Congratulations! The board of directors agreed to the sale of the organization. However, you have just been notified that the primary buyer has withdrawn from the sale. After much negotiation, the alternative buyer you identified has acquired the life sciences organization instead.
It has now been three months since the completion of the acquisition process. The post-acquisition integration and activities are also now complete. In these three months, 5% of the original workforce left to join a different organization. The data from the updated employee survey also show that some employees are still worried about their position in the organization. However, on the financial side, after some dips in the beginning, the quarterly sales numbers and revenue have stabilized and show minimal impact.
It’s now time to complete an after-action review for the organization. This review will help the organization’s leaders evaluate how they managed change during the acquisition and how they will apply the lessons learned in the future.
Prompt
Create an after-action review report to evaluate how the organization in the course scenario handled change management related to the exit strategy.
Specifically, you must address the following criteria:
Expected outcome: Describe the expected outcome related to the organization in the course scenario and identify the goals you set related to change management at the beginning of this course.
Actual outcome: Assess the actual outcome related to the course scenario. Your response should address the following:

Compare the actual outcome to the expected outcome by explaining the similarities and differences.

Explain whether there is anything that could have been done differently to ensure that the actual outcome matched the expected outcome.
1
9-1 Project Submission: Merger Integration Report
Khaya Ruffin
Department of Business, Southern New Hampshire University
MBA-699: Strategic Opportunity Management 22TW5
Dr. Jeffrey S. Seppi
April 24, 2024
2
9-1 Project Submission: Merger Integration Report
Guiding Coalition: Recommendation
After reviewing the organizational chart and employees’ persona, I have reached a
decision about the chosen members of the guiding coalition committee. I am recommending
three current employees, which include: Omar Mattson (Manufacturing Director), John
Martensson (Research Director), and Leslie Krupp (Sales Rep).
Guiding Coalition: Rationale
The three chosen members of the guiding coalition were selected due to their personal
characteristics, experiences, and span of control. The first member to discuss is Omar Mattson
(Manufacturing Director). Omar’s current role within the organization is to manage the daily
operations of the twelve company’s supply located in the middle east with a total of 580 workers.
For Omar to be employed at this organization for three years, his current reputation is to be a
very effective and successful director. Although he is often known to rub employees the wrong
way, with the correct implementation of team-building strategies, his approach can be improved.
Omar was selected due to his experience in such a short time span, and the ability to lead a high
volume of workers effectively. Omar will hold the responsibility of executing the upcoming
changes for employees within the organization. The second member of the coalition is John
Martensson (Research Director). As a research director for the past twenty–two years, John
currently oversees the research labs in multiple countries which include more than 100 scientists.
John directly influences the research of effective cancer drugs. John will serve as an important
member of the Coalition, with much experience in this organization and his expertise in
medicine. John long service of twenty-two years indicates that he is committed to the
3
organization’s success, as well as his ability to deal with complex scientific issues which are
important in selling a key product such as cancer medicine. John role in the coalition will include
providing valuable information on the potential and impact of the medicine on patients and
enabling the coalition to make informed decisions during the sales process. Lastly, our final
member of the coalition is Leslie Krupp (Sales Rep). Leslie serves as an individual contributor to
the organization. By being a part of the organization for the past 14 years, Leslie has built a
notable reputation for exceeding expectations and quotas of sale targets. Leslie has been selected
for the coalition due to her experience of going through several changes in her career to the
average representative with her title. With Leslie constantly facing changes, makes her a strong
leader to build trust with employees that must go through change. Leslie responsibility in the
guiding coalition is to monitor employees who display signs and behaviors of resistance to
change and provide effective communication to individuals who are unsure of changes to come.
Guiding Coalition: Team-Building Strategies
The strategies outlined will be implemented to ensure that the leading coalition works
effectively: Coinciding with the implementation of change, several workshops were
implemented to educate the coalition members about the cancer medication success rates and the
organization’s decision to sell it (Southern New Hampshire University, n.d.)
