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Burp IKON Office Solutions is a company with indigestion. The company began an aggressive acquisition spree in 1996 and ended up buying 200 other companies by 1998. But now IKON is struggling to integrate these subsidiaries into a unified, national sales force for copiers, fax machines, and other office equipment. One CEO has already failed - and was sacked for his failure - to unite the company into a coherent unit, but a new leader has slashed jobs, shaken up management, and refocused the company on higher-end, more profitable products for the future. Want a copier? Buy it at any of our 1100 stores To be sure, IKON's spending spree gave the company an enviable market position. The company now runs 1100 copier and office technology sales centers in North America and Europe, the second-largest network of its kind behind Xerox. While Xerox sells and services its own machines, IKON serves as the main distributor for Canon, Ricoh, and Oce. A second division in IKON performs document management for paper-intensive companies. A third IKON division runs an information systems consultancy. IKON's flexibility has proven to be its strength. The company not only responds to new developments in technology, but also supports smaller businesses that use older equipment. "We don't try to blend the cultures" In the mid 1990s, IKON's former CEO, John Stewart, began casting about for a way to capture the information technology and high-end office technology markets. He did it through acquisitions, buying independent distributors, and letting them stay more or less independent. As late as December 1997, Stewart was justifying his laissez-faire approach by telling interviewers that "we don't try to blend the cultures." By the summer of 1998, however, IKON was saddled with debt and many of its distributors were performing poorly. Moreover, IKON stock had hit an all-time low. The company fired Stewart. The comeback kid? The new CEO, James Forese, began IKON's turnaround by firing 1500 employees and taking $140 million in earnings to restructure the company. The company has yet to recover fully. In the meantime, both Xerox and Hewlett-Packard saw their market shares grow at IKON's expense. The company is hoping the benefits of the turnaround will materialize soon. Not helping its cause is a $111 million settlement in a fradulent securities lawsuit brought against IKON by its investors. IKON had manipulated its books to keep its stock price at an inflated number. It then used this overvalued stock to purchase many smaller companies. Seeking to distance itself from this lawsuit and the other problems it has experiences recently, IKON is taking its business and its image in a new direction. IKON's goal, according to a new ad campaign is to "help businesses communicate". They are also moving from leasing standard copiers to flashier, more powerful digital copiers. It is also focusing on businesses with high profit potential such as the outsourcing of other companies printing needs. Taking on the copycats In July 2000 Ikon teamed up with IPrint.com, an online print business, to launch a photocopying-on-demand service. Ikon takes on competitors like Kinkos and Liveprint.com, who also provide high-volume printing services to businesses.
IKON is a highly decentralized company in which each office is responsible for its own hiring. Available positions, including those at the company's headquarters and regional offices, are not posted nationally but are listed in local newspapers. The company does not retain unsolicited resumes unless they are for a specific position. IKON is looking for aggressive, imaginative employees who have "outstanding" communication skills and enough flexibility to take on the challenges accompanying the company's rapid expansion. "The copier is moving towards digital systems," says one IKON insider. "Those with computer skills have an advantage when it comes to advancement."
No common processes in place IKON's emphasis on "aggressive acquisition" has created a dual take on the company's culture. On the one hand, some employees grumble about the current, not-entirely smooth campaign to integrate all of IKON's newly acquired sales divisions. "Unlike Xerox, which coordinates all field activities closely from a headquarters' perspective, IKON allowed local management philosophies to flourish until the middle of 1998. As you can imagine, there were no common processes in place across the company for quite some time," says one insider. Another former IKONer is even more blunt: "My advice is that you should apply for a company that has a reputation for great sales training - and that would be Xerox." Encouraging career advancement Other IKON informants, however, see new areas of opportunity in acquisitions. "Our company is very interested in encouraging career advancement and education," says one. "IKON is on the way up and is really starting to hit its stride," says another. For IKON's sales force, the company's troubles haven't entirely interfered with its mission. "IKON is a sales company first. If you want to sell equipment, you will get good training and high commissions if you are successful. You must be driven by money," says one source. "As a sales force, we make some of the highest commissions and payouts in the industry, with some reps making over $200,000. The average rep makes over $50,000," contributes one insider. "Two to three years to make it" Nevertheless, all that green doesn't come easy. "It takes about two to three years to make it and the industry sees over 75 percent of its new employees (salespeople) quit within the first year," remarks one IKON insider. "As a salesperson, I enjoy me work, although it is stressful as hell sometimes."
Human Resources
Office products and services;Fax machines; Photocopier sales, leasing, and services;Photocopying management;Photocopying outsourcing;Office management consulting
Office Depot ;Staples ;U.S. Office Products More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
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