Continental Airlines

Fighting Fires After a Merger

Challenge

After multiple mergers and acquisitions Continental Airlines realized it had become a company that consisted of silos of employees each performing the same job function but being compensated based on the pay scale of their previous, pre-merger organization. This disparity in compensation caused friction between management and employees. As a result, management was tasked with developing a plan, agreeable to the general employee base that equalized their compensation according to seniority over a period of time. Continental Airlines needed an application that would facilitate the development of the new compensation plan.  Several vendors informed Continental management that such a system could not be developed in the time frame needed.

This situation presented Alliance Data with a three-fold challenge:

• Rapidly develop a decision support system capable of analyzing the impact of various compensation alternatives on the companyês bottom line.

• Develop as system flexible enough to immediately implement any compensation plan that was finally chosen by Continentalês employees.

• Integrate the developed system with the companyês new payroll system that would be coming on line at the same time.

Alliance Data would also be responsible for communication explaining the complex compensation plan to the employee population.

Solution

Alliance Data dispatched what it affectionately calls the Emergency Response Team (ERT) of highly skilled and motivated consultants to rapidly assess the situation, determine a feasible solution for the given time frame, and then formulate and execute a system development plan. Alliance Data consultants worked around the clock to support the negotiation process and to provide the needed visibility to total cost information of each compensation alternative discussed.

Results

The systems were developed and implemented on schedule and Continental management was able to negotiate a compensation plan for its employees that satisfied their needs while still having visibility to the total cost of each of their decisions.

Upon settlement of a compensation plan Alliance Data assisted with the communication of its terms to each of the employees affected. Alliance Data consultants set up shop in the baggage handling areas to assist Continental HR staff with the explanation of each individualês compensation plan. The long-term payment system came on-line as planned prior to the next payroll after final settlement of compensation terms.

Technology

Alliance Dataês Rapid Development Methodology
Alliance Dataês Rapid Development Architecture
Visual Basic
Crystal Reports
Microsoft Access

Quote

"Whenever I have a complex systems project that needs to be developed and implemented within a tight timeframe, I call on Alliance DataÄI can be sure that they will come through for us."

Mark Entringer
Director of Compensation À Continental Airlines