Lenovo’s Acquisition of IBM: Cross-Cultural Leadership

Introduction

Chinese culture and civilization is one of the particularly elder culture followed in the earth. At the same time, Chinese civilization and customs expresses a challenge amid at a multiplicity of towns and regions. Culture is a fundamental part of conflict and conflict Management. Also cultures are one of the most powerful aspects of the business that are regularly unconscious. Cultures are well-established in all conflict for the reason that conflicts occur in human relations. Culture is always a feature in conflict, whether it acts as a central place or influences it finely and smoothly.

The mission statement of the Lenovo Company is to offer is businesses and customers by means of smarter methods to be creative, well-organized and competitive and to improve their individual lives. “Conflict management requires recognition that conflict is occurring. However, often there is no such recognition. Boundaries are often violated, behaviorally or verbally, by apparent abusers, harassers or aggressors unaware of the effects of their actions. And some people perceive no constraint on their actions. Sometimes also, those who are injured are not able to understand — or find it hard to name – what has happened” (Miller 2010).

The acquition of Lenovo by IBM leads to various cross-cultural conflicts. So that proper leadership must be sustained to overcome these difficulties. Cross cultural variation is the one of the significant problems faced by the firm at the time of acquition of the cone company with another. The member of staff of the recent year is gradually more varied and multicultural. To competently organize and direct in the surrounding, Human Resource Manager must be well-informed on the subject of cross-cultural issues on uniformly the domestic and worldwide faces in Human Resources Management. The Human Resource manager of the corporation must hold physically powerful leadership in order to conquer these difficulties.

Lenovo is mainly a Chinese based computer technology and at the same time IBM is a non-Chinese organization.This cultural integration leads to conflict. A leader of the organization is a person who situates the vision, describes success, and establishes the measurements of accomplishment will be more efficient than the identical leader who desires to situate the vision, but rejects to take on any job in the organization part. “As 81% of Lenovo’s products are for commercial use, the company looks to be the largest victim among all computer makers of the current financial crisis. And due to reorganization expenses, Lenovo predicts a loss for its third fiscal quarter, which ended on December 31, 2008, and estimates a similar loss in its fourth fiscal quarter. Impending loss expectations for straight two quarters have rumors of Yang Yuanqing’s resignation circulating” (Botched integration and Lenovo faces reorganization, 2009).

Conflict management necessitates a managerial Ombudsman to be approachable to how civilization may have a consequence on the visions and events of those concerned. The beginning of a conflict stimulates citizen’s gray matter and this is precious for the company. The key individuality of cross-cultural amalgamation of human resources is the organization and completing of a collection of consistent principles in the course of the trade. Cultural incorporation of each organization is a must and also it has a most momentous effect on the organizations strong development. Cultural clash and interface between the Chinese and non-Chinese member of staff’ obstructions in Lenovo produces an unhappy job environment, manipulates positive cooperation and employment success. So that mixture of the Chinese and non-Chinese employee’s should start on by means of the frank contact and mutual understanding. In order to overcome all these troubles the leader of the organization must be well informer and ready to cope with all the changes in the incorporation of Lenovo with IBM. “A place for sharing reflections on the HR profession and how we can best help the organizations, employees and managers we support grow, develop, and succeed. A place to take stock reflects on progress, and move forward with hope and confidence” (Brisciana 2010).

Thus, the cultural features surrounding Lenovo desires to believe the after effects of the slump that has hit the PC market, especially Lenovo and the ways and means by which this could be marginalized and countermanded. Conflict areas do arise, in particular in human resource building by means of a large staff force, as commanded by the Lenovo management. This would be more than obvious. Thus, it is imperative that strategies are built up to lecture to cultural conflict areas, especially by way of regard to the Lenovo- IBM takeover. The main issue related to Lenovo till the IBM takeover was dealing with low end PC and was ranked eighth in world ratings. Cross cultural impact in any of the organization leads to increase the brand as well as to increase the customer loyalty. “Cross- Cultural Management has uncovered many of the keys to making cross-cultural operations work much more successfully, and has continued to show organizations what enormous benefits they can hope to achieve, once they gain understanding and respect for the cultural factors at work” (Cross-cultural management, n.d).

About the companies: Lenovo and IBM

Lenovo is a Chinese based cosmopolitan computer Know-how corporation that builds up, produce and uphold desktop and note pad PCs, servers , Information Technology administration software, terminal , storages mechanism and allied services. Lenovo was established in the year of 1984 by 11 Chinese researchers with RMB200, 000 in seed cash. “Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is dedicated to building exceptionally engineered personal computers. Lenovo’s business model is built on innovation, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction as well as a focus on investment in emerging markets” (Lenovo, 2010).

The Lenovo is the company which had made the historic association with the IBM in bringing up the long term relation ship and in enriching the value of the customers, and clients. The company mainly aims in making the end to end solutions and cent percentage usability satisfaction to the clients. The company Lenovo has been known as the best provider of the branded IBM computers, laptops and the desktops. “Lenovo has the leading position in the fastest growing market in the world. Their acquisition of IBM’s PC business makes them the third largest PC supplier in the world. In addition, the people of ThinkPad notebooks and Think Centre desktops are now part of the Lenovo team — the award-winning engineers, the manufacturing teams, the sales representatives, the business partners. In short, the people you know” (IBM and Lenovo: Working with leaders, n.d).The IBM is the company which was the largest producer of the world’s largest computers and employing around 40000 employees world wide. IBM owns much of the patents in comparison to any other US information technology company.

Background

The study mainly deals with the cross cultural and the human resource selection practices in the organization are important, the study here deal with HR and the cultural traits of the organization lenovo and the IBM. The acquisition of the company and how the socio cultural and the human resource management have the effect on the acquisition are to be considered. The cultural factors are much important in determining the success and the identification of the usual norms practiced in the organization and how the merger and the acquisition gets affected in an organization.

The study mainly deals with the case study and the analysis of how the acquisition of the IBM by the lenovo had created the impact and on the socio cultural affects on the company and the human resources division of the company.

The cultural and the human competition emerge from numerous backgrounds mostly known as Cultural background. The performing of the each and every thing in particular culture may be different from the other culture. The vital aspect is the best in a culture, can be diverse and awful in other culture. At certain instances the behavior are similar in the different cultures, with various meaning and interpretations. The cross cultural management is in the scene when the people with the various cultures, tradition and the background come together in the group interact, communicate and interchange the ideas to the fellow beings.

