Background
The two international pharmaceutical companies, Yamanouchi and Fujisawa, initiated a worldwide merger. Both organizations had regional headquarters located in the Nordic region, in Copenhagen and Gothenburg respectively, and pharmaceutical consultants located throughout the entire world. The management of the merged organization decided to gather all Nordic employees for a one-week merger event.

Employees from Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark from both organizations met up to celebrate the foundation of Astellas Pharma. A total of 100 employees attended the event.

The management wished to unify the two groups of employees in order to cultivate the team spirit and nurture the feelings of being one company, communicate visions and strategies for the new organization and introduce the employees to the entire product portfolio. Above all, the management wished to motivate the employees in order to create a satisfied and efficient Astellas work force.

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Solution
Throughout the week, various activities encouraged and promoted interaction and dialogue among the employees. For example, TCC designed an Astellas lounge in which the employees were socializing and networking before and after the daily dinner.

During the week, TCC developed and executed three teambuilding activities with the purpose of bringing together the employees.
• Networkers; a game focusing on networking and knowledge sharing
• Hot Hour; a game during which different teams competed on mental and creative tasks
• The third game, developed specifically for the event by TCC, was called Logo Hunt

Evening activities included karaoke, choral singing and an employee caberet for which each division had prepared a sketch.

The highly amusing official opening took place on Wednesday and included an impressive light and sound show, a brand new corporate video, speeches by the Japanese Ambassador to Denmark and by the newly appointed Astellas CEO.

TCC ensured that all facilities were branded with the new Astellas logo and corporate colors and the venue for the Thursday evening’s gala dinner was stunningly decorated with logos, flowers, ribbons, balloons, menus and light effects – all elements true to Astellas’ visual identity.

In addition to the various festive speeches, Café Kølbert entertained the employees during the fabulous dinner. The employees were dancing all night long.
The concluding Friday session featured a power talk by Jan Larsen. Jan is a terrific motivator of large crowds and soon everyone stood up, hands in the air, ready to begin the new adventure.