Additionally, we will allow an open discussion for the members of the coalition to be
able to communicate any questions or provide insights about the sale. The second strategy is
Creating a Sense of Urgency. In order to stress the need for prompt action in pursuit of a sale that
maximizes value, we will inform the coalition about current market strategies, competition against other
organizations, and development of industries. The third strategy consists of Implementing Trust
Exercises. To encourage collaboration and understanding between members, we will implement team
4
exercises both within the coalition and collaborative departments. To ensure the effectiveness of the teambonding activities, we will encourage openness and transparency of communication, to create a safe
environment for the free expression of opinion and concerns by coalition members. Lastly, we will
conduct Planned Progress Reviews. To maintain updates on the latest trends, processes, or strategy the
coalition will establish communications through meetings or email. Also, we plan to prioritize each
coalition member’s voices and will use the meeting time to allow feedback from members that could be
incorporated into decision making.
Employee Attrition Analysis Report: Current Employee Demographics
Firstly, we will look at the demographic comparison of the age and gender of the
employees at the organization. The average age of females tends to be higher than the average
age of males (close to 35 years) and this indicates that on average female employees tend to be
older than male employees in the organization
Image 1: Age and Gender of employees in the organization
5
Secondly, we can see the variation in job satisfaction among male and female employees
based on their average years in the current role (experience) as in Image 2. Male employees tend
to have average years in their current role as 4 years in different levels of satisfaction (i.e.) there
is no direct relationship between years of experience and satisfaction for male employees. On the
other hand, female employees tend to be highly satisfied if their average year in the current role
exceeds 4 years
Image 2: Experience and Job satisfaction based on the Gender of employees in the
organization
This is your fifth rubric prompt labeled and formatted as a level 2 APA 7 header (bold
and left-justified). In this section, you will detail the title above. You will need a minimum of
6
one reference per prompt. Yu (2004) examined the effects of multimodal progressive muscle
relaxation on psychological distress in 121 elderly patients with heart failure.
Employee Attrition Analysis Report: Analysis
The major factors that connect to attrition in a company include lack of opportunity to
grow, low job satisfaction, low salaries, poor company culture, and availability of better job
opportunities elsewhere, etc.,(Lopes et al., 2017). Further understanding of the organization’s
employee demographics and work environment is pivotal in evaluating the root causes of
attrition in the organization and the same is done in the following sections
From Image 4 representing the average years since the last promotion for the
employees in the organization, we can see that for those who left the organization (former
employees) it took close to 1.9 years (average) to get a promotion. Typically, most organizations
tend to have 1-year promotion or appraisal cycle for employees and the average years to get a
7
promotion being close to 2 years in the organization would be a factor contributing to attrition.
Image 4: Average years since last promotion
In Image 5, we can see that the average age that a former employee would leave the
company was around 34 years and the average age that a current employee would leave the
organization is around 37 years. It indicates that a current workforce tends to work more years as
compared to the former workforce before making an exit
8
Image 5: Average age of employees who leave the company
On average, the former employees have employment for close to 4.8 years at the
company before they leave the company. On the other hand, the current employees tend to be
employed for 7 years (average) before they exit the company (Image 6). Therefore, the current
workforce tends to be more robust to faster attrition as compared to the former workforce at the
company
From Image 7, we can see that for the current employees with the increase in the number
of trainings in a year, the average number of years at the company tends to have a positive
correlation. However, for former employees, the average number of years at a company
decreased with the increase in the number of training in a year (negative correlation)
9
Image 6: Average years of experience before leaving the company
Image 7: Average training times and years at the company
10
Employee Attrition Analysis Report: Retention
Based on the attrition analysis, we can see that the current workforce is not more likely to
leave the organization. The average years of experience of the current workforce (7 years) are
higher than the former workforce (4.8 years) and this indicates that the current workforce is said
to continue in the organization longer than the former workforce. The number of training
sessions in a year tends to increase the average years of current employees at the company and
this indicates a positive affirmation that the increase of training is related to reduction of attrition
in the organization. However, the average year since the last promotion for current employees is
high (2.2 years) and this can be a conducive factor for attrition in the organization (Ologunebi,
2023).