Certain people are in support of the globe is congregate; all things are available to be same. The people are in dispute by saying the world has discrepancy. They don’t conflict against a special issue and learn the art of managing the various divergence are also found as the agent of the success.

The culture and the tradition are very much important for the success of the business and the culture according to IBM means the value, tradition, principles, beliefs attitudes, personality and the norms inside the company. ”The insights from the IBM’s tangible culture approach suggest that the observed principles and practices can be considered as a surrogate for corporate culture and according to Molten Reger the business practices are the informal rules that tell people about the execution of the work by the use of the same principles, policies, measures and technologies that the organization use” (Scherer n.d, p.1).

The human resources leadership in IBM is much worthy and they contribute directly and indirectly for the success in the operation of the company. The HR is the back bone and the catalyst of the company in the various operations in the market. The main functions of the HR executives in the IBM are:

• “Understanding the impact of both globalization and changing workforce demographics on the supply of talent
• Determining the drivers of employee retention and developing strategies for retaining top performers
• Engaging with the corporate strategy process to determine the need for critical skills and capabilities
• Balancing the supply and demand for talent on a dynamic basis within and across business units” (How human resources keeps its seat at the table, 2006).

The HR department in the company inspects a choice of options for organizing the talents and the potentials of the employees and the happening and the reduction of the talents in the concern. At times the keen focus by the IBM is on the mounting substitute preparations which facilitate individuals to effort on a extra flexible source, in terms of the number of extra working hours to compensate for the potentials and hours worked or the locality from which perform the same.

The others investigate the various means to magnetize and preserve the employees and the other marginal groups that are have been more difficult to grasp onto in preceding years. “HR used to be very transaction oriented, very much a cop role,” added her colleague Bill Souders. “HR really needs to be an enabling function.” Souders said he thought preserving and evolving company culture—“the thing that glues together behaviors and expectations”—was a crucial strategic role for HR. Emory University’s Maryam Alavi added that to be a catalyst for strategic change,HR would need to focus on creating a work environment that promotes continuous learning” (Gaining competitive advantage through human resource management, 2005, p.3).

Hofstede Model

Since the American and Chinese approach to work ethos and practice of HRM skills are very different, it is necessary to consider the Hofstede Model for a better data analysis of their respective culture impacts. The Hofstede Model considers aspects like power distance, collectivism, masculinity, individualism and high uncertainty avoidance as salient aspects in identifying and understanding cultural gulfs. This is also necessary in the Sino-American IBM- Lenovo deal wherein disparate and discrete cultural differentiations are very much present.

Power distance: This is very high and ardently practiced in China in terms of reverence and respect for elders and senior hierarchies are distanced from lower ones, but US, for one, has low power distance in its rank and file. Americans tend to treat people equally and enforce rules consistently, while hierarchy levels may not be strictly enforced like in the Chinese cases. This could impact the IBM –Lenovo in those culture reconciliations in terms of power distance must be effected if the accord needs to be effectively pursued.

Collectivism, another trait laid down by Hofstede, is very high in the context of China, wherein group efforts are given greater importance, but this is not so in the case of the United States wherein individualistic attributes and competencies are appreciated and rewarded. One must remembered the cultural backgrounds of both these countries and the impact collectivism has had on administration and corporate conduct. China is largely influenced by collectivist systems while US is very less influenced, and here individual competencies and abilities have more prominence.

Coming to the next aspect of masculinity, it cannot be denied that China is indeed a male dominated society and the culture, perhaps in a more sophisticated and covert way, is still prevalent. Gender differentiation is quite marked and determines the respective roles the male and female gender plays in society. In the US, conversely, women managers and executives are perhaps as sought after as their male counterparts, and they are given equal status. While China’s thinking is indeed awakening and broader perspectives taken, it would take more time for China to catch up with their Western counterpart in breaking down gender differentiations.

Chinese are by culture, risk averse and this also confers upon them high uncertainty avoidance traits. Americans, on the other hand, have low uncertainty avoidance characteristics and this is evident from their high risk bearing, innovative and creative approach to work.

IBM personality Bruce Anderson cite the model of the HR which states the precise challenge the HR in IBM must look into, they form mainly the requirement of a talents, potentials and the, high abrasion rate in the business. The IBM business has changed with a much increase in the percentage of from the preceding years. Clarified by Anderson. Accordingly they are much overwhelming and mainly bring up all the variety of the informal group in the participating and practicing the culture, by increase in the production and the profitability. The major challenge in the company dealing with the HR are mainly receiving and being parallel with the business approach by not considering the previous talents and the work carried out in the past.

The other main confront quoted by employees consists of make sure constancy transversely the venture, and pace the dynamic changes in the culture and take pains to the organization’s facility. The operations are excessively rapid for element of the association and way much deliberate for next set of operations, so it is much important to identify how to be in acceptable and in unique terms with the company.

The HR and the IT are much interrelated within any of the organization and the relationship with the different kind of the organizations has the greater impact on the success in the operations, the HR collaboration are much strengthened and they posses the keen ability in looking at the nook and corner of the organization and in dealing with the various outsourcing in the IT sector.

The Department has been one of the largest part and prosperous are the HR, The IT in the organization are the major earners and the order recipients in the organization,they have the increased role of the business and the corporate leader and it makes the various services much smoother.

The HR leadership in the Lenovo are much interesting as the company had to face the various kinds of the HR issues and the challenges, the main issues that have to be faced by the company are the quality related issues, affect in the supply cadre where there is much shortage in the talents and the potentials of the people, this also lead to the increased level of the demand for the companies products and the shortage in the workforce and the talents imbibe a serious issue in the market.

The major HR implications of the company are dealing with the employee turnover, promotion issues, wages, the employee turnover is a serious menace which the company gets affected and “with the paucity of good local managers and leaders in China, turnover is high and poaching is rife. Getting good staff is only half the battle; the other half is keeping them , Employees are even more mobile in large coastal cities , in bustling Shanghai and Guangdong province, some companies lose a third of their employees every year” (Luo, Duerring & Byham n.d).

The promotion issue mainly deal with the increment in the operations and the work carried out in the organization, the different kind of the promotions include the changes in the operations, process and the various kind of the training imparted when a person is at the new process in the organization.

The transfer of the employees by the organization creates a major issue as they wont be comfortable with the new work location, atmosphere, nature of operations and the climate, the physical comfort of the people lead to various kind of the distortions and the poor performances of the employees.

