知识共享案例.docx

知识共享案例.docx

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知识共享案例

GoochWebster;inthewakeofmerger

“Weareaknowledgebusiness,althoughweprobablydonotrecogniseit.Everydaywelearn,everydayweresearch,everydayweimprovethevalueofknowledgecapitalinthefirm.Weaspiretobealearningorganisation,andwithresourceswemightachievethis.”

ColinManders,Director-GoochWebsterandazealousenthusiastofchange.

1.1Introduction

GoochWebsterwasformedinMay1998fromthemergeroftwoothercharteredsurveyingandpropertyconsultingcompanies

GoochWebsterisanindependentcompanyofcharteredsurveyorsandpropertyconsultantsformedon1stMay1998bythemergeroftwoothersurveyingpractices:

Gooch&Wagstaff（G&W）andJ.Trevor&Webster（JT&W）.Bothpracticeshavealonganddistinguishedhistorydatingbacktothelastcentury.Today,GoochWebsterisamongstthetop20surveyingpracticesintheUKwithover170feeearnersandasupportstaffof100who,amongthemgenerateover£17mworthofbillings.

GoochWebsterdeliverspropertysurveyingandconsultingservicesthroughsixseparatebuthighlyinterconnecteddivisions（Exhibit1）.Thefirmdealsmostlywithcommercialclients,andthenatureofpropertymayvaryfromindustrial,retailtoofficespace.ThefirmhasnineofficesallovertheUK（Exhibit2）.

1.1.1TheMerger

ColinMandersexplainsthemotivationbehindthemerger:

“TheclientbaseofG&WandJT&Whadincreasedrapidlyoverthelastfewyears.Boththecompaniesfelttheneedformoreexpertiseandmorepeople.Theexpertisesetofthetwoorganisationscomplementedeachotherverywell.Secondlythetwoorganisationswereaverygoodgeographicalfit.Hencemergerwasawin-winsituationforbothG&WandJT&W.”

ThepeopleatGoochWebsterbelievethatthemergerinMay1998broughttogethertwocompaniesthatwerewellmatchedonpaperbutverydifferentinpractice.Thetwowereagoodfitbothintermsofgeographyandtherangeofservicestheyprovided.WhileJT&WhadastrongregionalpresenceintheUKandwereknownfortheirretailandbuildingconsultancy,LondonCitywasaforteofG&Wandithadstronginvestment,businessspaceandassetmanagementpractices.

Howeverthetwohadverydifferentorganisationalstructures,culturesandsystems.Therewerefewbigdifferencesbutmanysmallvariancesinthewaypeopleworkedandconductedbusiness.ToquoteanexamplegivenbyadirectorformerlywithJT&W:

“IncontrasttoJT&W,G&Whadalotofsupportstaffandthejobofdatagatheringwasoftendelegated.Onprimafacieevidence,thismightseemasmalldifference,butinpracticaltermsitcalledforalotofchangeinthewaypeoplethinkandwork.Sincethemerger,alotofsupportstaffhavebeenmadeavailabletous,butpeoplefromJT&Waresimplynotattunedtousingsomebodyelsefordatagathering.Iamaclassicexample;Ijustdon’tfeelcomfortabledelegatingthisimportanttasktosomeoneelse.TheyareawasteasfarasIamconcerned.”

PeopleatGoochWebsterstillexistastwocompanieseventhoughonpapertheyareamergedunit

ColinManderselaboratesontheseminordifferencesinculture:

“G&Wwereusedtoschedulinginternalmeetingsoutsidenormalworkinghours,eitherearlyinthemorningat8:

00a.m.orlateintheeveningafter6:

00p.m.,sothatadministrationdidnotimpactonfeeearning.Incontrast,JT&Wheldmeetingsduringworkinghours.Afterthemerger,wehaddifficultiesinagreeingonanappropriatetimeformeetings.”

Thecomputersystemsandthemotivationtousethemalsodifferedlargelyinthetwoorganisations.ColinMandersreflects:

“Priortothemerger,everybodyinG&Whadacomputerandane-mailingfacility,whilethereweresomepeopleinJT&Wwhodidnothaveacomputer.TherewasnouniversalfilingsysteminJT&W.Priortothemerger,theywereusingLotusNotes,wewerenot.InJT&W,onedepartmenthandledallIT,PersonnelManagementandQualityAssurance.Incontrast,G&WhadadedicatedITdepartmentwithtechnicalknowledgeandcapability,headedbyme.Itisnosurprisethatthemergerbroughtchaosinitswake.Duetothedifferenceinplatformsused,someoftheofficeswerenotconnected.WehadtoinvestheavilyinnewITinfrastructureandtrainingofpeople.Alotofproblemsstillpersist.WearetooreliantononesmallITdeveloperforournecessaryuseofLotusNotes.Iamnotconvincedthattheycanprovidetheknowledgeanddevelopmentofthesystemthatweurgentlyneedtotakethebusinessforward.IbelievetheITsystemasitistodayinGoochWebsteristoobiasedtoadministrativepurposes.Wemustempowerthefeeearners.Theparamountaimistoachievearesilient,reliableWideAreaNetwork（WAN）toconnectthecompanyandtobuildrelationships.Wemustshareideasandexpertiseifwearetoincreaseourprofitability.Itisalsoessentialthatwehavecommonsoftwaretoeliminateannoyingproblemsinsharingfiles,documentsandinformation.ThefactthatapartofseniormanagementisstillverywaryofusingIT,andtheimpatienceand,toadegree,intoleranceofsomeusersisnothelpingusverymuch.”