Conclusively, we can say that the employees tend to be stable in the organization as
observed from the attrition analysis. There are a few factors that need to be modified such as the
increase in training, reducing the promotion years, etc., so that the organization is better
evaluated by a potential buyer
Employee Attrition Analysis Report: Actionable Steps
Firstly, the average number of years that it takes for an employee to get a promotion
should be reduced from the current value of 2.2 years which is higher than many other
organizations, thereby increasing employee satisfaction and the reduction in attrition can be
observed
Secondly, there is a need to increase the number of training sessions that an
employee undergoes in a year. This is because the number of training sessions in a year and the
11
average years at the company are positively correlated (i.e.) an increase in the number of training
sessions would make the employees stay at the company for a higher number of years
Lastly, a team of employees with higher and lower experience levels must be created to
improve employee synchronization and growth which can have a significant impact on the
prevention of attrition in the long run (Ologunebi, 2023).
Alternative Buyer Research Report: Current Market
Out of the optional list of acquisitional companies, we recommend Jazz Pharmaceuticals
as a potential buyer for our organization. The current market of Jazz Pharmaceuticals offers a
diverse range of medicines which include treatment for epilepsy and sleep disorders, and a room
for expansion of cancer treatment. Jazz pharmaceuticals prioritizes in person centered
approaches pioneered by R&D from the robust pipeline of neuroscience and oncology. Jazz
Pharmaceuticals focuses on individuals with serious health problems who have a lack of
resources or no therapeutic options. Jazz Pharmaceuticals falls under the Biotechnology
pharmaceutical company.
Alternative Buyer Research Report: Financial Situation
In 2023, Jazz Pharmaceutical gained 3.8 billion in total revenue. Additionally, it had a
27% year-over-year revenue increase in their top medicines, with oncology surpassing a billion
dollars individually. Additionally, across the key growth drivers Xywav, Epidiolex and Rylaze,
the company plans to expect double digit percentage revenue growth.
12
Alternative Buyer Research Report: Recent Developments
In the current year of 2024, Jazz pharmaceuticals have made a few announcements that
directly impact the state of the organization. Those announcements include hosting a virtual
research and development day, appointing staff as board of directors and chief financial officer
and acquiring a global right to KRAS inhibitor Program.
Earlier this month, Jazz Pharmaceuticals created a virtual research and development
event to discuss standard care of treatment for HER2-Positive cancer. The event additionally
addressed data that supports the effectiveness of their product zanidatamab , that fights against
breast and biliary tract cancer. Implementation of this event sparks attractiveness to our
organization due to their willingness to find additional treatment options for oncology.
Secondly, Jazz Pharmaceuticals appointed Patrick Kennedy amongst the board of
directors, and Philip Johnson as Financial Officer. Hiring and promotion of highly skilled
individuals displays the value that the company holds for their employees to succeed and the
willingness of personal development and growth for the company itself.
Lastly, Jazz Pharmaceuticals made the agreement with another company to collaborate to
advance candidates through INDenabling studies; However, Jazz will be responsible for all
clinical development, regulatory, manufacturing and commercialization activities. This
agreement displays the financial ability of acquiring another company and exploring approaches
to treat individuals effectively.
13
Alternative Buyer Research Report: Buyer Rationale
In conclusion for potential buyers, Jazz Pharmaceuticals would make the best fit to
become a buyer of our organization due to their current financial situation, positive recent
developments, and experience of oncology services and products.
Acquisition Road Map: Acquisition-Related Tasks
Currently, there have been two steps taken towards the acquisition. These steps include
identifying the acquisition and administering a preliminary evaluation. The initial start of the
acquisition process cannot begin until the acquisition target has been identified. The team has
accomplished this step by assessing potential buyers based on factors such as current financial
situation, market strategies, and how their company aligns with our goals and objectives. The
time frame of this process takes approximately 3-6 months on average with engagement from
senior management and the strategic team.
After the first step was completed, we administered a preliminary evaluation. This
evaluation was assessed by analyzing the company’s overall financials such as revenues,
operating expenses, and current position in the market. This step took less time than step one and
lasted for approximately one to two months. This step was completed by the strategic team with
assistance from the financial department.
