An International Merger

But when they arrived in Rotorua all pretence was put aside once they’d confirmed there was no one there who they had to work with when they returned to Auckland. They were like Siamese twins for the long weekend and sad when they had to make the three hours trip back to Auckland and pretend they were not a committed couple. Robert was thinking about that return when he’d have to confront William with his resignation. He dreaded that moment as he loved working with the team there. Fortunately, Anita was completing her five-year contract, but he didn’t know how Deloitte’s would react if Anita quit and whether this would affect her visa status. He knew by now how she’d be treated if forced to return to India and possibly forced into a marriage regardless of their commitment in Australia.

They managed to keep their feelings in check when they returned to Auckland just in time to be overwhelmed by the arrival of Denzel Brown the American black IT specialist. Denzel was over six feet tall handsome and full of self-confidence as he’d spent years working in Silicon Valley California and a rising star there before being squeezed out by a jealous superior who found him too much of a threat to his own job so found a pretext to have him pushed out as a so-called cost savings measure. Denzel had a king-sized grudge against those placed above him now, but Deloitte’s had head hunted him knowing of his genius with IT and tolerated his prejudices. Denzel took an immediate dislike to Robert as his temporary one in charge but was smitten by Anita on their first introduction. He demanded she be his assistant as he worked on the systems there. He picked holes in the preliminary work done on new software Robert had been experimenting with waiting for Denzel to arrive. Robert agreed Anita could spend some time with Denzel in order to give her experience under this gifted man in the IT area but insisted she’d be pulled out from that temporary assignment when Eloise Dubois arrived for the important implementation of the system nationally and her work rolling it out explaining the need in the change management component of the project. Anita needed to gain experience in that area too.

Denzel was brilliant as he built on the work Robert had started, and Anita could see there was much to learn. Denzel was constantly belittling the work Robert had started as he and Anita worked together and she eventually had enough and made it plain that was inappropriate. He was also trying his luck to get her to go partying with him of a night but eventually got the message she wasn’t interested and he started to fix his attention on the Māori woman called Arahina sometimes manning the desk at the hotel they were all booked into. Arahina was very interested in this handsome tall black man and quickly agreed to nights out with him, so his attention was diverted from Anita which relieved her. She was fearful Robert would be the jealous type who’d decide to discard her after seeing Denzel’s attention toward her, but Robert assured her nothing would shake his confidence in her and they were a couple for keeps.

Toward the end of the year Eloise Dubois arrived and indicated she’d only be starting her work when the government committee recommenced their work in the following year. In the meantime, she was going to investigate New Zealand on a well-earned holiday at her own expense and would not be available by phone as she intended to do a lot of hiking and mountain climbing. This would give Denzel time to complete work on the IT system changes to be rolled out nationwide.

Robert then took Eloise to meet Denzel who’d be liaising with her during the roll out nationwide. Each having aggressive personalities in administrative roles eyed each other carefully to see how the pecking order would work out but they knew their job depended on working together harmoniously and treating people at the various service centres with respect.

She gave Robert the date she’d commence the roll out in the coming year, and he introduced her to Anita who’d be her understudy during the change management process. Robert would stay behind to work with the government team as they received feedback and process the literature to be sent out in advance describing changes being made so they’d have an idea of what was planned and be able to ask questions as the Eloise, Anita and Denzel team made lightning visits to each of the service centres nationwide before the new service went online and after that Denzel would be available to sort out any glitches found in the system when rolled out. His purpose in visiting around with Eloise was to meet those responsible in the city centres for inputting data and setting them up on a hotline to him when he returned to Auckland as the new system was rolled out.

During the Christmas break Robert and Anita took time off to explore north and south islands visiting as many tourist centres as possible they could fit into their time off before the government team returned to work in the new year. They stayed in an assortment of motels and guesthouses as they moved around avoiding places like backpacker accommodations and Anita insisted on paying for many of these as they moved around noting Robert would have covered everything and she was aware he’d already spent quite a lot on her by this time. Every day with him convinced her she’d made the best choice of a life partner as he was attentive and obviously in love with her. She could hardly wait for the time when they’d be married and wished they were already. So, it was with reluctance they returned for the next stage of the project.

She was apprehensive at the prospect of being away from Auckland travelling with Eloise as she’d heard the woman had excellent people skills with people she met as her job progressed but was hard on those, she worked in administration. She was to later find Eloise was quite supportive and helped her as she learned as her understudy.

Robert’s work was ending on this large project in New Zealand, and he began to think about how he’d approach William to confess he and Anita were planning marriage and therefor according to the rules he’d be required to relinquish his position in favour of his future wife’s continued employment. He was used to Melbourne so would seek work there and that would put him in proximity to his family still rather than moving interstate as he’d missed regular contacts with his family after this long time away from Melbourne. He’d be glad to get home and face whatever happened when meeting Deloitte administration in Melbourne and find time for a rush trip to his parent’s country town to introduce Anita to them.