Asoftoday,peoplefromthetwoformerorganisationsarequitewaryofeachotherandalotofpreconceivednotionsexistinthemindsofpeoplefromJT&WaboutpeoplefromG&Wandviceversa.Internally,thepeopleatGoochWebsterstillexistastwofirmseventhoughonpapertheyareamergedunit.WhilepeoplewhohadworkedwithJT&Wclaimthattheirformerorganisationhadalotofforwardmomentumandfosteredentrepreneurialspirit,employeesfromG&Wthinkjusttheopposite.TheyviewtheformerJT&Wemployeestobethemavericktypes,preferringtobeunstructuredandwantingtodothingstheirownway.Ontheotherhand,peoplefromJT&WfindemployeesfromformerG&Wextremelystructuredandconservativeintheirapproaches.

Moreover,conversationwithColinMandersrevealedthatG&WandJT&Wsetouttomergeonanequalbasis.Assuch,itisa50:

50partnership,andthereisnodominantpartner,which,byextension,causesanarchy.Asoftoday,therearealotofpendingissuesonwhichdecisionsneedtobetakenasfastaspossible.

Havingsaidthat,theseniormanagementatGoochWebsteralsoadmitsthatitwouldbewrongtoover-emphasisethedifferencesbetweenthetwoorganisationsbecausea）theyarepartandparcelofanymergerandb）thedifferencesarelimitedtoareasonablysmallgroupofpeoplewhoaremorevocalandinfluentialthantheothers.

Inanutshell,thefirmtodaycanclaimtobeatrulynationalcompanywithastrongpresenceinLondonandtherestoftheUK.Ithashighlyrespectedinvestmentandassetmanagementteamsandapowerfulbusinessspacedepartmentandretailagencythatarewidelyrecognisedasleadingforcesintheirrespectivefields.However,itneedstoresolvetheinternalissuesitisconfrontedwith,somebig,somesmall.

1.1.2TheProcessofIntegration

Alotofeffortsareinprogressinthefirmtoironouttheseminordifferencesandtofacilitatetheprocessofintegrationofthetwocompanies.TheHumanResourcesDepartmentisco-ordinatingaseriesofchangemanagementworkshopsandskill-buildingsessionstohelpintegratethetwofirmsandprovideguidanceontheissues,whichmustberesolved.Whilesomepeoplewhohavebeenapartoftheseworkshopsfindtheminstrumentalinbreakingdownlotsofbarriers,othersbelievetheyareawasteoftimeandresources.Nonetheless,everybodyagreesthatitisanexcellentopportunitytointeractwithpeoplefromotheroffices.

Effortsarealsocontinuingtoredesigntheinformationsystemsintheorganisationsothatallthepeopleshareacommonplatform.ColinMandersrevealedthattheyaresoongoingtohiremoreexpertiseinITtocomplementtheskillsoftheexistingteamthatwouldincludeaNotesadministratorordeveloperwithgoodsystemskillsandtroubleshootingexpertise.

1.1.3WheredoesGoochWebsterwanttogo?

Thevision

ThepeopleatGoochWebsterdonotyetshareacommonvisison

Freshintothemerger,thepeopleatGoochWebsterarestilltryingtodecideonwhattheirvisionis.Thereisnosharedvisioninthecompanyanddifferentpeoplehavewidelyvaryingopinionsregardingthis.ColinManders,forexample,believesitisdifficulttoarriveatasharedvisionbysimplyagreeingonwords:

“Avisionandaculturemustbedeveloped,shared,believed,advocatedandsupported.Atpresentthemanagementis,toborrowaphrase,simplytryingtoherdcats.Catsarefiercelyindependentanimalsanddifficulttopersuadetoactinconcert.Myapproachwouldbetopromotesubtlechangesinorganisationsystemsandapproachbutwithacommonstatedaimtobeprofitable,toseekexcellenceandbecaring.Hopefully,aculturewillemergerelativelyquicklyasweworktogether.Thosewhodonotagreeordonotwishtofitinmusteitherbeaccommodatedoraskedtoleave.”

AnotherDirector,remarked:

“MyvisionforGoochWebsterwouldbetomakeittheArthurAndersenofthesurveyingworldandtohaveareputationforexpertadvice.Todayweareprocessingmoreandadvisingless.Inmyopinion,ifwearetoremainprofitable,themostlogicalcourseforuswouldbetomovefromtheprocessingendofthespectrumtotheadvisoryend.Thewaytodoitiseithergroworganicallybyemployingbrighterandmorecompetentpeoplewiththenecessaryskillsetortotakesomeoneoverormergewithsomeonewhoalreadyhavetheskills.I,however,donotseeanyroomforgeographicalexpansion.I’dliketogetourhouseinorderbackhomefirstbeforewestartmarchingacrosstheglobe.“

Stillotherexampleofdivergentviewsisthefollowingquotefromanotherdirector:

“Weneedtobecomeamore“opencompany”;weneedtofosteranenvironmentofkno