Yeoh Siew Hoon mulls over the human costs as yet another acquisition is completed and the process of "integration" begins.

So yet another hotel company has been swallowed by another – and the process of digestion (or is it indigestion) begins.

Yes, Le Meridien's absorption by Starwood in Asia/Pacific has begun. And the results are inevitable. One team lies in disarray while another struggles to make room for the remains of a team.

Business books call this process "integration". I think "disintegration" would be more apt because before there can be true integration (okay, assimilation), disintegration has to happen – in the words of a popular song, "you've got to break up to make up".

Le Meridien stalwarts such as Michael Sagild and Frank Foster have re-emerged in other hotel companies (Minor Group and Meritus respectively) while Starwood makes the necessary adjustments and cuts to fit the new brand into their already-runneth-over cup.

Familiar words such as "synergy", "rationalisation" and "win-win" crop up this time as they have countless other times when one company buys another.

We've seen it far too many times. Swissotel by Raffles International, Raffles International by Colony Capital, InterContinental by Holiday Inn and on and on …

Truth is, I feel sorry for the people on both sides – it is as painful for those who have to be absorbed as those who have to absorb.

The "absorbees", after years of uncertainty of not knowing who, when and how, are plunged into another period of uncertainty – will I still have a job, can I adjust, will the new boss like me.

The "absorbers" too have to adjust. They know they should be compassionate, yet they know they also have a job to do which, in the case of acquisitions, is all about "maximising returns to shareholders", which really are the only "people" who matter at this point, never mind what companies say about "people coming first".

The team at Le Meridien had built up a strong legacy – in an understated, elegant way, befitting their brand. It must be painful to think that years of work could go up in smoke, depending on what the new custodians of the brand do. More than that, it must be even more painful to see their team disintegrate.

I am always reminded by what Ted Teng, the former president of Westin Asia/Pacific, told me at the time when Westin itself was absorbed by Starwood. Most of all, he said, you miss the team because when you've got a good team going, you feel you can conquer the world.

Yet in the chess game of the corporate world, we humans are mere pawns. We who are hired and paid by others have to do what others tell us to do. It is only when what we are forced to do no longer rests well with our inner conscience (for those who still have one and I am convinced we all do) that we will contemplate leaving our secure jobs.

Yet, is any job secure? I think we fool ourselves into thinking that because to think otherwise would be unthinkable.

We also know that business life is a cycle. One day, you are the absorber, the next, the absorbee.

For all of us who have been through the corporate machinery, it is important never to lose sight of the fact that companies are only the means to an end. They are not the end. Use them as they use you. Use them as stepping stones towards achieving your own dream. Don't make the mistake of living their dream and forgetting your own.

That, to me, is the only time when the overused word "win-win" makes real sense.


The SHY Report
A regular column on news, trends and issues in the hospitality industry by one of Asia's most respected travel editors and commentators, Yeoh Siew Hoon.

Siew Hoon, who has covered the tourism industry in Asia/Pacific for the past 20 years, runs SHY Ventures Pte Ltd. Her company's mission is "Content, Communication, Connection".

She is a writer, speaker, facilitator, trainer and events producer. She is also an author, having published "Around Asia In 1 Hr: Tales of Condoms, Chillies & Curries". Her motto is ‘free to do, and be'.

Contacts: Tel: 65-63424934, Mobile: 65-96801460

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