Introduction: Case Background and Concerns
The essay provides an overview of the management case study, which illustrates the concerns of takeovers implementation. The ethical foundation of management is revealed through the analysis of the story of a successful young manager, Lisa Michaels. The employee became promoted to the position of finance manager in a famous manufacturing firm, which specializes in home and personal care production. After the acquisition of a new corporation, the manager noticed that her work obligations contradicted her understanding of correct management. Specifically, the employee had some consistent concerns about the security of the assets and faced some communication problems with the leaders of the takeover firm. Therefore, this work discusses the basic ethical contradictions, which characterize the policies of merging between global corporations. Moreover, the possible solutions to the conflicts as well as the advantages of ethical management are reflected.
The Politics of Takeover Acquisition: Ethics and Merging Optimization
The concept of takeover implies a complex acquisition of stock shares, which allows the owners of a specific corporation to control the management of the merged firms through distanced plurality. The act has multifunctional consequences, for it opens up new opportunities for market extensions, production boost, etc. However, the diversity of corporate culture styles may provide some challenges for both merging organizations (McCarron par. 1). This concern applies to the study’s case. Since the new finance manager of the Home and Personal Care Products was not acquainted with the style of the other firm’s management, it was quite undertaking for the employee to establish business contact with the manager of the takeover corporation. The major point for disagreement, which arose in the course of communication, was the security of assets.
It is acknowledged that the growth of any company or organization depends on the central assets. Therefore, their security predetermines the opportunity of the corporation to take loans and to extend business venues (Markowitz par. 1). Since Lisa found out that the takeover corporation has an excessive number of “other assets” on the balance sheet, it became clear to her that they had little relevance to the central operational functions. Moreover, the manager deduced that a part of such subsidiary assets was capitalized (Tarasovich 2).
Secondly, Lisa felt that it was her responsibility to establish a communication rapport with the manager of the new acquisition, Mr. Anderson so that to match the corporate cultures of the two organizations and to create a consistent solution to the problem. In their first meeting, Lisa felt that he was too dictatorial in his treatment. Moreover, Mr. Anderson had a skeptical opinion about the achievements of Lisa and did not want to listen to her advice or recommendations (Werhane 42).
Therefore, the ethical challenge, which had to be taken by Lisa, embraced a difficult task: she had to act influential so to prove to the merging organizations that there were some drawbacks in their business strategies. At the same time, the new manager understood that it would be difficult for her to influence the companies with the deep-rooted regulations. Thus, there were several alternative courses of action, which might have been taken by Lisa. First, she could put up with the companies’ standards and work, according to the traditional schemes. This solution, however, did not comply with the managerial and personal values of the new manager (La Vertu and Barrett-Pugh 13). Second, Lisa could become dictatorial. Since it is clear that the authoritative management methods have quick and efficient results, she would be likely to succeed. Finally, the manager could cancel the acquisition of the new franchise so that to discard any contacts with a merger and to instruct the staff of her organization on the changes. Still, this method would have led to business stagnation and could have hindered the growth of the company.
The optimal solution for Lisa to take in the situation is to embrace a role of an innovator of corporate culture norms. Thus, it is critical for the manager to ensure that the growth of two corporations in one organization could be reached only through cooperation. Therefore, the manager has to edit a new statute on business performance and present it at a common meeting. Lisa may embrace a system of bonuses both for her organization and for the acquired company. The first common project has to embrace the reformation of the assets security program. Lisa has to produce a lasting impact on the team of a takeover. Therefore, she has to ask the acquired staff to offer their personal views on the innovation. Moreover, Lisa might embrace hierarchy cancellation. Thus, she can impact any worker of the company daily and impose the changes without bringing Mr. Anderson on her side.
Conclusion: Ethical Business Overview
The analyzed case demonstrates that any business management includes a strong human factor, which influences every operational process in the company. The politics of mergers and takeovers is particularly vulnerable to disagreements. Therefore, it is quite difficult to find a key to the new work team. Still, it is quite possible to reach success if the leader of the organization imposes the reforms, which comply with objectiveness and morality principles (McNamara par. 6).
Works Cited
La Vertu, Edmond and Llandis Barrett-Pugh. “Ethical Dilemmas during Mergers, Acquisitions, and Takeovers.” Edith Cowan University 12.1 (2012): 1-15. Print.
Markowitz, Eric.5 Tips for Using Collateral to Secure a Small Business Loan. 2014. Web.
McCarron, Maria. The Advantages of Taking Over Companies. 2013. Web.
McNamara, Carter. Business Ethics and Social Responsibility. 2012. Web.
Tarasovich, Barbara. “A Case Study: Ethical Implications of Friendly Takeovers.” International Research Journal of Applied Finance 12.1 (2013): 1-11. Print.
Werhane, Patricia. “Two Ethical Issues in Mergers and Acquisitions.” Journal of Business Ethics 7.1 (2002): 41-45. Print.