Subject: Organizational Management, Task2

A. Develop an action plan:

1. Analyze the financial and leadership strengths and weaknesses of the Utah Symphony before the merger.
Utah Symphony had a great deal of financial talent, but has been unable to find a strong source for future success. The potential merger builds on these strengths and weaknesses by creating a better future for both companies.
Strength points: Symphony became one of the first orchestras from the western united stated to tour internationally. Unlike artists who worked for the opera, musicians employed by the USO received a full year contract and earned a full time salary. They had well management and financial that they were able to go to several cities and have hundreds concerts
A weaking of the economy, the bursting of the of the internet bubble and subsequent collapse of the stock market, and the tragic of September 11,2001 had led to a decline in public ( ticket sales and individual ,corporate and foundation pledges) support for the arts
The Utah Symphony has its home in Abravanel Hall, which is acclaimed as one of the world's great concert halls - having won awards for both its architecture and its extraordinary acoustics. In addition to performing more than 70 subscription concerts in Abravanel Hall, the Symphony regularly travels around the Intermountain West serving communities in Utah, Wyoming, Nevada and Idaho.
Funding from the Utah State Legislature makes it possible for the Symphony to perform for over 55,000 students each year, both in Abravanel Hall and traveling to schools throughout the state. This could be their weakness point because they are depend on fund to perform over 55,000.
Here are the Leadership strengths and weakness of Utah Symphony before merger. ‘’a’’ through ‘’e’’ is about strengths and ‘’f’’ and ‘’g’’ is leadership weakness of Utah Symphony.
Strengths
a.Past music director and maestro Maurice Abravanel took symphony from a part-time ensemble to a renowned world-class symphony.
b.One of the first symphonies in the western United States to perform internationally.
c.Symphony performed over 200 concerts in 2000 – 2001 seasons under the leadership of music director Keith Lockhart.
d.Among the 20 leading symphonies in the U.S.
e.Lockhart provided the artistic vision for the musicians.
Weakness:
f.Scott Parker, symphony CEO was resigning.
g.It is not a simple matter to find a tested professional to head the symphony on such short notice of Parker leaving

a. Recommend the key steps Anne should take to address these weaknesses to ensure a successful start of the merger.
I believe that the first Step Anne should take to address these weaknesses would be to analyze the issues. The next step would be to develop an action plan that can ensure the merger will benefit both parties. Finally, the third step is to take action and use the plan as a guide to success.
Anne`s action: They engaged in a series of private conversations to consider the idea of merging UTAH`s top two arts organizations in an effort to economize on costs and perhaps expand the artistic potential of the two organizations, The outcome of these conversations was study the idea of a merger between what argued were of Utah`s greatest cultural assets.
Anne explained that not only would merger help alleviate some of the financial pressure the symphony was experiencing but also would solve the problem of recruiting quality CEO. There was a concern that the two organizations were too different (human resource problem).
Action was board membersof many local arts organizations were laboring to preserve the arts in UTAH.
She can add more performances to increase the revenues. Less attended is more financial problem. Downturn in the economy can cause attendance down at least 4% from previous year. Anne can prepare this plan: Maybe attendance will decline but ticket price of Symphony can be increased.
To achieve the goals of financial stability and tier-one status, there by expanding the UOC’s artistic potential, Anne would need to utilize V. H. Vroom’s theory of motivation to gain the support of the UOC’s executive committee and the orchestra members(Kinicki, 2010).
2. Analyze the financial and leadership strengths and weaknesses of the Utah Opera before the merger.
Utah Opera has seen recent success but they have been unable to branch out into other areas because of financial issues. The fact that they have more resources and could use this to increase business has attracted the company to Utah Symphony as an already established company.
Financial strengths
1. The opera had a $5 million endowment fund
2. The opera company owned their production studios, land, sets and costumes valued at $4.8 million.
3. Anne Ewers retired $450,000 debt inherited from predecessor. She built an endowment fund and increased annual productions from one to three.
4. During her 11 year tenure Anne grew the opera company’s budget from $1.5 million to $5 million.
5. The company received financial support from local and national based foundations, companies and individuals.
Financial weaknesses
In relation to the weaknesses, it can be said that weaknesses are required to be removed so that effective steps are taken to produce good results in the future.
A. Financial weakness for organization is regarding the fact that it does not have enough funds available with it for the purpose of completing its activities in a proper and appropriate manner.
B. A financial weakness of the opera prior to the merger was their lack of fund raising effort and capability
C. The Utah Opera struggled with budget issues; the Opera struggled with their budget and had a huge debt of $450,000.