Anita was travelling for a few months with Eloise but every evening after an exhausting day’s work she kept in contact with Robert confessing she missed him terribly but was enthusiastic about her time with Eloise and what she was learning about change management. Then the time came for them to visit their last city to meet with staff there and Anita’s excitement grew as she contemplated a return to Auckland. She decided not to inform Robert of the day they anticipated being back in Auckland choosing to surprise him and she hoped his interest in her had not waned during the time they were separated. Then on the appointed day she knocked on his door, and he opened it puzzled at who could be there. He was dressed in a singlet and shorts and was embarrassed to see Anita standing there. She burst into the room and wound herself around him chattering about her months away experience in excitement and how well she’d gotten along with Eloise. The woman had enjoyed her company so much she was determined to get her as an understudy at the London office and Anita had to confess she was going to get married to someone in Melbourne on conclusion of the project. Eloise kept pressing her on who that might be but Anita remembering why she should not disclose that until Robert worked out things on their return deflected those questions.

It was now time for the roll out of the new system and over the next few months Eloise was the one to rush to calm things down when problems happened at one of the service centres around the country. Denzel was busy liaising with the government IT Specialists who’d now take over full responsibility and helping solve issues they encountered as the new system rolled out. But he was still finding time to romance Arahina his Māori interest, and she eventually confronted him on what she could expect from him next. His response was she should migrate to the US so they could continue their relationship. She having come to know he was likely to be called to any part of the world for long term engagements suddenly lost interest and turned her attention to where she’d find a partner content to stay with her in New Zealand.  Denzel having decided government IT were perfectly capable of following through informed the Melbourne office he was returning to the US to look for his next consultancy job. Robert could see it was now time to return to Melbourne with Anita leaving Eloise to liaise with the government project committee until they deemed there was no longer any need for a Deloitte presence. Any further consultancy needs by the government would be dealt with by William as necessary.

Deloitte’s in Melbourne had been advised of the return of Robert and Anita, so their apartments had been emptied of the furnishings of their temporary residents and arrangements made for movers to move their personal items back into those apartments. They were given a week off to unpack with the help of those movers. Anita was delighted to be back home and looking forward to the results of Robert’s meeting with William when their temporary leave was finished. They managed to have clandestine meetings at each other’s apartments as they unpacked, and each expressed the desire to get married as soon as possible.

On their first day back at work each were requested to meet with William in turn to receive their next assignments. They were hoping they’d be assigned consultancy work in Melbourne as Deloitte’s had much work they accomplished there but individuals on their staff were just as often seconded overseas to join teams there so they were apprehensive.

William had the first appointment with Robert and Robert got straight to the point informing his immediate supervisor of plans he had to marry Anita and presumed he’d have to resign to fulfil his contract agreement that there should not be a husband-and-wife pair working in the same office. There was excellent reason for this. In the past jealousies had been aroused by those feeling they were sidelined by a husband and wife working together and it had created such tensions in parts of the world that Deloitte’s eventually made a rule that should not happen in any single office. William listened incredulous as Robert made this confession and shook his head.

“Robert, you’ve just delivered a huge headache to me. We don’t want to lose either of you as you’ve been marked for advancement and other parts of the world have been inquiring about you being assigned to them full time. Anita is very intelligent and has performed very well on this last project in New Zealand. We have good reports from the government team there and Eloise who is very hard to please, but Anita somehow caught her fancy. She wants us to release Anita to the London office. Denzel hasn’t given a report yet, but we hear through the grape vine he was trying to get her out partying with him and she rebuffed him so don’t expect him to give her a good recommendation. We are very satisfied with her progress, and she has a bright future with us. Fancy you falling for her when your cultures are so different, but you must have been quite an influence on her because she’s obviously been out shopping and turned up in some upmarket business attire this morning. She looks very professional and stunning now. I’ll talk with her when she sees me later, but it may surprise you to know the Singapore office could use her for a few months for a study they’re doing there now, and I’d committed her to them and that’s what I wanted to talk to her about later. You are scheduled to do a Hong Kong trip, but what you’ve told me about marriage to her really throws us into a difficult situation. Let me talk with the partners and we’ll see what can be worked out but obviously one of you will have to go. I’ll call you when I’ve had an emergency meeting with the partners.”

Robert departed feeling sad and passed by Anita’s office and found she wasn’t there. He returned to his office to catch up on the current projects Deloitte’s were working on and who among those listed as employees was on those projects. It felt strange to be back in this office again. An hour later William phoned and asked him to attend his office. He went expecting to hear bad news of his future with Deloitte’s. Entering Williams office, he searched his superior’s face for some clue of what the bad news would be. He took the seat indicated.