Literature Review

Lenovo is the Chinese multinational company dealing with the computer service and its technologies, which has a major share in Chinese market. It was the fourth largest PC sellers in the world in 2009. Lenovo is among the world’s biggest manufacturers and marketers of the laptops, IT software and desktops and are going on with high significance and vision. This company is offering variety of products like ThinkPad notebooks which are helpful for the business users and the students or common peoples. The business aim of the Lenovo is made on the client happiness and they are keen to invest in the It world market. They are focused in the operational effectiveness and novelty. They established their research study centers in countries like Japan, China, USA.

Lenovo is the worlds Largest PC makers. In China it is “LIAN XIANG” which means that never changes. Lenovo chosen over foreign rival for being the domestic manufacturer. This is the company which exists in China but nowadays shows its presents whole over the world. Its production model centers on novelty, operational competence, client fulfillment and speculation in rising markets. Lenovo is developing and marketing computer systems more effectively after its acquisition of IBM PC division. There was a global demand for Lenovo products outside China, post acquisition of IBM. Lenovo set up the first ‘ThinkPad’ onto the market. There comes lot of bewilderment when the argument that Lenovo is a Chinese government front to pilfer the technology and detective on the west. Much of the book is simply a year by year evaluation of Lenovo business that fails to make different between regular and strategically noteworthy action. It contains many grey areas regarding the nexus between Lenovo and the Chinese government, which is its major stakeholder, along with empirical issues concerning approach of this company, its financial base and its success story. “Currently, the company operates only through the multi-brand retail format. It is now eyeing growth in the Indian market on the back of consolidation in the commercial segment and upping targets for enterprise customers. The company launched a range of products in the Z-series notebooks, which have features such as Dolby advance sound system, 1-key data system and a metallic finish, found in premium category notebooks. “(Lenovo eyes 30% growth this fiscal, 2010).

Lenovo acquired the IT giants IBM Corporations in 2005 for around $1.75 billion. They have the agreement to sell the IBM branded laptops and notebooks through this. International Business Machines (IBM) which is an US based company is one of the most precious international brands in the world. Through the attainment of IBM, they had the opportunity to produce and promote high quality, consistent, safe and accessible technology products and services globally. As this Chinese company made the decision to acquire the US company, it is necessary to prevail over a numerous challenges as like human resources management, product varieties, international procedures, economics and rigid obstructions. Conquering the skilled and talented human resource potentials and creating global names were some of the major difficulties faced by these companies. “Chinese companies are struggling to develop a senior management team with the skills necessary to operate effectively on a global scale – such as familiarity with foreign markets, foreign language skills and experience managing global operations” (Going global prospects and challenges for Chinese companies on the world stage, 2006, p.7).

The cultures are having more importance in building a relationship and are the basic to that association. Therefore it is fundamental to review the cross-cultural characters of correlation building in a global world. According to Krishnamurthy Sriramesh and Dejan Vercic in their book entitled “The global relations handbook: theory, research and practice” describes the Chinese cultural distinctiveness as the family directions and relationship directional methods including position making in a family, individual contacts and communications, appearance, goodwill, contact agreement, fatalistic connection, willpower association, will affects the correlation promotion approaches of some of the multinational companies in China. The acquisition of IBM made the Lenovo to introduce their technologies worldwide. This made Lenovo to reach the customers with a strong background in the international market. At first, as a Chinese company Lenovo was considered as a low quality product manufactures in the market.

Later Lenovo has made the deal of the producer of several personal computers and become the world’s third largest PC manufactures. Through this the IBM also obtained the knowledge in Chinese market and they were able to sell their services in China. All these made a profitable growth for the Lenovo in the global market. Computers and the IT services made the difference in the world market by this. Consumers are strained to promote their own PCs to draw attention. The business PCs are more purchased with special features. In the Chinese market, Lenovo made the biggest varieties. With the acquisition of IBM, Lenovo entered the world market globally, attracting the separate group of users. Functioning together, IBM and Lenovo will be able to provide outstanding worth in PCs for companies, with the same investigation and expansion, class mechanisms, trade, service, maintenance, financial side, and enduring dealings in which the customers enjoying currently.

Lenovo’s acquisition of IBM made the Lenovo to set its goals internationally than in Chinese domestic market. They co-ordinated their organization’s headquarters and integrated the management of the both organizations. There was a hard task of merging the employees and managers in US and China. The cross-cultural differences from the two continents made them to think for a proper management. “Lenovo’s experience illustrates the importance of the home country for an international company. In addition, Lenovo’s merger presents a rare instance of a global company changing its headquarters to take advantage of technology, management, and customer relationships in another country. With a strong presence in both countries, the company would derive significant production and sales advantages” (Spulber 2007, p.194).

According to Caligury et al., the cross-cultural management is defined as the involvement intended to boost the facts and the talents of the people from the outsiders to assist them to activate efficiently in the alien mass culture. According to Monir H. Tayeb in his book ‘International human resource management: a multinational company perspective’ explained the cross-cultural training

• “should enable expatriates to determine in advance the appropriate cultural behaviors and suitable ways of performing necessary tasks in the host country;
• should help expatriates cope with unforeseen events in the new cultures and reduce conflict due to unexpected situations and actions’
• Should create realistic expectations for expatriates with respect to living and working in the host country” (Tayed 2005, p.188).

There will be some cultural variations among the employees of Lenovo and IBM, as it is from two parts of the world. In the business world, these cross-cultural variations will sometimes make a huge effect. In the book named, International management in China: cross cultural issues, Jan Selmer explain as: “differences in intra-cultural conflict management may not generalize to intercultural conflict. That is, people may use different strategies in conflict management when someone from another culture is involved. Therefore, people working in bicultural teams might be expected to use different strategies to manage conflict with the people from a different culture or same culture” (Selmer1998, p.31).

There will be more responsibilities to the leaders or management in both companies. There are different sort of employees in the Lenovo and IBM, who are having different ideas and they likes to implicate their own ideas to their subordinates. This will make some sort of variations in the cultural level. “In a global context, where leaders are responsible for intercultural enterprise, layers of culture create even more complexity to the leader’s adaptive competence. In intercultural situations, the leader is adapting to or within a cultural context. In such cases, the leader’s alignment of cognitive, attitudinal structure and behavior must take into consideration the cultural expectations” (Moran et al 2007, p.103).

In this multinational corporation, the professional were selected by the skilled persons based on their relevant experience and the perfect background and also based on their performance. These skilled persons also cause cross-cultural conflicts because of the Chinese-US acquisition.

