Isolde is the head of Siiquent, a DNA sequencing startup that sells hospitals and big diagnostic labs everything they need to for gene-based diagnosis. Emanuel is the head of Teomik, which provides research labs and universities everything they need for gene-based studies. Siiquent makes money by selling its machines at cost and selling the stuff the machines use for a profit, whereas Teomik makes money by selling its machines for a profit. The new merged business unit, Siiquent-Teomik, is now operating in an increasingly competitive and uncertain market as competitors have begun producing formerly patented products and customers have started shifting the way they operate. Due to the newfound uncertainty, Siiquent-Teomik must maintain a flexible revenue model, without restricting itself to one rigid model. The new entity must be able to quickly respond to the market as competitors pop up and customers’ priorities change. Siiquent-Teomik must be able to competitively price their products without being constrained to a single revenue model. Of course, one peril with this flexible approach could be that customers feel that the company’s messaging and pricing is inconsistent across different products, however, it is better for the company’s messaging and pricing to be inconsistent and flexible than consistent, rigid, and out of touch with the new market.
As a PM assigned to mediate the merger of these two business units, I would first sit down with the two groups to understand each group’s key priorities and goals. I would also ask each group to articulate the broader company’s key priorities and goals. Then, I would work with the two groups to understand where the groups’ and companies’ priorities overlap and where they diverge. I would then try and understand why the groups’ priorities diverge to understand if stated priorities are misinformed or truly necessary. I would have the two groups try to construct new shared priorities based on the individual groups’ priorities.
