Context and goal

In September 2009, the head of PerForm Academy, the training and qualification unit of BASF Performance Chemicals division, invited her team of three to explore the relevance and consequences of the recent major acquisition project by BASF for PerForm's strategic positioning in the division. A lot of the acquired operations were to be integrated into BASF Performance Chemicals division. Consequently, all parts – including HR and training functions – of the former and old organization were concerned with the organizational implications of the acquisition. The explicit goal of the intervention was to specify and shape PerForm Academy's strategic profile in terms of key clients and main offerings in this post-acquistion context.

Embodied metaphors

Participants portrayed their team as an office space on a blue platform with a variety of connections. For example, a ladder oriented to a boatful of person figures – representing future internal clients – on a green platform was meant to invite them to increase their skills and competences, the obvious and ultimate goal of a training function. The highest element on the platform is a wooden clown face, representing the enjoyment, commitment and dedication that team members experience in working in this team. A yellow car delivering a set of bricks to the entrance represents the head of the team, always on the road to find new ideas and concepts for training.