“Robert the partners are really nonplussed at the news delivered to us this morning and there was much discussion on how to continue the services of both of you. We have done a lot to ensure Anita remains in this country and with our support she could be on track to eventual citizenship if she chooses. It makes no sense for her to exit our firm and we need her. She owes us and will have to take that Singapore assignment which will take her away for a few months. That’s a downside as you contemplate marriage. There will be times when you need to be separated. The partners recognize you will have to be discontinued as a regular employee because of the rule internationally, but we have a suggestion. Why don’t you register as a consultant operating a business of your own. We give work to consultants and pay them a fee for service just as we did with Denzel and Eloise and others who have talents in a specific area. You have a professional degree in hospital administration along with your other string of degrees so that would be considered our rationale for giving you work as a consultant though your experience goes far beyond that now so we could sneak a consultancy fee in some other areas. Carmichael Health System has asked us to train their staff in a reengineering of their hospitals to meet current healthcare environment needs where government pressure is forcing them to reduce their fees for services, they provide the public and inflation  in the health care industry far exceeds the general rate of country inflation because of the increasing need of high end diagnostic tools their competitors are acquiring. It’s a classic revenue down cost push situation driving them near the line in profitability. They need to save millions of dollars in monthly operations and probably revamp their hospital facilities to meet the need of faster delivery of services and high turnover of patients. Tom Holliday has a degree in hospital administration but lacks the experience in project management which you do have. We were considering him as an understudy to gain experience and bringing a hospital professional from overseas with reengineering hospitals experience. Tom probably needs experience outside his field so maybe we could send him to Hong Kong to do that with a mentor to guide him, and you could take on the Carmichael job with whoever you choose except Anita of course,”

Robert breathed a sigh of relief.

It was an ideal situation as far as his liaison work with Deloitte could be continued though he’d no longer be a regular employee or have an office with them. He could investigate what needed to be done to form a business of his own. He could see the partners were trying to accommodate them and keep both their services, but it would mean separations from time to time, and he’d have to consult with Anita now. He sat in thought then looked up to William smiling.

“I’m really touched the partners are suggesting a way for me to continue my association with Deloitte’s William. I love working here but realize you have good reasons for having one of us out of the office. We can’t work together as a married couple employed by you and I understand. I’m very much interested in the partner’s offer and if you’ll permit me half an hour to explain this to Anita can I get back to you by phone after that?”

William nodded.

“Come back to my office after that and wait until I finish with a client then we will talk about it personally. I hope you and Anita accept this as the best offer we can give you so you can get married.”

Robert sped to Anita’s office, and she was there this time looking through the pile of letters on her desk. He closed the door and reported everything just as William had outlined what Deloitte would do. He urged her to accept that offer even though it meant they’d be separated at times. Perhaps his personal consultancy business could take off so that someday when Anita had received a thorough exposure to the work, they could be together in their own joint business as consultants. She cried at the thought of those separations but had to admit it was the best of bad options. Finally, she gave her agreement on the specific condition they marry quickly as she was tired of seeing him go to his own apartment and not be with her permanently. Robert nodded eagerly. He wanted that intimacy in marriage too and it could not come soon enough. He rushed back to William’s office and waited for him to finish with his client. William beckoned him in.

“I’ll write my resignation letter to you today William and clear my office. I’ll accept your offer of consultant on fee to do the reengineering project for Carmichael Health System and liaise with anyone you want to have look after Deloitte interests as we work there with the team Carmichael’s appointed to work with me. Anita and I will take a brief time to marry so we can spend quality time together before she departs for Singapore. I guess this will be my last day working at Deloitte then but hope future consultancy projects you give me will continue to bring me under your mentorship as I love working with you. Can you give me a little time with Anita to get our marriage underway and find a house to give us more room as we establish life together. I also must set up a business registration and get it all sorted out with the tax people. I’ll investigate temporarily setting up office in one of those share office establishments that supply shared secretarial and office equipment for a monthly fee if that’s feasible.”

 William gave Robert a month to prepare to take on the reengineering management consultancy on behalf of Deloitte with fee for service and Anita that same month leave to work on surrender of the two current rental leases and find a bigger place to live and Robert waited for William to tell him who from Deloitte would be supplied as an understudy.

