Revera and Extendicare: Human Resource Management Paper

The year 2015 saw the acquisition of one of the most popular and efficient home care services organization in Canada. Revera Home Health was acquired by the Extendicare Company which runs its own home health care, division. Thus, Revera Home Health became a part of the ParaMed Home Health Care division (ParaMed) making ParaMed the most extensive home care service provision company in Canada (Extendicare, 2017). By consenting to the acquisition, Revera opened itself up to significant ridicule. To begin with, the detractors of the initiative determine that the acquisition may negate the quality of the services that are extended to patients in the subject institution. Given that Revera was the major competitor of the ParaMed institution, its absence in the market may encourage lethargically-executed services. There are several factors which may necessitate and oblige a company to acquiesce to an acquisition. While some of these factors are financial, others are a culmination of legal policies which may curtail expansion and inspire financial stagnation in the subject organizations. Reveras decision was inspired by a myriad factor.

Factors that May Have Inspired Reveras Decision to be Acquired

There are several factors which may inspire an organizations willingness to be acquired. To begin with, Revera may have been the subject of human resource management impositions. Thus, such an expansion requires an efficient management structure. It is possible that Revera was unable to sustain its human resource management framework in the face of an increasing patient base. An inability to succinctly manage the available workforce may result in dwindling returns as a result of reduced client satisfaction. The decision to acquiesce to an acquisition may be a culmination of regulatory policies which decry the existence of simultaneous large-scale organizations offering the same service in a particular region (Klein, 2015). Additionally, the sale may have been inspired by the desire for profit. When stakeholders determine that there is a significant profit to be gained from the sale of their organization, they may demand an acquiescence to an acquisition. Lastly, increasing financial cost burdens may necessitate the need for the sale of a particular organization. Essentially, an expansion of a company or organization may result in substantial operational cost burdens. To maintain continuity, it is imperative that such a company acquiesce to an alternative investor in order to remain relevant in the subject market.

The Reason Behind Reveras Acceptance of the Acquisition

The major reason behind Reveras ratification of the acquisition comprises an inability to service the increased operational costs within the institution. In the late December 2014, before the acquisition was sanctioned by both parties, Revera had undertaken to stem the mileage and travel allowances for their employees who provided home care services but were not within a union (Klein, 2015). The initiative was intended to promote the organizations ability to compete with other home care service companies in Canada. It was further aligned towards the reduction of the runaway costs that were resulting from an increase in the number of employees; a culmination of expansion. According to the terms of the acquisition, Revera will not be allowed to retain its name. The article Extendicare Announces Completion of Acquisition to Expand its Canadian Home Health Care Business determines that Extendicare will rebrand Revera Home Health under its ParaMed banner across six provinces (Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, Manitoba and Noca Scotia) (Extendicare, 2017). The rebranding provides a strategy that is inclined towards cohesion and collectivity between the two parties involved in the acquisition.

Marketing, Management and Expansion Strategies

To remain relevant in the market and promote the growth that had been instituted by the Revera Corporation, Extendicare will have to engage several strategies. To begin with, it is imperative that Extendicare engages a person-centered care framework in addressing patient needs. This initiative provides a core value of the Revera body. Patient-care is inclined towards the determination of interventions that succinctly address the well-being of everyone who is committed to the home health service facilities (Klein, 2015). Essentially, every patient in the organization needs to be shown love and consideration. Alternatively, the company should incline itself towards innovation in the extension of home care services to the patients. Technology mitigates the occurrences of error in service extension and further prevents stagnation among the employees which is a recipe for underperformance and inactivity (Extendicare, 2017). This strategy is an extension of the need to promote loyalty and productivity among both the patients and the employees within the institution.

The major factor that may influence the outcomes of the Extendicare organization after its acquisition of Revera comprises the human resource management framework that it engages. Employees provide the face of the organization. They are a reflection of the values and mission of the institutions that they operate in. It is therefore of utmost importance that organizations make the staff a priority. Extendicare will be compelled to engage a stability resource based view in enhancing the efficiency of the employees who operate in the Revera facilities.

