Reflective Journal: Deep Dive into MN6921 Course Learnings

This reflective journal analyzes key learnings from the MN6921 course, focusing on leadership management principles. It delves into the complexities of mergers and acquisitions, highlighting the importance of managing human resources and addressing potential resistance to change. The journal explores organizational justice, emphasizing its critical role in fostering trust and successful integration during acquisitions, as well as the impact of biased behavior. Furthermore, it examines the significance of the external environment, particularly the PESTEL factors, in shaping business strategies and identifying opportunities and risks. The student reflects on how these concepts have influenced their understanding of leadership, emphasizing the need for aligning human resource practices with overall organizational strategies and the importance of unbiased behavior in the workplace.

Reflective Journal
Introduction
This is a reflective journal to reflect the most salient learning experiences that I had during this
course MN6921. The journal will provide my learning experiences in depth, with the help of
examples and all the learning and experiences will be linked back to theory. In the journal, I will
describe my experiences and learning, and then I will interpret it and draw an outcome out of it.
This reflective journal will involve looking at the course contents and discussions and analysis of
the idea that I have got from the lectures, discussions, notes, etc. I will think deeply about them
from different perspectives. I will carefully think about what that idea means for me and my on-
going progress as a learner and as a professional.
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Learning 1
Description
There is the difference between mergers and acquisitions. When one firm or company takes over
the ownership of another firm or company, it is known as the acquisition. But, the merger is the
combination of two separate companies. There are many examples of these like the merger of
French Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne to form Groupe BPCE (Bülbül, 2013). The
mergers led to this bank become the second largest bank in France. There are many reasons due
to which the organizations acquire each other or merge with each other like the strategic motives,
financial motives, managerial motives, etc. In mergers and acquisitions, the companies share
their resources, processes, methods, activities, profits and all the other things that happen in the
companies. From this, I have learned that the motives behind mergers and acquisitions fail to
recognize the implications of huge changes on the level of motivation and performance of the
people working in the companies and the project teams. The mergers and acquisitions are huge
and they result in big changes that are faced by the companies. When the changes happen, it is
the people of the company who are affected by them the most. In this process, they start resisting
the change which sometimes reduces their level of motivation. Thus, I have learned that it is the
people who need to be managed the most when the companies go for mergers and acquisitions.
Interpretation
For me, the most important element in the organization was the human resources. This learning
resulted from the fact that people in the company are the source of all the activities getting done
on time and in an efficient manner. The earnings of the company depend on the way in which the
people work here. If the people are not satisfied with the profile and the culture of the
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organization, then they will not work properly, they cannot be motivated, they cannot let things
happen in the company in a smooth way and they will not allow the company to progress in the
future by fulfilling the objectives of the company.
Previously, I felt that people are easy to manage because they are given commands by the
managers and the leaders, and it is their duty or responsibility to follow those commands. I also
felt that they are not the much important thing to be considered when the people plan for merger
or acquisition because the company has to see its future potential and not the employees.
Subsequently, I realized that human resources are a major source of success for the company. I
noticed that all the activities are performed in the company in a proper way when the employees
are working hard, they are showing their potential, and they are putting efforts for the
improvements in the processes of the company. Later, when I studied bout the concept of
mergers and acquisitions, then I noticed that most of the companies are missing this feature of
taking care of their employees while carrying out this process and hence their efforts are failing
to merge and acquire.
This could be due to my interest towards the human resources of the company or due to my
concern towards them. Thus might also be related to the fact that I see myself as a potential
future employee of some company and I can relate myself to the feelings of people during
mergers and acquisitions.
Outcome
Having read the texts and case studies of many companies related to mergers and acquisitions
and analyzed their reasons of failure; I now question the effectiveness of organizations in
handling their human resources. I wonder how these companies who failed in this process did not
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take care of the interest and preferences of the most important assets that they had. I also learned
that if this aspect is not managed by the companies during mergers and acquisitions, then they
cannot become successful because people will resist this change and they will not let it happen in
a proper a planned way. Therefore, I now know that whenever the mergers and acquisitions are
planned, the change agent should be appointed to take care of the employees of the company.
The mergers and acquisitions happen not just between the two companies, but the integration is
of the culture, people and structure too.
I have slightly developed my understanding of how to manage the people during mergers and
acquisitions and how much it is important to identify their source of motivation. I have also
improved my ability to analyze the situations in the company, and I have understood that
whenever the company formulates any strategy, it affects the entire organization. The managers
and the leaders of the company should align the human resource practices with the overall
strategy of the company even if the strategy of the company is related to mergers and
acquisitions.
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Learning 2
Description
Organization justice is the fairness of the managerial actions that is perceived in terms of the
procedure, distribution, and information. It is of three types, distributive, procedural and
informational (Gelens, 2014). Distributive justice relates to the distribution of the posts and
rewards. For example, when the two companies merge, the senior posts must be distributed
equally to the people of both the companies and it should not be given to the employees of a
single company. Procedural justices are the procedures that help in decision making. Lastly, the
informational justice is that justice which is the use of the information in the company and the
way it gets communicated in the integration.
I have learned that Organizational justice plays an important role in successfully integrating
during acquisition. This is because when the managers are not fair towards the distribution of
rewards, the people, procedures are not followed to take the decisions, etc., then the integration
will not happen successfully as the people will feel dissatisfied, the biases will not make people
happy, and integration will not happen. Hence, the acquisition strategy of the company may fail.