Leadership strengths
1. In house staff provided administrative, technical and artistic elements for opera production, music administration and community education. The company promoted broad public knowledge and appreciation for the opera.
2. Created opportunities for promising young artists to develop their talents and pursue careers in opera.
3. The opera staged performances annually for over 70,000 students in the State of Utah attempting to increase appreciation for the opera and to ensure the opera’s audience base.
Leadership weaknesses
A. Leadership weakness was their inability to get all chairmen to agree on all decisions that were made in the best interest of the opera.
B. Internal Process having weak negotiating ability.
C. Another weakness is the inability of leaders to influence and motivate the subordinates in a proper and appropriate manner. Leaders do not have the right kinds of skills for the purpose of taking the best out of subordinates for achieving organizational goals. In this way, it can be said that organization Utah Opera has certain leadership and financial weaknesses.

a.Recommend the key steps Anne should take to address these weaknesses to ensure a successful start of the merger.

The first step Anne should take would be to analyze each issue. The next step would be to develop an action plan that can ensure that the proposed merger benefits both organizations. The final step would be to take action and use the action plan as a guide.
1. The opera company has no identifiable weaknesses. They operate with part-time artists for their productions and contract with the Utah Symphony orchestra to play their music during their productions. They are on solid financial ground as long as they keep up their fund raising and capital campaign contributions.
Anne Ewers` steps (Financial):
A. Organization is supposed to making sure that it manages its funds appropriately and arranging enough fundraisings, performing more attractive shows to get more customers. This means that Opera will sell more tickets and earn more money.
B. Devise a plan that would make the transition from being an opera to a joined force with the symphony. Figure out ways to maintain financial stability once the entities have merged. The opera seems to have done a good with maintaining a reserve fund and financial stability, but needs to focus on meeting their fund-raising goals on their projects. Developing new ways of raising money and flexible business model Economic crisis effected Opera’s budget little but however she can still organize fundraisings and close the opening part of the budget.
C. Anne Ewers took on the general director position and was able to retire the debt of $450,000. The opera’s endowment fund had grown to $5 million and increased the production numbers increased and the number of patrons from the area grew.
Anne Ewers` steps (Leadership):
A. Create an environment for all chairmen to be able to work together in an effort to see the merger work. Also, designating roles for each chairman would be crucial for keeping staff members aware of the merger and any changes that are going to take place
B. Negotiating ability needs to be improved to operate the system successfully. This way may help to improve: Establishing a way of keeping employees satisfied is a critical to keeping and making merger work. Also, Human resources- in order to successfully negotiate contracts and salaries, collective bargaining unit should be created.
C. some brainstorming sessions for leaders will be required to be taken by organization. Leaders and managers at top level of organization are required to be taught about the importance and need of guidance and motivation for subordinates working in the organization. If such a thing will be done then, it is expected that leaders will perform their activities in a better manner in future and leadership weaknesses in organization Utah Opera will get reduced. In this way above mentioned method will help organization to get rid of leadership weaknesses.

She can grow and increased its number of production. She can do financial support locally and nationally based foundations and corporations
To achieve the goals of financial stability and tier-one status, there by expanding the UOC’s artistic potential, Anne needs to utilize V. H. Vroom’s theory of motivation to gain the support of the UOC’s executive committee and members (Kinicki, 2010)