The next day Robert and Anita got a marriage licence and were married at the Victorian Marriage Registry at the Old Treasury Building. That evening they celebrated their first time together as a married couple in Hilton Hotel and barely left their room for the two days they were booked except to eat before leaving for the back breaking work of unpacking boxes in their new home looking into possibilities of a rented office with shared secretarial and equipment services. One of the Deloitte team had decided to move overseas and had their home on the market so William suggested Robert may be interested in buying and a hasty trip to the bank in the company of William known to their bank used by Deloitte’s secured a loan on favourable terms. In the meantime, Robert would work from home in that he’d have office space supplied at the locations Deloitte’s sub-contracted his services. Both Robert and Anita were used to working hard but changes in rapid order taxed their strength however they revelled in their new married life together and loved being with each other at nights tired as they were.

But all too soon Anita had to return to her office duties and a session with William who she now reported to as he outlined briefly the scope of work to be expected in Singapore which would require her to be on site for at least six months. William felt sorry as he saw Anita tear up considering this long absence from her new husband, but a deal was a deal and Deloitte’s could not accommodate the Hill family more than they’d done and in fact had been very generous in sub-contracting Robert now he was not one of their official employees. Robert had been preparing advertising materials for his new business which he’d decided to be called ROBAN Corporate Restructures in recognition of the fact one day his wife would join him in this business. In Indian culture it was quite common for a man to marry and leave his wife in India while he studied abroad with infrequent trips back home to see his wife and sometimes child born in his absence. So, Anita recognized this separation would be normal in India. But culturally Anita had changed and resented this long separation though realized Deloitte’s were being unusually good to the newly marrieds.

Robert was quite realistic about breaking into the consultancy market. There were so many of them individually desperately seeking work after breaking with the well-funded corporations they’d previously been employed by. Some were barely scraping by financially as competition was fierce and people generally preferred the large corporations with unlimited expert resources around the world to call on. He was lucky to have some work passed his way by Deloitte’s who valued his expertise but some of these projects could take him overseas for extended periods of time while his wife was either in Melbourne or also travelling somewhere else. That was not the kind of marriage he wanted and as soon as Anita had given fair service for all Deloitte’s had done for her, he wanted them working together in their own business. Setting up an appropriate office, constant advertising and the cost of mixing with corporate leaders in conventions required a lot of cash and they now had a mortgage to consider. Making frequent trips to Singapore to see his wife would not be cheap either if he could afford it and then he knew she’d have little time to give him during a project she was working on so what was the point.

Perhaps an alternative to solve the need for business and it being in short supply in individual consultancy would be to buy into a CPA practice as a partner where a constant flow of clients was assured and maybe he could be their project expert and be assured of a safe mix of work and still work with Deloitte under contract to the practice if the other partners could be sold on that approach. Probably not of interest to public accountants though. That way he could have built up clients and eventually be surer of success as an independent working with Anita when she was free to leave Deloitte’s.

But right now, it was the hospital reengineering project William wanted him to do and that would be a lucrative start to his independent career. So, he was delighted to be summoned by William to meet the President of Carmichael Health System and learn who the Deloitte liaison would be as he rolled out the reengineering project for them. William introduced him to Greg Morris the President and the representative chosen by Deloitte to work with Robert who was Sarah Miles. Sarah had a nursing background before going back to school and graduating with her master’s in health care administration. She’d recently married a successful banker. She’d be an asset knowing the inner workings of a hospital and having completed the same course at university level Robert would be able to talk that language with her. But she was new with Deloitte, and this would be her first project experience in a corporate reengineering. Sarah was very professional and insightful, and the Carmichael system President obviously liked what he saw in both Robert and Sarah.

Robert thought of his usual practice taking his associate in the project for a getting to know each other dinner but wondered if that was appropriate now, he was married and so was Sarah. That was sorted out for him by William when the president left and he looked at his watch and noted it was near lunch time. He indicated he was taking the two of them to lunch where Robert and Sarah could get to know each other better before they commenced work at the Carmichael corporate office next week to meet the team appointed to work on the reengineering and review corporate reporting methods and administrative systems to be drilled into to see whether systems used were yielding the efficiencies needed to be in competition with competing hospital systems. Robert would go over key performance indicators after the initial meeting while Sarah fanned out to visit the four hospitals in the system around Victoria to meet with department leaders and gain an initial understanding of systems in place, attitudes at all levels and difficulties encountered in each department giving a Zoom report each day to Robert and the Carmichael team he was to work with. Robert at this stage would be sharing with the team methods and systems used worldwide considered world best practice and comparing these with systems used at Carmichael. The Carmichael systems were standard in each affiliate hospital, and all information was accessible in the main computer database at headquarters in Melbourne. They were haemorrhaging money each month some hospitals in the group more than others and were prepared to spend the millions of dollars needed for Deloitte’s expertise to return to profitability again. Two weeks later Sarah rejoined the team in Melbourne to give her impressions to the team for each of their affiliate hospitals.

To be continued. Copyright Notice

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