The New Delta Needs a CSO
Delta and Northwest announced the agreement of its long-awaited merger that when combined, will created the country’s largest airline with a combined value of $17.7 billion.
The new airline, operating under the name “Delta,” will provide customers with greater choice, with service to 390 destinations, as well as competitive fares, but how will the merger affect morale among the employees as the two workforces struggle to integrate processes, strategies, and IT?
With an M&A come complex organizational structures. Companies in the midst of partnering need a commander—a point person—who can centralize departments, processes, functional areas, and offer strategic rationale to ensure that service from employees to customers is not interrupted during the period of upheaval.
A chief strategy officer for Delta could create an effective roadmap throughout the integration to ensure Delta’s focus on customer engagement and commitment to a top-notch flight experience not only stays in tact, but that the new employees understand how to execute on the combined strategy.
The CSO must also oversee the merging of Delta's customer data, the assimilation of employee cultures, the alignment of resources to meet business goals, and an enterprisewide communications plan to ensure employees are continuously updated about the company’s goals and plans. A CSO will also free up Delta's CEO to tend other high-level functions during and M&A.
The benefits are clear: With an actionable and unwavering strategy and a rapid-fire CSO to implement it, the sure winners after the merger won’t just be Wall Street and the airline executives; they will also be Delta’s customers.
