Meridian Resources, Eaton Consulting Group Merges
MeridianEaton Global will assist clients to successfully implement their globalization strategies, focusing on faster growth, cost reduction, and global workforce competencies. It also helps firms to combine technology, training and consulting services.
Boston, MA and San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) June 10, 2005 -- Meridian Resources
Associates, Inc. and Eaton Consulting Group, Inc. announced today that they have
merged. Both firms are widely recognized for their respective expertise in
enabling global companies to improve their performance worldwide. Together they
have become the largest privately held intercultural management consulting firm,
serving more than a quarter of Fortune 500 companies, including all of the top
five. The combined firm will offer several advantages to clients.
Global
Scope
MeridianEaton Global will have U.S. hubs in San Francisco and Boston,
as well as global offices in Shanghai, Chennai, Tokyo, London, Paris, Zurich,
Copenhagen, and Amsterdam. Its 85 trainers and consultants will cover more than
100 major markets worldwide. This expanded operational presence will better
enable the firm to serve as a local partner to customers in key world markets.
It will particularly accelerate the expansion of the company into India and
China.
Performance Focus
MeridianEaton will retain the practical
business focus of both firms, assisting clients to accomplish their global
performance goals through:
* Faster Growth: Cross-border innovation, solutions to management challenges in
connection with mergers & acquisitions, and improved collaboration across
business lines
* Cost Reduction: Successful implementation of change
initiatives, along with cross-border outsourcing
that incorporates best known methods for effective teamwork and knowledge
transfer between different locations
* Global Workforce Competencies:
Knowledge, attitudes, and skills required by global leaders, dispersed team
members, expatriates, functional managers, and employees worldwide to achieve
strong business results and to represent their employers as global
citizens
Blended Solutions
MeridianEaton will deliver a blend of
services and Web-based tools that enables customers to distribute global
knowledge efficiently to large numbers of employees while also targeting key
groups for strategic interventions. MeridianEaton's services include
organizational consulting, one-on-one coaching, and classroom training. Its
Web-based tools simultaneously provide instant, 24/7 access to information vital
to international business travelers, expatriates, headquarters-based employees,
in-country personnel, and multinational teams alike.
As David Eaton, who
founded Eaton Consulting Group in 1993, notes, "Few intercultural management firms can legitimately claim to offer
one-stop shopping to multinational organizations - from providing one-on-one
strategic counsel to senior executives, to developing a global mindset among
their employees through training and web tools. By joining forces, we have
created a powerful combination that can help clients to implement their
globalization strategies with greater speed and effectiveness, and thereby
sharpen their competitive edge."
Ernest Gundling, managing director of
Meridian Resources, adds, "MeridianEaton will build upon the complementary
strengths of two well-established and innovative firms. Eaton Consulting will
bring tremendous depth and breadth of geographic coverage along with its
consulting and training capabilities in areas such as executive coaching,
cross-border change management, and relocation. And Meridian offers a unique
framework for building global leadership skills that we have brought to the
marketplace, coupled with our industry-leading web tools. Our web tools
were the first of their kind, and have been continuously upgraded over the
years; they focus in a very practical way on key knowledge and skills for cross-border business, while offering assessment capabilities
with established reliability and validity."
Gundling, along with Ted
Dale, co-founded Meridian Resources in 1990. Both have been actively involved in
the development of its renowned web tools, including GlobeSmart®, utilized by
tens of thousands of employees worldwide, as well as Global Teams OnlineSM,
Global InnovationOnlineSM and the GlobalCollaborationTookKit.SM
"Meridian has always strived to be at the forefront of our industry by
emphasizing the value of blended solutions for our
clients," says Dale. "We seek the best combination of technology and services
that match our clients' business objectives and budgets. The combined firm will
enable us to do that even better by expanding our geographical reach and
bolstering our service delivery capabilities."
There are five major
practice areas that MeridianEaton Global will concentrate on to build further
expertise for serving clients, including web-based tools, consulting and
training services, and publications.
* Global Leadership
* Global Teamwork
* Global Functions
* Global Partnerships
* Global
Inclusion
Even before the merger, Meridian Resources and Eaton
Consulting shared a number of clients through a strategic partnership. Positive
client response to these cooperative efforts provided further impetus towards
the creation of a combined firm. One mutual client, a major financial services
firm that is expanding its global presence, describes how the MeridianEaton
blended solution has brought key advantages as they develop the global
capabilities of their human capital:
"We required a unique combination
of global strategy and localization in order to expand our presence in India. We
knew a strong set of global competencies would be critical to our success for
all associates who would drive this outsourcing initiative. Both Eaton
Consulting and its partner Meridian Resources, provided a unique blend of
classroom training, one-on-one coaching, and their web-based tool, GlobeSmart,
which enables us to reach the thousands of associates who may not have access to
a traditional learning environment. The combination of Meridian and Eaton
Consulting has already proven to be a tremendous value contribution to our
aggressive globalization strategy."
The merger was completed on
June 8, 2005. Meridian Resources, founded in 1990, is headquartered in San
Francisco. Eaton Consulting Group was founded in 1993 and is based in Boston.
MeridianEaton Global— Management Team:
Theodore L. Dale, Founder
& Chief Creative Officer, will oversee new product development. Over the
past 15 years he has created an array of video and web-based training tools,
including 25 videos on global business issues.
He has been actively involved in the development of the firm's widely used web
tools, which began with the rollout of the GlobeSmart and Global Teams Online
tools. These web tools provide assessment surveys and practical business
knowledge in an interactive format for individuals and teams working with
business colleagues from other parts of the world. Dale co-founded Meridian
Resources Associates, Inc. in 1990 and served as its managing
director.
David Eaton, Founder & Co-President, will focus on firm
strategy and client counsel. Eaton has been an international consultant for more
than 15 years and has assisted a broad range of clients with the complex issues
surrounding global competency development in areas like joint-venture
management, multinational teams, global human resources strategy, corporate
communications, and global project management. He previously worked for two
international public relations firms. Eaton founded Eaton Consulting Group in
1993 and served as its President.
Ernest Gundling, Founder &
Co-President, will be responsible for the new firm's five practice areas and the
intellectual property of MeridianEaton Global. Dr. Gundling is the author of
numerous publications, including The 3M Way to Innovation: Balancing People and
Profits, Working GlobeSmart: 12 People Skills for Doing Business Across Borders,
and a forthcoming book titled, Global Diversity: Cultures within Cultures. He
has served as a senior Asia specialist, assisting clients in developing
strategic global approaches to leadership, organizational development, and
executive-level relationships with key business partners. Gundling co-founded
Meridian Resources Associates, Inc. in 1990 and served as its co-managing
director.
http://www.meridianglobal.com ;
http://www.eatonconsultinggroup.com
This press release was distributed through eMediawire by Human Resources
Marketer (HR Marketer: www.HRmarketer.com) on behalf of the company listed
above.
Contact:
Laurie Mack, +1.415.321.7900 (San Francisco)
Brad
Bungum, +45.40.54.23.21 (Copenhagen)
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb249928.htm