said, without asking any questions, or getting their doubts cleared. The biggest mistake they made was to never apply their critical thinking. Susan, in her initial briefing with Mr. Kellogg, did not apply her skills as a consultant. Though Kellogg seemed overconfident and patronizing, she discarded off his behavior as a typical entrepreneur turned CEO. She should have played the devils advocate to investigate others views in the merger and understand its need and importance. She should have been more pro-active and done her own bit of research and fact-finding. This would have given her better idea of whom to talk to.They also did not manage their time well. We will write a custom essay sample on The Consultants or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page They could have got more work done during the first week. They were far from being proactive or reactive with the appropriate actions. They obliged by the CEOs arrangement of interviews and did not ask questions about it. The situation went averse and unpleasant and they chose not to express or discuss these outcomes with the two bosses, not with the other employees that were contacted. All these indicate to her lack of expertise in mergers and inexperience with handling clients. The consultants should not have postponed the problem, instead they should have identified the core issue and effectively collaborated with the two companies with clear communication and understanding.2. Royce exhibits a skewed understanding of mergers. His limited involvement with the people of his firm, no exposure to a merger situation previously led to his misunderstanding about the complexities that emerged out of mergers. Royce believed that all post-merger work was complete despite important post-merger tasks like finalizing hierarchical levels, reporting structures, executive titles remained pending. Gray, on the other hand did not do any fact-finding to ascertain the progress of the merger and blindly believed his clients viewpoint. Gray here should have been present in person in the meetings and then report to Royce how important it was to complete the hierarchy and reporting issues before beginning with policies realignment. He could use research data on mergers to back this up.there is a discord in the new companys policies hence Royce should have made sure that everyone was on the same page, the team and management to maximize synergy between the two merging entities.3. Both the parties seem to be experiencing cognitive dissonance where there is a lack of trust that is driving both the parties. The first step I believe should be to bring in a merger expert. Reform the policies which would be centered between cutting costs and achieving a merit based organization rather than strictly keeping some policies and disregarding others. As a third party I would recommend both parties to improve communication to be on the same page.