According to Finkelstein and Cooper in their book entitled ‘Advance in Merger and acquisitions’ explains the common variables of the merger and acquisitions. Apart from the managerial or general cultural differences, there will be different affiliation to the level of incorporation. The procedures for these connections are unclear and the effect on the performance level is indistinct. The association between the common variables and the acquisition act is multifaceted and it required an improved support than the prevailing structures. There is an association between the involvement point and the cultural variations. These may be an uncertainty between the holder and the purchased group. The various general cultures will make the various stages of involvement.

According to Colin Silverthome in his book, Organizational psychology in cross-cultural perspective, tells the culture include the persistent and intensely detained inherent ideas. As these cultures differ and the diverse civilization will not segregate all the same values, it is logical to think that the personal behaviors will also change across the different cultures. There will be sufficient support that this national civilization will have an influence on performance at work. “Lenovo believes that this deal will help it create a global brand. IBM’s new direction means it will concentrate on large systems and providing consultancy and business solutions for organizations that wish to outsource their IT management” (Doole & Lowe 2007, p.74).

Lenovo is a global leader in the pc market, employing above 19,000 people world wide. It is main businesses are the sale and manufacturing of personnel computers, mobile telephone hand sets, computer servers and printers. A team of eleven engineers initiated this company way back in 1984 in Beijing City. IBM has occupied in an historic alliance with Lenovo. Then it has acquired the top spot in the world’s rising market. The acquirement of IBM’s personal computer leads them to reach the third major pc dealers in the world. At first, they initiated trouble in suggesting PCs to the Chinese people at a sensible price.

By using the brand name, Legend, it motivates PC culture in China and also initiated a new Legend character card which translates English language into Chinese language. This was scheduled on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1994 and rebranded as Lenovo in 2003. The company went power and dominated the Chinese market with more than 250f market share in 2004.

There are Chinese companies have gained the world’s concentration with several determined, high profile cross-border mergers and acquisitions. This deal, the Chinese government is the largest share holder of the acquiring firms. ”As such, it may be the case that the Chinese government pushes through such deals even though they are not in the best interests of minority shareholders, giving rise to principal–principal conflicts. Along these lines, we hypothesize that increased government ownership in the acquiring firm will be associated with investors viewing a cross-border merger deal in less favorable terms” (Cross-borders mergers and acquisitions by Chinese listed companies: A principal-principal perspective, 2009).

The acquisition of the IBM personal computer business by the Chinese multinational Lenovo demonstrated that multinational from developing countries could bypass the incremental process of technology accumulation through acquisition. “The main purpose of the acquisition was for Lenovo to become a world player. In order to become a world player, the managers at Lenovo were required to imbibe skills and business culture of IBM. However, they first needed to have trust in the IBM staff who are supposed to help them develop” (Meek, et al. 2007, p.8).

The main reasons of the two companies for the merger are balancing, such that, equally companies want to increase their market share and focus on given that good service to their target market. “IBM desires to innovate and develop its products to increase its profit, while Lenovo has the capacity to innovate and develop but lack the strategy in targeting its market. With these reasons, the merger of the companies a “match made in heaven” (Lenovo’s IBM route, 2009).

According Sandra Bell in his book international brand management of Chinese companies says that Chinese companies in changing business environment and role of brand management when going-international and she also says the going global of Chinese companies. (Sandra bell, international brand management of Chinese companies)

According to Nuray Aykin in his usability and internationalization: HCl and culture: second international says that activities for usability in Lenovo china. First, the development and the present position of use in China will be initiated; a fundamental stream of user behavior is précised. Lastly, several consequences of actions for use practical to Lenovo will be shown. (Nuray Aykin, usability and internationalization: HCl and culture: second international

According to Ting Wang in his book called understanding Chinese culture and learning says that, Chinese learning society have been very much manipulated by Chinese society generally and Confucianism in exacting for many centuries. In a lot of disciplines of consideration in Chinese conventional civilization, Confucianism has been played a significant influence. “Conflict management refers to the social processes by which people pursue their grievances against one another” (Morrill 1996, p.2).

According to jianxun Huici shi, in his book mergers and acquisitions in china: impacts of WTO accession says that Lenovo acquired IBM for a total of US$1.75 billion of which US$650 million was cash. The transaction included US$600 million in Lenovo group stock and a transfer of debt worth US$500 million. Mergers and acquisition in china in deals analysis of result of the acquisition that include market share, profitability ,access to technology of Lenovo and IBM and competitive advantages of IBM and Lenovo. Lenovo has customers and whole marketing and sales association in Chinese market, while IBM has a large sales group in the global market.IBM has done extremely well with notebook computers and Lenovo has leading PC technology. (Jianxun Huici shi, mergers and acquisitions in china: impacts of WTO accession).

According to Helen Meet, Richard Meek, Roger palmer, Lynn Parkinson in his book called managing marketing performance says that the main purpose of the acquisition was for Lenovo become a world player. To do these Lenovo managers were required to acquire IBM skills and business culture. However, they first needed to have trust in the IBM staff who were supposed to help them develop. (Helen Meet, Richard Meek, Roger palmer, Lynn Parkinson, Helen Meet, Richard Meek, Roger palmer, Lynn Parkinson.)

According to Ricky W. Griffin, in his book fundamentals of management says that the personal computer is based on intensely competitive. In the IBM acquisition thrust in Lenovo has third place, behind rivals dell and Hewlett-Packard. Yet with Dell’s investment of $16 billion in china in 2006. Internally Lenovo has mastered several key skills, including low cost, efficient manufacturing and supply chain management. He also says Lenovo is laboring under an unusual and complex management structure and the company is 27 percent owned by the Chinese academy of sciences, IBM owns 10 percentages, 15 percentages is owned by employees, 10 percent by private investors, and 35 percent by public shareholders. (Ricky W. Griffin, fundamentals of management.)

According to Daniel F Spulber, Lenovo valuated from being the eight largest Pc makers in the world to the third – largest, after Dell and Hewlett- Packard (HP). Computer companies operating in China had been cutting their PC price and Lenovo expected further price pressures. The new Lenovo policy set forth after Lenovo acquired the PC business from IBM. Cross culture training is necessary for coaching employees who come from various regions and thus imbibe various cultures. In the present context, Lenovo is perhaps the best known Chinese brand. The global strategy used was based fundamentally on global consolidation of its human resources.

