Intercontinental Bank was one of Nigeria's largest commercial banks until it faced financial difficulties due to the 2008 global economic crisis. In 2011, Access Bank acquired Intercontinental Bank to rescue it through a merger. The merger process faced significant resistance from Intercontinental Bank staff who felt threatened by the changes. While the leadership instituted policies to reward commitment to change, the process was rushed and did not adequately involve staff from Intercontinental Bank. As a result, the merger had mixed success, with positive outcomes such as new technology but also negative impacts like job losses and customer defections.

2. IBPlc as was fondly called, was one of the twenty-four (24) commercial banks licensed
by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the country's banking regulator. The Bank was a
large financial services provider in West African and as of December 2008, the
bank's shareholder's equity was valued at approximately US$1.7 billion (NGN:261
billion). The shares of stock of IBPlc are listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE).
It started operation as Nigerian Intercontinental Merchant Bank Limited in 1989 and
later became a full fledge commercial bank in the year 1999 exactly 10 years after
establishment.
The bank emerged as a merger of 4 main banks in the year 2000, Global bank,
Gateway bank, Equity bank and Intercontinental Merchant Bank to form the
Intercontinental Bank Plc. The merger was historic with seamless transition from
different organisation to one whole corporation, as there were no discrimination on
the basis of size and prior performances of the different banks.

3. Intercontinental Bank had a defined structure of 10 regions and 300 branches across Nigeria,
Ghana and the United Kingdom. The board of directors oversees the affairs of the bank which is run
by the executive management headed by the Group Managing Director and five executive directors
in charge of the banks divisions. Communication is crosswise within the system but with a definite
reporting lines.
Each division is broken down into departments and headed by a General Manager. These position
provided a structure to career progression within the system.
A bank branch is an SBU responsible for its liability and assets, branch managers are empowered
to front clients demands backed up by relevant documents, hence branches are responsible for their
liability and profitability
ET EA SEA BE AM DM M SM AGM DGM
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4. Intercontinental bank has a people oriented culture, Its policies are centered around the
need of the clients, the staffs and the shareholders, Hence the slogan "Happy
Customer , Happy Bank". The customer is at the forefront of every initiative of the
bank, they promotes supportiveness and respect for individual rights. The bank
epitomize the mantra that “people are their greatest asset.” In addition to having fair
procedures and management styles, they create an atmosphere where work is fun
and employees do not feel required to choose between work and other aspects of
their lives.
There is a greater emphasis on and expectation of treating people with respect and
dignity. The bank pays the highest in the industry and has creative perks such as
One-day off in a month policy for all categories of staffs. As a result of these policies,
the bank benefits from a turnover rate lower than the industry average. (O’Reilly, C.
A., III, Chatman, J. A., & Caldwell, D. F. 1991)

5. Due to the global economic meltdown of 2007-2009 and the drastic fell in the international
oil prices, many organizations were affected and the ripple effects trickles down to
Nigerian banking industry being a major player in the world crude oil production. The
banks were active in supporting the exportation of crude oil and granted facilities to the oil
companies in anticipation of increase in prices at the international market but the
speculation was wrong as prices fell beyond expectation leading to loss of capital.
Intercontinental bank was badly affected in this and when regulatory authority review the
bank books they failed the stress test and has to be taken over by new investors who were
to inject funds into the mainstream of activities of the bank in 2011.
Access bank became the choice investor. The Merger was a monumental change for both
staffs and customers of the bank, the new investor- another local bank was smaller in size,
more possessive and very formal in their approach to business. The change process
began by setting up committee called "the integration committee" who was to review the
operations of the bank and recommend changes. A combination of staffs from both banks
were appointed to the team but the members from the take-over banks were more and
they seemed to overpower the ailing bank team.

6. There were different reactions to the merger process from different angles and
corners of the industry and what was thought will be a success story in the industry
became what was termed the "Hostile take-over"
Internally, change efforts were undermined by staffs who feel threatened by the
purported merger.
1. The communication flow was inadequate to allay the concerns of the staff
members, resistance was experience by the new management-The change leader.
2. Indifference to the new structure and work system with no strong commitment to
deliver value.
3. High turnover of key personnel.

