Question

Case study 13.1 Connect2 Connect2 ( as it will be referred to here) was an advertising agency located in Sydney Austria. It was founded by a talented and ambitious graduate who successfully expanded the business from an original client base of 1 to 45 over a 10-year period. The business focused on investor relations and developed a strong reputation for designing and producing annual and interim reports. The production process, from the receipt of the clients brief to delivery of the printed report, was clear simple and worked effectively. Project managers were good at developing and maintaining close relations with clients and always ensured that client’s expectations were met and, where possible, exceeded. The business employed 27 staff who worked together as a tightly knit group. While the owner ran a tight ship and had his finger on the pulse of every project, he was approachable and did not micromanage. He led from behind and did everything he could to empower his staff to act in the best interests of Connect2 and its clients. Employees enjoyed their work and, when required, were happy to put in extra hours to meet tight deadlines. Following the onset of a debilitating health problem the owner was persuaded to sell the company to two experienced businessmen. The people who worked for Connect2 expected the new owners to make changes. Most were prepared for this, but some were concerned that they could lose out and even lose their jobs. Much of this early anxiety was a allayed when the new owners told them there would be no redundancies and they were intending to expand the business. For a few weeks nothing seemed to change and the new owners aid little about their plans. After a while this lack of information became a new source of concern. Behind the scenes, however, the new were busy. Their vision was to grow the business into a media powerhouse. They were in the process of acquiring two other companies, one a successful public relation (PR) agency and the other a video production company., and their intention was to merge all three into a single organization offering a wide range of advertising, marketing and PR services. Their first step was to expand Connect2 to provide the core management infrastructure for the new company. They hired eight new business development managers to work on expanding the client base and appointed two new managers to functional roles, one to head finance and the other to head HR. They also had plans to appoint a creative director. Before the negotiations to acquire the PR and video production companies were finalized, the new owners of Connect2 employed the services of a consultant to help them interview the new candidates for the new business development and functional management roles and they invited her to facilitate an intensive one-week induction for the newly appointed staff. It was only at this point that the two most senior Connect2 project managers were briefed on the new developments and brought in to familiarize the new commers with the company’s current processes. Soon after their induction, the business development managers, who were highly incentivized, began to visit potential clients to seek new business. It was at this point that things began to go wrong. The changes had not been properly communicated to the Connect2 staff and they had not been given any opportunity to comment on them. Consequently, the owners were taken by surprise when they discovered that the existing staff did not have the skills or experience, they required to deliver the new services that were to be provided to the new clients. They were also unaware that the company’s existing business processes were unable to accommodate the new volume of work that were anticipated. Another problem was that the new owners had done little to facilitate communication between new and existing staff and this resulted I misunderstandings about roles and responsibilities. The business development managers expected the project managers to assume responsibility for processing all the new work they brought in without checking that the project managers had the time and other resources to cope with this additional work. They also failed to recognize that part of the managers’ role had historically involved managing relationships with company’ existing clients. This generated conflicts and bad feelings when the business development managers visited existing clients to sell new services without informing the respective project managers. There was also little communication with existing clients and suppliers about the changes. Existing clients were confused about who was managing their accounts and felt less confident about giving their business to Connect2. Nobody had taken the time to reassure suppliers that Connect2 wanted to retain their services or to explore opportunities of securing better terms if Connect2 increased their business with them. Within the company, the staff who had been with Connect2 before it had been sold were unhappy because the old closely knit culture, clear sense of direction and tried-and-tested process had given way to confusion about the company’s goals, a lack of clarity regarding roles, responsibilities and reporting relationships, and frustration that their efforts were undermined by business processes that were no longer fit for purpose. Even when they were motivated to do what they could to satisfy clients, there was little support for initiative taking. Morale plummeted and commitment evaporated. It was not long before the two senior project managers resigned and took some of Connect2’s long-standing clients with them. Key staff in the editorial and other departments also resigned, further undermining the effectiveness of some key processes, and the new business development managers were unhappy because they had to spend more time on site managing some of their own projects in order to deliver promised outcomes to clients. At this point, the purchase of the PR company was finalized but morale was so low within Connect2 that attempts to merge t. ese two companies failed and they had to be managed as two separate businesses. Plans to purchase the video production company was put on hold. A year later, the PR company was sold and recently Connect2 ceased trading. 1. Identify the communication problems you can spot in this case. 2. Provide your recommendations on how communications should have been handled n this case.

Answer 1

Answer: 1

The communication problem spotted in this case is as below

• Existing communication process was not continued by new owners of connect 2: Connect 2 company was having a good communication process and the staff was empowered enough to lead the connect2 business with adequate communication among them. This process was not continued by new owners and they had not adapted any systematic approach for effective communication among the staff in the business.
• New owners lacks in communication: New owners were not effective in communication and they had not implemented effective communication among the staff about the changes and new plans for the business which resulted in high frustration among the staff and lack of confidence.
• New staff and old staff not merged: There was lack of communication among new staff and old staff. This resulted in communication problem among staff and uncomfortness among new and old staff.
• Lack of communication on new business plans: Connect 2 owners did not have adequate communication of the current business plans among the staff, clients and suppliers. Thus this created high concern and issues among the staff, clients and suppliers.

Answer 2:

Recommendations on how communications should have been handled in this case are as below

• Adequate communication among old staff: the new owners need to have adequate communication among old staff so that old staffs are aware about the upcoming changes in the business and they can prepare accordingly.
• Communication with suppliers/clients: The new owners need to have adequate communication with the target suppliers, target clients so that they are aware about the changes at the connect 2 and they will be prepared for future course of actions.
• Communication among new staff and business development team: The communication among the new staff and business development team should be such that they are aligned with respect to the project and strategy of the connect2 and should be able to lead the connect2 as per strategic plans.
• Overall communication : The overall communication should be carried out by the connect 2 new owners so that they can update the old and new staff, motivate them, update on the plans, monitor them etc. Thus the overall communication plan should be such that all feels comfortable and has adequate information on the business changes at connect2.