Merging with confidence at LogicaCMG: Why HR is key to ensuring the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
| Pages | 24-27 |
| Date | 01 January 2007 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14754390780000953 |
| Published date | 01 January 2007 |
| Author | Nigel Perks |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
24 Volume 6 Issue 2 January/February 2007
OGICACMG IS A MAJOR international
force in the IT services sector, providing clients
with business consulting, systems integration
and IT and business process outsourcing across
diverse markets including telecoms, financial
services, energy and utilities, industry, distribution and
transport and the public sector. Its focus is on enabling
its customers to build and maintain leadership
positions using LogicaCMG’s deep industry knowledge
and its track record for successful delivery.
Headed up by chief executive Dr Martin Read,
LogicaCMG has experienced dramatic global growth in
recent years, both organically and through mergers and
acquisitions (M&A) activity, with staff numbers rising
from just 3,000 in 1993 to almost 40,000 across 41
countries today.
This expansion has presented a number of cultural
and management challenges for LogicaCMG, which
are addressed and tackled through its strategic global
HR program and framework. In this case study, Nigel
Perks, group HR director at LogicaCMG, who is at the
helm of the program, discusses the challenges presented
by the mergers, the initiatives that LogicaCMG
adopted to overcome them and the success that the
company has been enjoying as a result.
LogicaCMG’s rapid growth
As documented in Strategic HR Review1, Logica and
CMG completed a merger in December 2002 that
created one of the largest quoted IT services companies
in Europe. Since then, we’ve continued this rapid
expansion, completing three major transactions in the
last two years.
In 2005, we acquired a 60 percent controlling
interest in Edinfor, the IT business of Energia de
Portugal and a leader in the Portuguese market, with
additional subsidiaries in Spain and Brazil. The
partnership provided us with a platform for growth,
with Edinfor benefiting from our global footprint and
LogicaCMG being able to enhance its position in the
European energy and utilities market.
Our next major growth opportunity came in the
shape of a merger with Unilog, the French IT services
giant, which was finalized in January 2006. This
transaction significantly strengthened our position in
Europe, and saw us take on another 8,000 employees
across France, Germany, UK, Switzerland, Austria and
Luxembourg, while creating exciting cross-selling
capabilities.
Our most recent acquisition was that of Swedish IT
firm, WM-data, a deal that has brought the group’s
headcount up to 40,000 people across 41 countries and
increased annual revenues from UK£2.4 billion to £3
billion. This M&A activity is based on LogicaCMG’s
strategic business objectives, which are to:
• become a top 10 player in the global IT services
business;
Merging with
confidence at
LogicaCMG
Why HR is key to ensuring the whole is
greater than the sum of its parts
Leading IT company LogicaCMG has grown from
3,000 employees in 1991 to 40,000 employees today.
Here, group HR director Nigel Perks explains how the
organization’s HR programs have been an essential
part of its rapid growth – both organic and through
acquisitions.
by Nigel Perks, LogicaCMG L
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