7.  The take-over team did not anticipate the height of resistance experienced during
this period but immediately went ahead by instituting policies that will make the
change effort permanent.
 This was done by constituting a panel to recommend committed staffs for monthly
awards, which was in cash and gifts. This award is presented in the monthly
management meeting to the deserving employee and the picture of the staff is to
be displayed at the head office lounge and in his branch for recognition.
 Again the ensure that all decisions regarding customer transactions and business
trading was centralised to an head office department for processing, this was said
will bring about uniformity. It was initially the SBUs decision.
 Lastly the institution of quality service program to benchmark the minimum
acceptable level of service a staff is expected to render to customer in any
circumstances and appointed quality service ambassadors for each branch to
oversee the level compliance with the service creed.

8. Evaluation of the Change Effort :
Not successful
The change process was seen as both successful and not successful.
Majority of the staffs that were affected at the rationalization condemned the effort, while
the management and the change agents saw it as a success.
Thy argued that the change could have been more successful had the leadership gave
enough time in the take-over and integration and had not rush to finish up the process.
Change takes time and should not be hastily done because of its possible effect on the
organisation. As Beach stated "Change should not be undertaken lightly, certainly not for
any but most compelling reasons "This led to job loss- about 2000 employee were
seemed to be unjustly retrenched, lost of key customers and litigation for the bank.
Again they maintained that the merger had no meaningful inputs from the ailing bank
staffs, i believe this is critical to the change. People need to have a say in the decision
that affects their lives. That a flattened hierarchy should be in place in critical times by
adopting the "network organizations" where it assumes an organic structure with
collaborative linkages and dynamic flexibility.(Hall 2003. p 5.1).

9. Evaluation of the Change Effort :
Successful
The leaders of the change was effective in creating an open policy approach in the
change process by establishing structures that will deliver the vision. The reward system
created was a plus to motivate people to support the change initiative and the
institutionalisation of relevant policies to serve as a basis for future actions and
decisions. The merger brought about several other changes within the system and
created room for collaborative innovation on how to better run the emerging enterprise.
For instance acquisition of new technology like the Finneone Credit software was
introduced during the change, A new ERM software was also installed to handle
procurements and related accounting data said Gabby Igbeka-GH,Admin.
In the final analysis, the change was partially successful because there were allegations
of sabotage and court fillings against the merger process, lost of customers to
competitors and huge turnover of staffs apart from the initial layoffs. When organisational
becomes too rigid in a competitive environment, it risk been overtaking by a less rigid
competitors. (Beach, 2006 p.36).

10. Conclusion
Change is a must for individuals and organisations alike, an organisation that refuses to
change will be caught in the past.
Change must led by the individual, who must believe it, knows it and be able to
communicate it to others. According to Dr Blair "if you're going to initiate a change, you
know that there are things you need to do at the beginning of the change that are
practical and pragmatic to get the organization ready to change. You also know, then, as
you try to implement the change, there are certain things you need to do to get the
change under way. And most importantly, there are things you need to do as the change
moves on into institutionalization so that the change lasts".
Leaders have the responsibility to champion change in the organisation and must create
a picture of how the organisation, with its unique internal environment functions with its
unique external environment to bring about a desired change. (Beach 2013 p.g 2)

11. References
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercontinental_Bank.
2. Beach, L. R. (2006). Leadership and the art of change: A practical guide to
organizational transformation. (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.)
3. Amos Habila- Group Head Human Resources Intercontinental Bank Plc (2007-
2012) Sub-Head Integration Committee
4. Gabby Igbeka- Group Head- Administration and Corporate Services (2008-2012)
Sub- Head Integration Committee
5. Adewoye Busola Unit Head- Regulatory Reporting- Intercontinental Bank Plc (2011-
2012).Member Integration Committee
6. Afolabi Adetunji- Regional Internal Control Officer- Intercontinental Bank Plc (2011-
2012)
7. Source: Adapted from information in O’Reilly, C. A., III, Chatman, J. A., & Caldwell,
D. F. (1991). People and organizational culture: A profile comparison approach to
assessing person-organization fit. Academy of Management Journal, 34, 487–516..
8. http://ebankinginnigeria.blogspot.com/2012/08/intercontinental-bank-plc.html