1. Analyze the four aspects of the scorecard from the attached “Business Scorecards” for each company. Consider the following in your analysis:
The financial aspects are great for both companies. Both sides can benefit from having an increase in events and an increase in recognition. The customer base will also grow as a result. The fact that the two companies can collaborate will help generate a more pleasing effect. The internal process will be more sustainable from both sides due to the ability add more resources. I believe that both companies could survive on their own, but they can really thrive if they are together. Finally, the learning and growth potential for both sides is incredible. The merger will be the first step of growth and will create an atmosphere that any company would be fond of.
• How do these scorecards represent the differing cultures and visions of the companies?
Both companies have different goals and different strategic plans, but both visions are to provide great sound to great audiences.
They have two different cultures that are products of their respective environment.
Symphony: Environment is staid and as a result symphonies tend to be slow to change and not used to having things happen quickly.
Opera: Opera, in most communities, is second to the symphony and in order to compete must always be looking for new ways of fundraising, marketing, reaching out to the community, and communicating with the public. This had led opera companies to be , relatively speaking, much quicker to change
• Do the scorecards address the strengths and weaknesses you noted, and, if not, should they?
These scorecards focus more on the strengths rather than the weaknesses, but I believe that is what they are supposed to do. The scorecards help to create a visual appearance as to why a merger would be beneficial.
The two organizations are radically dissimilar in scale and action. In budget, the symphony predominates. More important, the opera has no performing artists under continuing contract while the symphony has an entire orchestra. The components of the opera and symphony seasons are dissimilar it is hard to imagine any economies of scale, whether in purchasing, staff, or administration. More important cultures of the opera and the symphony are very different.

B-Develop a balanced scorecard for the merged company based on the specified strategic goals.
The vision for the merged organization is to become a valued Arts organization that provides world class symphony orchestra performances and theatrical presentations of dramatic performances set to music by a nationally renowned opera house.
The business model would be to provide a sufficient number of high quality performances that would grow the new organization through increased revenue and increased patronage thus allowing business sustainability and endowment fund growth

Financial
• Strategic Goal: Being financially stable with sufficient annual profitability, focus on increasing reserve fund
• Critical Success Factor: Having fundraising sufficient to allow ticket prices to stay same as last year while using more events to increase funds.
• Measure: Having profitability increase in coming years (from $116K to $500K a year)

Customer
• Strategic Goal: Being attuned to their desires for regional, national, and world-class performances
• Critical Success Factor: Hiring top quality talent in order to excel in performances
• Measure: Receiving feedback from exiting patrons and selling out performances

Internal Process
• Strategic Goal: Having flexibility in decreasing expenses due to fundraising gaps while increasing profitability
• Critical Success Factor: Renegotiating contracts with musicians
• Measure: Improving profitability due to retention and increased sales

Learning and Growth
• Strategic Goal: Including a wider variety of symphonies offered to appeal to a more varied audience with higher quality presentation
• Critical Success Factor: Having a successful marketing campaign that advertises different symphonies to younger audience in order to increase ticket sales
• Measure: Having improved ticket sales and returning audience that can be used to cover costs

Merger of the two organizations would relieve some of the financial pressure that the symphony was facing and solve the problem of recruiting a new CEO by asking Mrs. Ewers to assume the position of CEO of the combined organizations.
Ms. Ewers is showing her trust in her new team members, and this trust will have an impact on others within the organization structure
C.Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed merged company, addressing the four aspects of the scorecard you developed in part B.
Financial
Strengths – This merger would provide the necessary reserves, expense reductions in administration, staffing and purchasing that the company needs to help sustain operations while maintain ticket prices. The combined fundraising efforts, and additional ticket sales from crossover audiences that are made possible by the merger of the two arts would be a financial positive. Weaknesses – The organization must be able to successfully market this merger to the public in order to increase ticket sales and increase audience base due to the two dissimilar arts being combined. In order for this merger to be successful the organization must be able to recruit and pay top talent to provide the quality performances required to increase audience base and increased revenue.
Customer
Strength –The merger will be considered a success if the new organization can deliver more quality performances by top talent that will increase the audience base to ensure future patron numbers. These performances must be in tune with what the patrons desire to see. Weaknesses – If the new organization fails to deliver what the public wants in terms of talent, number of performances, quality and content this merger will be labeled a failure and the financial stability and fundraising could suffer irreparably.
Internal Process Strength – The merged organization will be headed by Anne Ewers. A top talent in stage direction and fundraising who knows the opera company intimately. Economies of scale should be realized through the merging of administration, staffing and purchasing, even though the two organizations had completely different structures. The merged organization should have more clout in contract negotiations and recruitment of world class top talent. The new merged organization should also enjoy stronger management through new strategies and objectives set forth for the new company to expand and succeed. Weaknesses – If management does not follow the new strategies and objectives set forth for the new organization to expand and seize the opportunity to achieve lower costs and increased revenue through variation and expanded performances the merger will be deemed a failure in the eyes of the arts patrons and the general audiences. The economies of scale, recruiting and labor negotiating clout achieved through the merger will be lost through ineffective strategy implementation and the organization’s revenues will decrease.
Learning and Growth Strengths – This merger would allow the organization to attract new world class talent. This type of merger is very rare and management can use that as a selling point in their recruitment. This merger of the two arts will create new educational opportunities for up and coming artists. The more world class talent that the organization can recruit and the more quality performances that could be produced will grow the organization and help it achieve solid financial stability. Weaknesses – If management is not successful in their talent recruiting efforts or producing the quality performances that the patrons are accustomed to then the organization will be hard pressed to attract new artists and new audiences to sustain growth and profitability.

