Kurt Herler
Willem van der Lee
When Heineken bought BBAG, it faced the enormous task of inte
grating a company with 6,800 employees and a distinct cultural her
itage. The sheer size of the takeover - BBAG is Heineken's biggest
purchase, representing a quarter of its business - demanded a fresh
approach to integration, one where respect for each other's differ
ences would be key to fostering understanding and acceptance.
BRIDGING DIFFERENCES OVER A BEER: PAVI
NG THE WAY TO UNITY
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'The integration wasn't just about implement
ing the Heineken model,' says Kurt Herler,
head of Brau Union's Human Resources
department. 'We started out thinking about
how we could preserve and use the best
ideas from both companies.'
The two companies formulated a set of
integration principles to safeguard the inter
ests of customers, employees and other
stakeholders.The benefits principle made
sure every decision would be weighed against
the benefits it would bring to stakeholders.
The opportunity principle put the emphasis
on developing career opportunities for
employees. The fairness principle prescribed
an open corporate culture. Most-important,
the two companies defined a consideration
principle based on respect for each other's
history and past performance in decisions
taken for the future. With these principles
established, the brewers' integration teams
and the management teams for the countries
involved met in Vienna, Austria, to outline an
integration plan.
'People were invited to socialise within the
parameters of these principles,' says Willem
van der Lee, who represented Heineken's
Human Resources department in the integra
tion process. 'People had to get to know and
trust each other first.'
Day one was a fun day: participants learn
ed about each other's corporate history, dis
cussed the principles as a charter for working
together and got to know each other over a
bottle of beer. The second day was devoted
to substantive discussions about the process
itself- hard work, according to Willem van
der Lee, who was impressed with the impor
tance given to the social aspects of inte
gration. The hard work was worth it, because
it helped win the trust of BBAG employees.
'This approach gave the people in the BBAG
organisation the feeling that they could
participate and contribute to something new,'
says Brau Union's Kurt Herler. 'It enabled
them to put together their own agenda and
come up with their own proposals.' The whole
is greater than the sum of its parts. While
Heineken can learn from BBAG's pragmatism
and low-cost focus, BBAG can learn from
Heineken's vision and worldwide approach
to business. Cultural differences have not
caused any problems so far, thanks directly
to the clarity, focus and respect underlying
the integration process, according to Willem
van der Lee. For him, differences stimulate
creativity. 'There's much to gain from diver
sity,' he says.
Information to employees as%oftotol numberof employees
Employees are informed about developments in the company
Employees are consulted on developments in the company
Employee satisfaction is structurally measured
Privacy of employees is guaranteed
There is an internal complaints procedure
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49
85
15
60
40
15