According to Marina Yue Zhang & Bruce W Stening Lenovo has built five manufacturing plants in china , two in India, and one each in Poland and the united states. It has more than 2000 engineers in product design and development centers spread among Beijing, Tokyo and Raleigh, North Carolina.(CHINA:2.0;”The transformation of emerging super power and the new opportunity “ by Marina Yue Zhang& Bruce W Stening). “Lenovo’s strength is its unusual nature. IBM finally decided retain 13.4% hold over the reconstituted company, instead of selling all their stakes, and as Liu had wanted, use the help of IBM executives for the day to day operations of the new company. It was a give and take partnership. IBM outsourcing its PC business to Lenovo and this company in turn, “outsourced much of its management and sales to IBM” (Lenovo and IBM: East meets west, big-time, 2005).

HR Practices in Lenovo

Charles M. Vance & Yongsun Paik says in their book “MANAGING A GLOBAL WORKFORCE ”the acquisition signaled that corporations from developing nations are ready to search the world for biggest business opportunities and the best employees along with their advanced nation counterparts. Lenovo immediately offered employment to the IBM executive team and all 10,000 employees. Lenovo left IBM PC division staff in place, with a substantial number of HR professionals in Raleigh, North Carolina, London, Sydney, Australia, as well as a small team in purchase, New York, to focus on strategic issues. The fundamental or principles of how we transitioned people to the new organization and the design and the structure of their policies and practices were driven at global level, but they have strong team of people around the world. (MANAGING A GLOBAL WORKFORCE by Charles M. Vance & Yongsun Paik) Amy Kates, Jay R. Galbraith in their book “DESGN YOUR ORGANIZATION” says even most successful domestic company faces a new array of complex challenges as it moves in to the international arena

• How to manage power relation ships and decision rights among country managers, global product manager, customer segments, and corporate functions.
• How to bridge difference of time and culture when adapting home grown success formulas to new environments.
• How to manage the balance between local nationals and expatriate staff and build a global talent pool.

“Lenovo has begun to struggle, and has faired particularly badly in the face of the financial crisis. It was lacking both a clear direction and a strong corporate culture. This was having a massive impact on organizational performance – on February 5th Lenovo announced a loss of $96.7million for quarter 4 of 2008. However, the events that followed this clearly showed that intangible factors can play a major role in producing tangible results” (Lenovo harness HR intangibles, 2009).

Jin Chen in his book” Technology innovation and HRM” the field interview showed the most of Chinese collectively- owned enterprises are under transformation in to shareholding or multiple-ownership system with entrepreneurial approaches to start their new business, renew their HR strategies and develop high- performance culture. Both Lenovo group and Haier group are among the most successful collectively owned entrepreneurial firms in their interview sample. Lenovo being the most successful PC makers in the world. “Successfully held in Beijing on Nov. 10, 2005, the 8th China STAFF Annual Human Resource Award, the grand annual event of China’s human resources set 17 different awards for outstanding HR practitioners and teams, best practices and the service providers who make a difference in the professional field of HR in China, including HR Team of the Year, HR Manager of the Year, Innovation in HR Software, Best Staffing Strategy, etc.” (Platinum China award 2005 innovation in HR software by China staffs magazine, 2010).

Become a partner in the International Olympic Committee, the international brand strategy as the core of Lenovo, the Lenovo Olympic marketing has become the main theme of sports marketing. The control of Olympic bumper year, the spread of small annual pace has been the focus of internal discussions Lenovo.

Methodology

A research methodology is a planned practice or a step by step expansion in realizing an assured task or function. A methodology spends different means in realizing the final result by integrating different techniques. Research intended for toward the increase of facts, the primary plan being a superior information or understanding of the topic under study. This research learn discloses the fact that civilization and educational suggestions play a major position, particularly in the case of MNC like Lenova, which, is China based, boasts of a multi-cultural work force. Besides, there is also a fact that the MNC’s in China and other places conducts operations that are definitely exposed to western influences which help to shape its corporate destinies. “Cross-cultural management is a difficult but hot issue in human resources management. It is also a worldwide problem. The globalization of the economy calls for international managers and it is a big trend for China to be close to the world” (Cross-cultural human resources management, n.d, p.402).

A methodology employs diverse means in accomplishing the ultimate result by incorporating diverse methods. Cultural clash and dealings along by way of the Chinese and non-Chinese employee’s obstacles in Lenovo causes an unhappy job atmosphere, manipulates positive cooperation and employment success. Leadership is the one of the important aspects that need to be considered at the time of studying the cross cultural management. “Research methodology is taught as a supporting subject in several ways in many disciplines at various levels by people committed to a variety of research paradigms” (Kumar 2005, p.16).

A methodology employs dissimilar modes in realizing the definitive outcome by incorporating dissimilar practices. Research methodology directed in the route of the increase of awareness, the primary plan being a superior information or understanding of the topic under study. “ IBM has set the agenda for the industry with ‘on demand business’ – a kind of transformation where an organisation changes the way it operates and reduces costs; serving customers better, reducing risks and improving speed and agility in the marketplace.” (About IBM, n.d).

Data gathering is another important aspect of the research study. So that, the research methodology is to understanding cross-cultural management and leadership of human resource management practice within the, Lenovo proceed the next step that is the data gathering and analysis of the study. The data gathering for this study is chiefly done by method of well structured questionnaires in the human resources in Lenovo. “Formed by Lenovo Group’s acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, Lenovo is a new world company that develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services worldwide. Operating in more than 60 countries, we are dedicated to serving the needs of our customers, partners, investors, employees and local communities with a business model that is based on: Innovation, Customer satisfaction, Sustainability, Operational efficiency” (About Lenovo, n.d).

The research plan is valuable categorizing and evaluating the variety of methods in performing the research and occupies in the judgment making subsequent study of the information collected. This will also helps to create the construction block of the research scheme. The research method used for analyzing the cultural differences in the Lenova is the observation based study. Both qualitative and quantitative Research is used to undertake the Research study. The relative importance’s of these two types of research methods is important to carry out the most powerful research method. In order to understand the cross-cultural management and leadership of human resource management practice most adequate research methods is very much essential. The acquition of Lenovo with IBM leads to various cross-cultural conflicts. So that proper leadership must be maintained to overcome these difficulties. Cross cultural variation is the one of the important problems faced by the company at the time of acquition of the cone company with another. The employee of the current year is increasingly varied and multicultural. To efficiently organize and direct in the surrounding, Human Resource Manager must be well-informed on the subject of cross-cultural issues on equally the domestic and worldwide faces in Human Resources Management. So that it is very much vital to understand about these multicultural aspects of the company.