The companies merging can help create financial stability with higher customer retention while increasing the speed of growth and learning. Internal processes between both companies will help them to excel.
Merger will increase the new entity`s ability to attract worl-class artists, maximize efficiency of administration and planning, give donors a greater return on their investment and create new educational opportunities.

D. Identify one highly probable issue that could arise during the merger process for each of the following areas:
• Finance – The merger could create too high of overhead costs. There was a concern about Financial strength of the opera vis-à-vis the symphony. The opera had a reserve fund and was financially stable and because of the business model could be flexible and adjust the size of the opera or eliminate projects that had not reached their fund-raising goal.
The Symphony , on the other hand, was a 52-week orchestra that did not have that flexibility. Another concern was that even though the opera could become a tier-one arts organization through the merger, the opera would lose its identity.
• Human resources – This department could lose focus with too much to deal with.
Some of the musicians openly accused the symphony board of having entered into merger discussions as an excuse and ploy to reopen and renegotiate the terms of the current collective agreement.
People lost their job during merging process
• Customer satisfaction – Customer satisfaction could suffer if the company expands to rapidly. From the public`s perspective , merger was two-head organization. One person provides the artiscis vision and other person seeks,secures and manages the financial resources. Utah Opera,on the other hand, was a good regional opera company, but it had not yt reached the status of the symphony.
One community member, a prominent Utah businessperson who contacted the consultant, disputed the suggestion that the merger would save costs.
Name change can cause the customers` morale drop.
They did good job because they did all the step one by one. They tried to solve all of the problems step by step.
1.Recommend mitigating actions that the new merged company executive could take.
Mitigating actions that the new merged company executive could take include:
• Increased group participation
• Shared meetings with both company leaders
• Increase focus on different aspects of the company
• Shared management techniques
Anne needs to consider each of her constituents carefully before deciding how best to respond to them and how best to proceed with the integration should the respective boards decide in favor of the merger.
Ewers understood that she needed the support of the local community I the merger was going to succeed
Again, to achieve the goals of financial stability and tier-one status, there by expanding the UOC’s artistic potential, Anne would need to utilize V. H. Vroom’s theory of motivation to gain the support of the UOC’s executive committee and the orchestra members.( Kreitner , 2010,)
Ewers understood that she needed the support of the local community I the merger was going to succeed
Goal Setting theory of motivation: Dr. Edwin Locke’s research on goal setting and motivation in the 1960’s, states that people are motivated when the have clear goals to achieve with appropriate feedback of their performance. Dr. Locke’s research pointed out that specific goals achieve higher performance than non-specific ones, i.e. you should work harder, a non-specific goal that would produce less performance than the more specific goal of you should increase your output .
References:
Kreitner, Robert and Kinicki, Angelo (2010). Organizational Behavior, 9th edition, McGraw-Hill publishing. Retrieved April 28, 2011, from: http://wgu.coursesmart.com/