SMM Program for Merging Companies

PROBLEM:

In 2009, Merck & Co. and Schering Plough were merging into one company. Although both companies had preferred meeting management suppliers in place, all of the preferred meeting companies utilized different processes, templates and technology tools. They were unable to capture meeting spend and cost savings for the new joined entity. It was decided that they needed to develop an SMM program.

SOLUTION:

As a preferred supplier of Merck & Co. since 1997 and an industry leader in SMM, MGME was chosen to spearhead the Strategic Meeting Management Initiative for the new joint venture in conjunction with their Shared Business Service Team at Merck. MGME created a 3-month SMM Implementation Project Timeline with clearly defined deliverables.

The MGME and Merck team met weekly at the client’s headquarters discussing, designing and implementing the meeting management process flow, templates, expectations and roll out. MGME initiated Monthly Best Practice Collaborative Calls with the client as a business forum to discuss industry trends and best practices. The SMM roll out began in North America, and was rolled out in various phases by region as a global initiative.