Research plan

The research plan is most important categorizing and appraising the variety of methods in completing the research and occupies in the judgment creating subsequent study of the all the information are collected. This will also facilitates to generate the production block of the research idea. The research process used for analyzing the cultural differences in the Lenovo is the observation based study. The Cultural dissimilarity in the midst of the two different communities illustrates “two side-edged blades” that may be sometimes confidently or unenthusiastically connected by means of routines of the businesses depending on possibilities.

Qualitative Research

The qualitative process considers the why and how in decision production approach. In the existing scenario, the key worth of the cultural differences within Lenovo leads to the conflict in the organizations. This is mainly because of their diversity among the cultural aspects. One of the most popular methods used to assess the cultural variation within the organization is the Observation based study that is much supportive in the variety of recognition of the potential data. The method we adopt to understand the cross-cultural management and leadership of human resource management practice is the participant observation.

“Participant observation is appropriate for collecting data on naturally occurring behaviors in their usual contexts.

• In-depth interviews are optimal for collecting data on individuals’ personal histories, perspectives, and experiences, particularly when sensitive topics are being explored.
• Focus groups are effective in eliciting data on the cultural norms of a group and in generating broad overviews of issues of concern to the cultural groups or subgroups represented” (Qualitative research methods overview, n.d, p.2).

There is an extensive diversity of techniques that are very widespread and common in qualitative dimension. In fact, the techniques are mainly limited by the thoughts of the investigator. Observations aid to learn that personnel are observed or definite results are calculated. No attempt is given to persuade the result. It has various scope and the research methods and the data analysis method constitute the part of methodology. The range of the methodology is enormous in contrast to the methods incorporated. “Qualitative research is a vast and complex area of methodology that can easily take up whole textbooks on its own. The purpose of this section is to introduce you to the idea of qualitative research (and how it is related to quantitative research) and gives you some orientation to the major types of qualitative research data, approaches and methods” (Qualitative research measures, 2006).

Thus, the cultural aspects nearby Lenovo wants to think the after effects of the recession that has hit the PC marketplace, particularly Lenovo and the methods and means by which this could be marginalized and countermanded. Conflict areas do arise, in particular in human resource building with a great staff force, as commanded by the Lenovo management.

What Is Culture?

“The simplest definition of culture is that it is composed of everything symbolic that we learn. It includes all our actions and beliefs that are not transmitted by generation to generations, but are transmitted (and stored) by symbols. Symbols are meaningless in themselves (intrinsically) unless they are given meaning by humans” (Bartle 2007).

Culture is something that is shared by all members or almost all members of a particular group or society. Culture is learned and share; the people living in that group is learning the culture from the elders and shared to the future generation.

Culture is shape the human behavior and perception about the group or society. Different group have different culture, when two groups come together under one roof there is a chances for conflict between two groups because of cultural differences between two groups.

The growing importance of world business has created an increasing demand for mergers and acquisition. When acquisition and mergers are doing, the human resource managers are very conscious about the cultural aspects of the two countries. When two groups of people from different cultural background come together there is a chance for cultural conflict. The way things work in one culture may not be applicable in another. There may be chances for wide differences in their interaction, behavior, the way he doing the work, etc. When these people from different cultural background come together there is a chance for cultural conflict between these two groups. Here is the importance for cross-cultural management.

Cross-Cultural management

“Cross-cultural management describes organizational behavior with in countries and culture; compare organizational behavior across countries and cultures; and seeks to understand how to improve the interaction of co-workers, managers, executives, clients, suppliers, and alliance partners from around the world” (Saee n.d).

The globalization of business environment that is being driven by technological and economic factors is resulting in an ever increasing number of cross-cultural in the work place. The effective understanding of influence of culture among the different employees is essential for the mergers, acquisition and internationalization of business process.

The skills required for cross-cultural management

Managing people from different region with different culture in an organization is a challenging work for the Human resource department. Following are the skills required for cross-cultural management.

• respect the co-workers
• Tolerating ambiguity
• Relating to people
• Being non-judgmental
• Personalizing once observation
• Empathy towards others; ‘the ability to put your self in another’s shoe’
• Persistence

Leadership of human resource management

Leader means a person he has followers’. A good leader must know and do various things for making good team work inside the organization. Leadership is not a naturally occurring talent, but it must be attained through constant effort and learning. “Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent.” (Concepts of leadership, 1997 “Management is doing things right, leadership is doing the right things” (Warren Bennis and Peter Drucker)

Qualities of a good leader

1. A good leader has a clear vision; they have a clear picture about where to go and what to do to achieve the objective.
2. He should be able to communicate the vision to his followers.
3. A leader must have the discipline to work towards his vision.
4. A good leader have the quality integrity; this means that integration of outward action and inner values.
5. A good leader must be dedicated to the work.
6. Magnanimity means that giving credit where it is due. A good leader must spread the credit for success all around the organisation and take responsibility for the familiar. It helps to bring the team close together.
7. Leader with humility means that the good leader cannot consider himself better than or worse than other employees of the organisation.
8. Openness builds mutual trust and confidence between leaders and followers.
9. Leader should be creative.
10. Fairness towards judgement.
11. Leader should be assertive.
12. Leader has the quality of sense of humour.

The most important key to effective leadership

On the basis of the study conducted by the Hay group, a global management consultancy, there are principally 75 key components for employee satisfaction. Their studies showed that –

• Confidence and belief in the top management invariably led to employee satisfaction in an organisation.

Robust communication systems in three main areas were helpful in bringing corporate trust and confidence; these fundamental areas are –

• Assisting followers in understanding corporate strategies
• Guiding employees in their quest for contributing to achieve corporate goals and objectives.
• Disseminating information with employees on company’s overall performance and output ratings of the employees’ individual divisions.

Lenovo’s acquisition of IBM – Case study

This is a case study about cross-cultural management practices taken by lenovo in acquisition of IBM. Here Lenovo is a Chinese company, their work culture is entirely different from IBM. The management of Lenovo has undertaking various cross-cultural management strategies for managing employees from both teams. Lenovo adopt a questionnaire research method. This research methodology increase the value of the study as it gives the impression in to the trouble and policy that lenovo has came across and commenced from a range of position. But in this study, the absence of staff’s participation of IBM was a limitation, as the IBM group’s view was not taken.