Interpretation
For me, the most relevant aspect of integration was the organizational justice. I feel that
organizational justice has to be there if the company is acquiring some other company. This is
because when the acquisition takes place, the two companies are not aware of the culture, people,
processes, etc. of each other. They trust each other on the basis of the contract that they form
and the level of trust also depends on the behavior of each company towards one another. So, if
the elements of organizational justice are lacking, then the two parties will not trust each other in
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future, they will feel dissatisfied, and the rate of attrition in the company will rise. Hence, the
plan of the company to acquire another company will fail if the people do not support it.
For me, this learning happened when I read about the cases of some companies related to the
organizational injustice and the biased behavior of organizations during acquisitions. I learned
that acquisition is considered as a hostile process by the company which is being acquired. So, to
gain the trust of that company and to obtain its support during the acquisition process, it is very
important that the organizational justice is maintained. It is the only way by which the
companies can fulfill their objectives of acquiring the other company otherwise the entire
strategy may fail.
This is probably explained by the fact that unbiased behavior of the companies are not
acceptable no matter at what stage the company is working or the level at which the employees
are placed.
Outcome
Having discussed the organizational justice and its relation to the integration process during
acquisition, I now realize that equal treatment is expected by all the employees in the company
no matter whether the company is acquired or merged. Also, when the organizational justice is
maintained, the people of the company trust the other company, the workers work in a proper
way when they are treated equally. Also, when the decisions are taken as peer the processes and
the procedures that are set, then the possibly of corruption and miss-management decreases. The
activities are performed as per the plans and the schedules. Additionally, I have learned that if
the communication is happening in the company in the proper way like the information is spread
to all the people and justice is done to the information being spread, then the employees feel
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associated with the processes of the company, they feel encouraged, and they get involved in the
company. So, the process of acquisition becomes smooth to carry out.
I have significantly improved my ability to become unbiased towards all the people and to carry
out the organizational justice in the companies.
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Learning 3
Description
All the companies, organizations, business, are surrounded by external and internal environment.
There are threats as well as opportunities that are present in the environment. I read that when the
iPhone became successful, there were many market opportunities that were present for the
writers of the mobile phone applications (David, 2016). So, the demand for the writers grew, and
they identified their career path in the environment. There are layers in this environment. The
layer which is closest to the organization is the layer of competitors and the markets. These are
the closest to the company. Then, there is the layer of industry in which the company is placed.
After that, the macro environment is present that affects the business of a company in a large
manner. The political, social, technological, economic, legal, etc. factors are present that impact
whatever business is done by the companies. So, I have learned that the means of survival to the
organizations is given by the environment in which the company operates.
Interpretation
For me, the most meaningful elements in the business environment were the PESTEL elements.
In many cases, I have seen that any change in the PESTEL elements affects the working of
business to a great extent. All the companies do a PESTEL analysis before they plan to do a new
business, enter a new market or introduce a new product. If the companies are not taking care of
their external environment, they are making a big mistake. This is because, the external
environment analysis not only gives them opportunities, but they also help them to assess the
risks in the environment. Thus, the companies can prepare for any contingency in the future; it
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can fight the challenges in a much-prepared way, and it can also move ahead in the completion if
it is prepared for the potential threats in advance.
This learning resulted from the fact that the companies that did not take care of the external
environment have failed in the past. The companies that analyzed the environment like Apple
have become one of the greatest companies in the world. Alternatively, this could be related to
the understanding of the factors in the environment that sometimes affects the business directly.
For example, when the law changes or the legal procedures get modified, then the companies
have to change the way in which they work, and they have to change many processes in the
companies.
This is similar to the financial, human, operational and other resources that help the company to
survive because just like them, the external environment also enables the companies to grow and
survive in the long run.
Outcome
Having learned about the factors in the external environment that affects the way in which
companies formulates their strategy, I now realize that external environment analysis should be
conducted by all the companies from time to time and they should do it very carefully so that any
possibility of any threat can be encountered timely and any opportunity and be grabbed by the
first mover advantage.
Furthermore, I have learned that the companies have some set of strength and weaknesses that
helps it to make use of the external environment analysis. The strengths of the company help it to
grab the opportunities and fight the challenges, and the weaknesses help it to take care of the
things that it cannot do much efficiently in the future.
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I have significantly developed mu understanding of the PESTEL factors and its application in the
growth of the company. My ability to do a PESTEL analysis has increased, and I can now apply
it to any company in a proper way.
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Conclusion
From the journal it can be concluded that this course has helped me in increasing the
effectiveness of organizations in handling their human resources. I wonder how these companies
who failed in this process did not take care of the interest and preferences of the most important
assets that they had. I have realized that equal treatment is expected by all the employees in the
company no matter whether the company is acquired or merged. Also, when the organizational
justice is maintained, the people of the company trust the other company, the workers work in a
proper way when they are treated equally. I have also realized that external environment analysis
should be conducted by all the companies from time to time and they should do it very carefully
so that any possibility of any threat can be encountered timely and any opportunity and be
grabbed by the first mover advantage.
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References:
Bülbül, D., Schmidt, R.H. and Schüwer, U., 2013. Caisses d'épargne et banques coopératives en
Europe. Revue d'économie financière, (3), pp.159-188.
David, F. and David, F.R., 2016. Strategic Management: A Competitive Advantage Approach,
Concepts and Cases.
Gelens, J., Hofmans, J., Dries, N. and Pepermans, R., 2014. Talent management and
organisational justice: employee reactions to high potential identification. Human Resource
Management Journal, 24(2), pp.159-175.
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