From Promise to Performance

Here are lessons from the personal experience of the team that led one of the most successful transnational corporate mergers of all time-the transformation of SmithKline Beckman & the Beecham Group into SmithKline Beecham, one of the world's leading healthcare companies. The authors-key players in the transformation process that became known as Simply Better-recount their thinking & actions as well as the successes, failures, & lessons learned. Through the story of the merger, they present a framework of five requisites for creating a culture of change: instilling a winning attitude; making the organization the hero; striving for continuous learning; instituting strategic communication; aligning behavior with strategy. For managers, this inside account offers a rare, behind-the-scenes glimpse into how a major company aligned its business actions & behavior to deliver a strategy in a rapidly changing industry, & shares lessons on how others can create an environment in which the ability to change sustains success.