Product details

This case is part of the ADP-GSI case series on mergers and acquisitions. Automatic Data Processing (ADP) signs its largest acquisition deal in history, to purchase GSI (General de Service Informatique) in August 1995. If the divergence of cultures in both companies isn't enough - ADP management being used to tighten controls and double-digit growth and GSI management groomed to run their own show in spite of recent poor financial results - there are tremendous differences in operations across functional areas to resolve. Both companies have developed and positioned their unique product offerings to serve different market segments in distinct geographies. Consequently, the sales and customer service organisations are also very different, with scopes and profiles that correspond to their own markets. Financial reporting practices are also divergent, for the most part due to country legislation. Human resource practices are polar opposites. The reader is asked to take the position of Philippe Gluntz, the new President of ADP Europe, straddling the ocean to manage the post-acquisition process. An expanded version is available which includes an overview of GSI and ADP, allowing the reader to address the integration challenge without reading the previous cases in the series.