Change Process and Culture

Organisational Behaviour

Endothon and Techfite have different corporate cultures. Endothon, a space exploration agency, has a customer-oriented culture, which can also be referred to as a task-oriented culture. The organisation focuses on results and productivity, and is driven by safety and innovation. This shows that the organisation is more concerned about the task and fulfilling the needs of its customers. While a task-oriented culture is important for enhancing productivity and customer satisfaction, it can result in reduced work morale, motivation, and commitment as there is little or no focus on the needs and welfare of employees. Techfite, on the other hand, has an employee-oriented culture. This is a culture that values the contribution of employees, and seeks to maximise their welfare by fulfilling their needs. Techfite achieves this by offering flexibility and empowerment. Though an employee-centred culture is important for motivating employees, it can result in less focus on productivity.

An acquisition is a useful corporate-level strategy for enhancing a firm's competitive advantage in the marketplace. For the intended outcomes to be achieved, however, there must be fit between the cultures of the organisations involved. As mentioned earlier, Endothon and Techfite have different corporate cultures, meaning their cultures are not aligned with one another. This can be detrimental to the success of the acquisition. McKinsey's 7S model provides a suitable framework for aligning Techfite's culture with Endothon's culture. As the name suggests, the model provides seven elements for diagnosing and monitoring change: strategy (purpose of the organisation); skills (core competencies); structure (organisation design); systems (procedures); staff (human resources); style (managerial behaviour); and shared values (Hayes, 2014). For an organisation to excel, these elements must be properly aligned with one another. In this case, Techfite's structure and style ought to be aligned with Endothon's. The alignment process encompasses the following steps: mapping the current situation based on the seven elements, identifying gaps and inconsistencies between the elements, determining the changes needed to close the identified gaps, setting goals and objectives to be achieved by the alignment, and implementing the changes.

It will also be important to have an appropriate organisational structure if the acquisition is to be successful. When an acquisition occurs, two things can happen. On one hand, the two organisations may integrate into one entity with a uniform, centralised organisational structure. Alternatively, the acquired company may be allowed to operate autonomously, resulting in a decentralised structure. The second option, a decentralised organisational structure, is more suitable for this case. Endothon would lay down its corporate values, but retain Techfite's executives and allow them to have the same autonomy and power they had before. Keeping Techfite structurally separate and maintaining its independence can have valuable advantages for the organisation. The organisation would be better placed to focus on what it does best while still making use of its parent company's resources and capabilities (Hayes, 2014). In essence, the acquisition becomes some sort of a partnership.

Even though Endothon may allow Techfite to remain autonomous, some resistance should be expected. Indeed, resistance is a common occurrence during organisational change. Individuals may resist change due to factors such as lack of involvement in the change process, fear of relocation or dismissal, as well as perceived disruption in authority or social ties (Hayes, 2014). An acquisition is a major change. It often entails changes in organisational culture. Techfite has to adopt a new culture so as to align with Endothon's culture. However, Techfite's employees may be opposed to this cultural change. They may be afraid of losing the flexibility and empowerment they have been enjoying. Also, they may be concerned about possible changes in workload as well as relocation to other departments or areas.