Merger Repair
The past few years have seen a spike in the number of mergers and acquisitions taking place in industries throughout the business world (think AOL/Time Warner and Sprint/Nextel),
but a recent study conducted by a merger integration expert at Katzenbach Partners revealed that nearly two-thirds of surveyed executives feel that their companies' post-merger
integration efforts are a key problem. The 124 surveyed executives all work for organizations that went through mergers, and many have been through up to five since 2000.
* 67% said their companies' efforts to integrate people, processes and systems took anywhere from one to more than five years, while experts say the optimal time for integration
is six to 12 months;
* 63% said their companies' post-merger efforts were "average or below average;" and
* 49% said their companies needed "merger repair," as they were experiences chronic productivity, service and performance problems.
However, most relevant to PR and communications executives is this news: The top-three integration-related areas cited as needing improvement are communications; leadership and
decision-making; and process and results measurement. This finding only reinforces the reality that communications executives must be fully integrated into every function of the
organization in order to facilitate a smooth transition, as well as to foster open lines of communication internally (see "Internal Comms: Tying Employee Motivation to Organizational
Goals").
Business On The Rebound
In what is perhaps a shocking turn of events for some, the Edelman Trust Barometer recently revealed that business is more trusted than the government and the media in every region
of the world. Among the key findings:
* In the United States, 53% of respondents report trusting business - an all-time high for the survey (the low was 44% in 2002 after the collapse of Enron);
* For the second consecutive year, "a person like me" or a peer is the most trusted spokesperson in the U.S., at 51%;
* For 75% of surveyed North Americans, technology is the most trusted sector;
* Multinational brands are significantly more trusted in their home country. In the U.S., UPS received the top score with 83%; and
* 71% of North American respondents believe global business plays a role that no other institution can match when it comes to addressing social and environmental challenges.
Notable analysis of the "person like me" as the most trusted spokesperson comes from David Brain, CEO of Edelman Europe: "The growing trust in 'people like me' and average
employees means that companies must design their communications as much on the horizontal or peer-to-peer axis as on the vertical or 'top-down' axis. CEOs should continue to talk
with elites, such as investors and regulators, but also provide critical information to employees and enthusiastic consumers who spur the peer-to-peer discussion."
As for the change in business' overall trustworthiness worldwide, Richard Edelman says, "Business is seeing a rebound in trust because of strong economic growth, visible
consequence for executive malfeasance, and success in solving problems facing society."
CEO Departures
Weber Shandwick rounds out its monitoring of CEO departures in 2006, releasing the full-year stats. According to the study, which analyzes the world's largest companies by
revenue, the overall departure rate of global CEOs declined from 17% in 2005 to 15% in 2006. Also among the findings:
* The top five countries with the greatest rate of CEO turnover are the U.S., Japan, Britain, Germany and France;
* 57% of global CEOs retired or left their office for reasons such as planned succession, promotion, or a new position at another company;
* 31% left against their will;
* 12% exited due to illness, mergers, or corporate governance changes; and
* 65% were chosen from within their company.