The IBM brand names were the most striking one.. Lenovo is a Chinese based company; it has low cost and poor quality and selling in lower product line. By acquiring IBM the Lenovo’s product image would increase in the minds of consumers and it helps to bring new customers in outside of Chinese market. “In managing two teams within the organization, Lenovo has taken very few steps to integrate two teams into one. Instead, a separate management mode was encouraged by Lenovo to allow IBM PC-D to maintain its own management system and procedures. In addition, a culture integration committee was voluntarily set up by employees from various departments to design initiatives to encourage communication between two teams” (Peng 2008).

When troubles occur due to the dissimilarity among two teams, Lenovo has accepted an accommodation strategy by creating alterations to the work agenda of its worker in the Lenovo team with the intention of accommodate workers in IBM players. As a consequence, it has emerged the workload for employees in Lenovo group and this may thus show the way to pressure and work-life inequity to its workers.

The strategies taken by the lenovo for cross-cultural management are succeeded in its operation. The cultural integration committee succeeded in encouraging the communication between employees of both teams. Cultural integration committee is succeeded but there are some limitations in this method that is the persons involved in the interview were not participate in the cultural integration committee. There for the suggestion is that, for making cultural integration as an excellent one take opinion from the employees directly involved in the culture integration committee and also participates the IBM employees for making decisions.

Discussion

Cultural matters are important in commercial dealings, more so in many dimensional cultural environment like Lenovo. In the circumstance of financial globalization, multinational ventures, and mergers and acquisitions have turn out to be increasingly common, firms will unavoidably face of overseas rivalry, and multi-cultural disagreements, all managers require making use of the thought of globalization to think the operation and organization of the venture are cultural dissimilarity to think the impact to the venture.

The Human Resource manager of the company must possess strong leadership in order to overcome these difficulties. And also at the same time the HR manger of the organization must be well informed and experienced on the subjects of employees multiplicity and cross-cultural contact are well-positioned to build up and execute culturally suitable Human Resource Management plans, policies and performances. Lenovo is mainly a Chinese based computer technology and at the same time IBM is a non-Chinese organization.This cultural integration leads to conflict. The case mainly deals with the acquisition of the company IBM by there Lenovo, the Lenovo is the number one of the company in the china in the information technology accessory manufacture. The acquisition was on May 1, 2005.

Both the organizations formed the financial transparency in the and the crucial expertise in the factors of the reliability, operations and the cultural risks associated with the each of them, The acquisition paved the way for the new market condition in china, and the new chapter in the Chinese economic condition and the national integration. “Human Resources Management presents special challenges for the Human Resources leader in organizations. Effective Human Resources Management requires special HR tools, special approaches to management, and access to professional Human Resources associations, education, and publications. Learn more about all aspects of management specific to Human Resources management” (Human resource management: HR FAQs, HR basics, strategic HR, 2010).

The study give emphasis on the inspiration and the suppositions of the each organization in the business transactions and the risks associated with the each of the organization and the strategic rational associated with the each of the factors associated with them. While culture may be significant in certain states in the business worlds, it would only just be said to be sustainable in business lives wherein targets and routine are most dangerous and achievements does not actually matter. This is a main strategy of companies that has open and transparent HR policies against bias and equal opportunities like IBM and also Lenova.

The company IBM had discarded the consumption of the resources, assets of the company which are non core.The lenovo had taken up the leadership in the new arised market as the global giant and the leader in the market where they received much negotiations from the key equity holders for the negotiation and for the structured deal with the key players in the market. “It should be remembered that IBM is the No.1 of the US computer industry, the nation’s heavyweight blue chip, and to some extent, a symbol of the US. Just like salvaging Ford in early days, it (to keep IBM) symbolizes the maintenance of the US’s image and status in the world , most important is that the acquirer is a company from a socialist country and the largest socialist company ever existing in the world, which means that the “knockout” product of the US capitalism is diluted by socialism” (Censor storm on Lenovo’s acquisition, 2005).

The main issues identified in the study of the acquisition and the leadership of the culture in the company are the:

• The strategic rationale and the risk associated in acquisition
• Role of the private equity holders in the negotiation of the same.
• The motivation of the equity buyers in the market.
• The management of the structured risks
• The effect of the mixed cultures in the acquisition.
• The differences in the HR practices in the organization.
• The variation in the cultural norms and the practices
• The brand image and the profit occurred.
• The interaction and the co ordination with the different managers in the company.

“Good news on the Lenovo front. From no where the brand has continued to grow strong, as reflected by customer searches, and on a great slope. Remember all this data can do is raising questions. It is quite possible that Lenovo is being given greater importance than ThinkPad, or that the competition has consolidated its brands, and is a reflection of Lenovo’s search objectives, and it could also stem from a notion that Lenovo’s fundamental business plans are so successful that it need not attach importance to its web business.(Kaushik 2008).

The analysis delineated above manifests the different kinds of going about in the business while tackling the issue of cross culture head on and dealing with cross culture, HR issues and a detailed issues is being endorsed below.:

Case study analysis

The study shows that there would be a plethora of gains and issues with acquisitions. On the magnitude of acquisition, there are many disputes and threats while integrating the giant companies together. To analyse the data, there should be a thorough look at the potency, flaws, prospects and fears. There will be issues related with the price and promotion.

The Chinese computer giant has acquired the IBM personal computer sectors for $1.75 billion. This made the Lenovo-IBM as the world’s third biggest personal computer makers. Lenovo owned the Chinese market and it was Asia’s largest IT technology company and the deal with the IBM lead to multiple the sales by double or triple in size. This historic acquisition was the biggest attainment by a Chinese company. By this there are new launchings of the novel products from the Lenovo. IBM which is US based company has its own brand name worldwide. The sale to the Lenovo will leads to reduce the manufacturing costs and will give a new air in the computer and IT business. “For Beijing-based Lenovo, the acquisition of IBM’s PC business signals the arrival of China as a global player in key industries. Lenovo gains access to the worldwide PC market and quickly becomes a computer maker with more than $12 billion in annual revenues. It also gets exclusive access to the IBM logo for five years and permanently acquires the “ThinkPad” brand.” (The IBM/ Lenova deal: Victory for China? 2005).

Through the deal of IBM’s PC production to Lenovo, two rising developments rapidly progress: The growing materialization of expertise and the appearance of Chinese companies as international giants.

Some of the risks formed with Lenovo-IBM acquisitions were:

1. Whether the new mode of Lenovo after IBM acquisition will be accepted by the international clients of IBM and the personal computer market.
2. Whether the cross-cultural differences will affect the employees and their work
3. Whether the IBM employees likes this new deal and feel conceited
4. Can it become the top one both in Chinese market and the international market.