The additional steps of 3-5 will be implemented over the next few years. These steps
include: An audit of the selected company, Negotiation of the acquisition, and completion of the
acquisition.
Step three is similar to step two, however it requires an extensive review of the selected
acquirer financials to identify any legal issues or financial strains. This process would take at
14
least three to six months and will need the help of the strategic team, legal counsel, and financial
advisors.
The team would then negotiate with the target company on the purchase terms once the
audit was complete. The purchase price, the payment terms and further elements of the
transaction are included in this. The strategic planning team, senior management and legal
counsel would participate in this process for two to four months.
To conclude this process, completion of the acquisition would be a decisive step. This
last step requires finalization of important documents to seal any approvals and completing the
settlement. The strategic planning team, senior management, legal counsel and regulatory
advisers would be involved in this step, which could take up to three months.
Acquisition Road Map: Gantt Chart
Figure 1
Sample Figure Title
15
Exit Strategy Recommendations and Plan: Change Management Strategy
Here is a change management strategy I recommend using Kotter’s Change Model as an
example. The first strategy that needs to be implemented is to create a sense of urgency. This
strategy can be implemented by having open communication with the departments and sharing
the necessity of change with providing education on the reason for change. The next step is to
provide change within the guiding coalition. The guiding coalition should continue to execute the
desired change by exhibiting leadership through the transition. The essential tasks to be carried
out by the guiding coalition should include developing a new organizational structure,
integration of IT systems with each other, and consolidation of manufacturing and production
processes. Based on the complexity and scope of each task, the expected time limits for these
tasks should be determined. Also, the guiding coalition will be responsible for developing an
effective vision and strategy for a smooth acquisition. Innovation, greater efficiency, and better
patient outcomes should be part of the company’s strategic plan. In the pharmaceutical sector, the
aim should be to become a leader in the oncology market segment. This should be communicated
to all staff, giving them an accurate understanding of what the organization will look like when it
is acquired. Communication during the change process should be a key priority. In order to
inform all staff about the critical tasks that need to be done, the guiding coalition should set out
these priorities. Additionally, to minimize employees becoming resistant to prompted change, the
guiding coalition must identify any potential barriers and create strategies to overcome them
such as allowing feedback and concerns from employees, discussing the advantages of the
acquisition, and providing effective training as needed. Periodic assessments and evaluations
should be used to monitor progress. It is additionally useful for the Guiding coalition to utilize
KPI’s, to measure the effectiveness of the process. Lastly, to build momentum for the change
16
process, the guiding coalition should celebrate short-term victories. Implementing this strategy
gains support from employees and staff to abide by the changes.
Exit Strategy Recommendations and Plan: Risks
Consequently, the proposal of acquisition comes with potential risks that could negatively
impact the organization’s daily operations and flow of employees. Three potential risks that
could occur are daily obstacles, societal issues that stem between the acquiring and acquired
organization, and employees’ growing resistance to change. In order to reduce these risks, the
organization should train and support its staff, work with acquisition and acquired company
cultures in order to harmonize them so that they are consistent as well as working closely with
regulators.
17
References
Improving Patients’ Lives | Jazz Pharmaceuticals. (2024, March 26). Jazz
Pharmaceuticals. https://www.jazzpharma.com/
Lopes, S. C., Guerra-Arias, M., Buchan, J., Pozo-Martin, F., & Nove, A. (2017). A rapid review
of the rate of attrition from the health workforce. Human Resources for Health, 15(1).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-017-0195-2
Ologunebi, J. (2023). An analysis of customer retention strategies in the e-commerce fashion
business in the UK: A case study of Primark. Social Science Research Network.
https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4628521
Southern New Hampshire University. (n.d.). MBA 699 Employee Personas. SNHU. Retrieved
April 24, 2024, from https://learn.snhu.edu/content/enforced/1509461-MBA-699-Q3841OL-TRADGR.24TW3/Course%20Documents/MBA%20699%20Employee%20Personas.pdf?ou=15
09461

Purchase answer to see full
attachment