Communication Strategy Outline

 

Comprehensive communication strategy outline for the merger of two major retail outlets

The merger of Retail A and Retail B is organized. The comprehensive communication strategy outline for the merger of two major retail outlets requires an outline to be prepared. This is presented here as follows. The merger requires a certain communication plan and implementation of the same. Starting from the first day which will be the announcement day to the last day of implementing the plan, the communication strategy needs to be crisp and clear. Structured communications are very important when it comes to the merger of two organizations. It reduces the distractions and misconceptions among the employees of the two organizations (Hegde & Salvatore, 2019). Moreover, it will promote business and collaboration among the employees that used to work for a separate organization and are now working for the same organization. Following are the communication strategy processes that are involved in this merger of the two organizations:

1. a) Design and ramp up: It consists of the preplanning and ramping up for the merger in the initial stage. This stage will take around 2 months to plan. This is a crucial stage and the first step towards the collaboration of two organizations as one. Many aspects such as the supplies and equipment, staffing, and product need to be designed and ramped up in this initial phase. It is the most important phase as it determines the initial design and roadmap of the company. This stage is usually the time when the retail companies will think of the possible consequences of merging and coming together as a single entity (Hegde & Salvatore, 2019).
2. b) Announcement: This is the stage where the decision of merger is made official. This will require some preparations prior. This will include prior advertisement and proper display of information to avoid any rumors or misconceptions. It will take around 1 month to make the announcement official. The announcement of all the necessary guidelines is done prior to avoid any myths among the employees about the merger of the two retail companies (Erickson & Koppenhaver, 2020).
3. c) Integration planning: This is the phase where roles and responsibilities are assigned in the organization. Brotherhood is promoted to reduce us vs them mentality in the organization among the employees who previously were working for a different organization. This will be the most comprehensive stage of the merger and will require a lot of detailing for the same. It will take around 3 months for the integration planning of Retail A and Retail B. The integration planning is done in a smooth way keeping in mind all the possible difficulties and hurdles faced by the leaders and employees (Erickson & Koppenhaver, 2020).
4. d) Starting over as one: Welcoming all the new employees in the organization and celebrating being together. This is the start of day 1 as a new organization. The employees of Retail A and Retail B will finally start working as the employees of a single institution. They will get used to it in 1 month. The starting over might not be so smooth but things will settle as the time passes and the employees will get used to the new working culture and new colleagues (Cook, et al., 2015).
5. e) Integration implementation: This stage consists of implementing the previously planned integration plan into the new organization and monitoring its success throughout. This is the phase where things are going to settle down for the new organizations and their employees. It will continue for 3 months. In this phase, we also need to monitor the growth of the new organization and see the progress made by the organization. Also, we need to take the feedback of both the external and internal stakeholders that including the investors, customers, employees, etc. It is important to know their satisfaction level when working with the new organization. We will also take their feedback and if necessary will implement it for the growth of the company (Cook, et al., 2015).

The above stages are mandatory to establish a comprehensive communication strategy outline for the merger of two major retail outlets. There is also a process to build a robust merger of two organizations.

1) Identifying the key stakeholders: As a project manager of this merger, I need to identify the key stakeholders. This will include both external and internal stakeholders. The external stakeholders are the customers, vendors, and investors who needed to be assured that quality services will continue even after the merger of the two companies. The external stakeholders needed to be retained to continue with the merger process (Nisha & Madheswari, 2016).  The internal stakeholders are the employees of the companies who were working for the two separate organizations before. They need to see a future in the new company. The vision and mission of the new company should be clearly explained to the new employees of the new organization so that there is no sense of insecurity among them. Also, the roles and responsibilities of all the leaders and the hierarchical order should be well defined in the new organization to be formed (Nisha & Madheswari, 2016).

2) Milestones and trigger events to be identified: As the project manager of this merger I need to identify the trigger events and milestones that are needed to be identified for this merger. This will help to perceive the upcoming threats and problems that could lead to the failure of this project. Hence, to have a backup solution to such problems are necessary for the event of any unpredicted problem (Evenson, et al., 2020).

3) Roles and responsibilities: The roles and responsibilities should be clarified well before the merger and they should be acknowledged by every employee of both organizations. The merger requires a certain communication plan and implementation of the same. Starting from the first day which will be the announcement day to the last day of implementing the plan, the communication strategy needs to be crisp and clear. Structured communications are very important when it comes to the merger of two organizations. It reduces the distractions and misconceptions among the employees of the two organizations. Also, the roles and responsibilities of all the leaders and the hierarchical order should be well defined in the new organization to be formed. This will reduce the chances of any future disputes or clashes (Evenson, et al., 2020).

4) Monitoring and gathering feedback: After the merger, it is important to monitor and gather feedback from the employees about the merger policies. It is important to take the views and opinions of the new employees into consideration. This will promote a collaborative environment among the employees. The merger requires a certain communication plan and implementation of the same. Starting from the first day which will be the announcement day to the last day of implementing the plan, the communication strategy needs to be crisp and clear. Structured communications are very important when it comes to the merger of two organizations. It reduces the distractions and misconceptions among the employees of the two organizations (Nordström, 2019).

 

 

 

Communication management plan

Stakeholders	What to communicate	Medium	Frequency	Responsible person
Project team	Project planning	Direct meeting and video conferencing	Weekly	Project manager
Project budget planning	Project sponsors	Direct meeting	Once	Project manager
Project scheduling	Project team	Direct meeting	Weekly	Project manager
Task allocation	Project team	e-mails and meetings	Once	Project manager
Project progress	Project manager	e-mails and meetings	Monthly	Project team
Project monitoring	Project steering committee	Video conference	Monthly	Project manager

Issue management plan

Stage	Issue	Impact	Solution
Design and ramp up	Issues in the clarity of vision	If not addressed properly this can raise the strategic risk of the organization.	Proper decision making
Announcement	Issues with marketing strategies	Lack of proper marketing will lead to the formation of rumors among the employees of both the retail organization.	Proper marketing
Integration planning	Issues with decision making	If not planned properly could lead to the strategic mistakes in the initial stage.	Proper planning and strategy building
Starting over as one	Problems with managing the team	Problems with managing the human resource of both the organization coming together as one.	Proper HR management
Integration implementation	Practical problems in integration	This stage is the final application of the planning and could decide the success or failure of the project.	Proper implementation

 

 

 

References

Cook, R. E., Klein, M. D., & Chen, D. (2015). Adapting early childhood curricula for children with special needs. Pearson.

Erickson, K. A., & Koppenhaver, D. A. (2020). Comprehensive Literacy for All: Teaching Students with Significant Disabilities to Read and Write. Brookes Publishing Company. PO Box 10624, Baltimore, MD 21285.

Evenson Jr, R., Bliss, T., & Casebolt, M. (2020). The Merging and Integration of Two General Aviation Companies: A Case Study in Effective Leadership.

Hegde, M. N., & Salvatore, A. P. (2019). Clinical research in communication disorders: Principles and strategies. Plural Publishing.

Nisha, S., & Madheswari, A. N. (2016). Secured authentication for internet voting in corporate companies to prevent phishing attacks. International Journal of Emerging Technology in Computer Science & Electronics (IJETCSE), 22(1), 45-49.

Nordström, A. (2019). Merging the Swedish Code of Statutes (SFS). XML Prague 2019, 265.