Differences and Similarities among the Research Articles, Modules, and the Extendicare Event

There are several similarities and differences with regards to human resource management initiatives that are promoted by different researchers. Human resource management theories describe the culture of an organization in interacting with its employees. It further addresses the relationship between the different stakeholders in the subject institution. Reveras acquisition was in line with the need to divide the acquisition process into stages. The initiative was a culmination of the need for the organization to retain the services and productivity of the employees who were available to the organization. According to Weber and Drori (2011), the success of an acquisition process is subject to the division of the entire initiative into segments to promote the successful realignment of the internal operations. The first step in the acquisition process entails the pre-acquisition stage. This phase demands succinct organization and planning to establish the influences of the acquisition on the corporate goals and objectives. The article Factors affecting the role of HR managers in international mergers and acquisitions: A multiple case study indicates that executives in organizations often overlook the employee concerns in the acquisition process (Antila & Kakkonen, 2008). Contrarily, Revera ensured that the employees who were part of the institution would be incorporated into the PubMed umbrella and thus promoting continuity. Since the continuity of organizational culture is important to an organization, Gomez (2013) reinforces the need for the engagement of human resource managers in the transition that is involved during acquisition. It is also possible that the decision by Extendicare to acquire Revera was inspired by the need to acquire an efficient and competent staff (Gunter et. al., 2011). The 45,000 employees available to the Revera Corporation were successfully merged into the PubMed body as a result of the successful completion of the pre-acquisition phase by the two involved parties. The incorporation marks the willingness of the Extendicare group to continue with the policies that had been instituted by the Revera home health care service group.

The acquisition process further entailed the analysis of the level of "fit." In making the decision to be acquired as a part of the Extendicare umbrella, Reveras actions bespoke of the correlation that was established between the firms. According to Weber & Drori (2011) two increasingly different organizations may find it hard to fully oversee the completion of their cultural integration processes. PubMed had been one of the main competitors of Revera at the time of the acquisition. The services that the two institutions offered were similar and thus inclined towards the realization of the same goal. The Revera body, despite the acquisition, would continue to operate in the same line of service. The initiative reduces the engagement of a new management structure which would have been necessary if the organization had been acquired by an unrelated organization.

In the face of an acquisition, the most productive employees tend to seek new pastures. The initiative is often a culmination of uncertainty about the future. Thus, some employees at Revera decried the acquisition which attests to the uncertainty about their job security and sustenance in the face of a new management structure. Kalleberg (2009) indicates that the negative attitudes that are developed by the employees are often a consequence of the fear. Principally, the fear that they will be exposed to the risk of job insecurity under the new body of management after the acquisition. The initiative may result in mass withdrawal and termination of employment contracts. The exodus of the uncertain employees may result in the dwindling of returns for the organization that had been acquired. The sentiments expressed by Kalleberg (2009) are shared by Myungweon (2011) who determines that the exodus of the employees may impede the profit-making initiatives in the subject organization. Thus, it is important that Extendicare maintains the management framework and practices that formed an intrinsic part of Revera before the acquisition. This goal can be attained through the continued assurances of the parent company to commit to the old framework of human resource operations in the acquired organization. Revera employees, in agreeing to the terms of the acquisition, were exposed to the plans of development that the organization had for them with regards to career development. Another important factor to consider in the acquisition process comprises the loss or maintenance of autonomy. Often, smaller departments of the acquired company lose their autonomy during acquisition (Weber, 2011). As the larger organization acquires, the smaller organization, it often inclines itself to the centralization of the operations. This initiative is a threatening gesture to the sustenance of the smaller organizations since the continuity of their performances is subject to managerial autonomy (Weber et al., 2012).

Analysis of Execution, Management, and Outcomes

The execution of the Revera acquisition by Extendicare provides a critical lesson. Essentially, the execution of the initiative was intended to mitigate the competition that the PubMed home health service was facing. It was also an extension of Extendicares focus on the expansion of the resident-care services that were being offered through investment (About Extendicare, 2017). Principally, after the acquisition of the Revera brand, PubMed became the largest resident-care service provider in Canada. The execution of the contract was also efficient since Extendicare retained the workforce that was available to the Revera Corporation. Still, the integration may inspire feelings of a loss of autonomy which may, in turn, hinder the efficiency of functions within the organization. By losing its name, Revera is subject to limitations on the management freedoms that were being practiced before the acquisition. The management decisions will now have to be ratified by the parent company which may, in turn, hinder the efficiency and responsiveness of actions in the organization. The acquisition br...