The aim of the Lenovo now is to be at the top of the world’s PC market than the other two competitors. With the acquisition, it will help the company to reach all type of the customers including big business clients and the common clients.

The cross-cultural variations will produce significant problems with the acquisition. Lenovo and IBM had diverse cultures. IBM was a recognized global company having a western administration outlook, but the Lenovo was with the Chinese cultures and was organized by local Chinese owners. “The differences can be caused from the different corporate cultures or national cultures. As Schneider and Barsoux (2003) state that countries that ranked high on power distance would be expected to be more hierarchic and centralized in the organization. In China, the business is more often characterized by centralized power and personalized relationship, which is quite different from that of the West” (Jiang 2007).

The deficient understanding of Lenovo management about outside of the Chinese environment will be a potential threat to produce the cross-cultural clashes. As the Economist noted, “Lenovo might make things worse, given cultural differences between Americans and Chinese, big differences in pay and the need for interpreters at every meeting. “Indeed, cultural differences have plagued Chinese-Western mergers in the past” (Ackerly & Larsson 2005).

There are more than 10,000 employees in IBM worldwide and these employees have to transfer with the acquisition of Lenovo. As a leading business giant, Lenovo has to settle all the requirements for the workers in the world in appropriate way. There are headquarters in New York and Beijing and there are R&D departments and other research centers in Japan and China. Various other business centers are made across Latin America, Asia and Europe. These all will lead to the quest for a need of suitable leadership to develop the correct human resource management. There will be difficulties with these facilities, but a good leadership in the top level of the HR management will make it easier to handle all the employees together. This strong leadership can reduce the cross-cultural conflict among the employees and the executives of Lenovo-IBM, and can implement new human resource strategies in the new company. It is the duty of human resource management leaders to bring the confidence of the employees in the new organization. “Leadership has sometimes been described as taking people to a place that they would not normally go to on their own” (Human resources management-leadership, 2007).

The leadership has the responsibility to bring the sincere commitments of the employees back to the organization as they previously offered. They should be feeling proud with the new company. The human resource management has to be clear about the remunerations and the compensations. These leaders should make proper task to unite all the employees in one hand and they have to imply appropriate human resource strategies. There should be proper base salaries and bonuses as in last company and the HR persons have to allocate the health and retirement benefits also as offered by IBM. “The new Lenovo employees can expect continued professional growth and challenge, along with the opportunity to participate in a new and expanding business venture. Lenovo and IBM are committed to making this a smooth transition that minimizes personal disruptions and loss of work productivity” (Employees affected by the announced sale of the IBM personal computing division, 2004).

The new Lenovo management has to offer all the facilities obtained by the IBM employees. The leadership should be clear and has the ability to overcome all the difficulties faced by the acquisition of two major companies that are poles apart in their culture. They can develop novel strategies to overcome the problems associated with the cross-cultural conflicts. To ensure the success, the management should focus on the human and cultural aspects, to understand the differences between the various company worlds and has to develop a new hybrid form of business culture incorporated with the beneficial elements from the two different cultures.

Limitations

In this case study, there was no active participation of the IBM employees as it is a major limitation to the case study. As the participants chosen are small and from the corporate world of Lenovo, it may reveal some biases towards the Chinese culture. The lack of proper resources and the scarce time will be other restraints.

It is not the right time to carry out the ultimate verdict on the results of the acquisition. This acquisition is on the road to the victory. Lenovo increased the probability of the triumph by cautiously discussing the transaction to each of the risks they faced.

These all matters made the correct management on the cross-cultural variations and the human resource practices in the Lenovo’s acquisition of IBM.

Conclusion

Cross culture is the one of the most important aspect that need to considered at the time of merger or acquition of the two more company’s. This study is talk about to understanding cross-cultural management and leadership of human resource management practice. Cultural amalgamation is not only the contact of amalgamations and attainments a key feature in the accomplishment, but also an encouragement for the alteration in corporate civilization plays a most significant position.To guarantee the achievement, the management should focus on the person and cultural aspects, to recognize the differences among the various company worlds and has to build up a new hybrid form of business culture integrated by means of the beneficial elements from the two dissimilar cultures. The leadership should be apparent and has the capability to conquer all the difficulties faced by the acquisition of two main companies that are poles apart in their culture

Appendix

Questionnaire

• Name:
• Age:
• Occupation;

1. Is there any factors influence of cultural differences on conflict management within Lenovo?
   • Yes
   • No
2. Do u agree that the problems associated with the merger and acquition solve the quarrel and other problem truthfully and rapidly?
   • Yes
   • No
3. Do u think that, merger and acquition of Lenovo with IBM leads any cultural conflicts within the Lenova?
   • Yes
   • No
4. Are you aware about the conflict management strategy of Chinese employees and non Chinese employees within Lenovo?
   • Yes
   • No
5. Are you aware about the face-concern in conflict management of Chinese employees and non Chinese employees within Lenovo?
   • Yes
   • No
6. Are you aware about attitude towards conflict of Chinese employees and non Chinese workers within Lenovo?
   • Yes
   • No
7. Are you aware about the important of leadership capability within Lenova?
   • Yes
   • No
8. Do u think that merger and acquition within Lenovo is beneficial to the company success?
   • Yes
   • No
9. Opinion about the impact of cross cultural effect within Lenovo.
10. Opinion about the conflict perception of Chinese employees and non Chinese employees within Lenovo?
11. Is the role of leadership practices effective for managing the employees of Lenova and IBM?
    • YES
    • NO
12. Is it provides any popularity or good perception for the both firms in the minds of consumers?
    • Yes
    • No
13. Is this alliance provides any competitive edge over other forms?
    • Yes
    • No
14. Is it a beneficial move for Lenova to make alliance with IBM? If it Yes/No…. Why?
15. Does it make any change in employee’s attitude and work environment in the organization after alliance? What are the changes?
16. Is there any communication network or other statutory committee for solving the problems of employees of both organizations?
    • Yes
    • No
17. Do you think that, merger and acquit ion of Lenovo with IBM leads any HR conflicts?
    • Yes
    • No
18. Do you aware about team management strategy in Lenovo?
    • Yes
    • No
19. Do you think any dissimilarity among Lenovo and IBM?
    • Yes
    • No
20. Do you aware about the success of Strategies taken by the Lenovo for cross-cultural management?
    • Yes
    • No
21. Do you agree with the steps taken for management in structured risks?
    • Yes
    • No

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