Case Study Summary:
Company:
Continental Airlines
 
Challenge:
Rapidly build an enterprise wide compensation and benefits system
 
Solution:
Emergency Response Team (ERT)
 
Results:
A long-term solution that equalized compensation and provided a decision support for future changes.
"Whenever I have a complex systems project that needs to be developed and implemented within a tight timeframe, I call on Alliance Data...I can be sure that they will come through for us."
Mark Entringer
Director of Compensation
Continental Airlines

Continental Airlines
Fighting Fires After a Merger

   Challenge
After multiple mergers and acquisitions, Continental Airlines realized it was a company consisting of silos of employees. Many employees were performing the same job function but 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, to equalize the compensation plan over a period of time. Continental Airlines needed an application to facilitate the development of the new compensation plan. Several vendors considered it impossible to develop such a system within the necessary time frame.

This situation presented Alliance Data Corporation (ADC) with a three-fold challenge:
Rapidly develop a decision support system capable of analyzing the impact of various compensation alternatives on the company's bottom line.
Develop a system flexible enough to immediately implement any compensation plan that was finally chosen by Continental's employees.
Integrate the developed system with the company's new payroll system scheduled for implementation at the same time.
ADC would also be responsible for communicating the complex compensation plan to the employee population.

   Solution
ADC dispatched a team of highly skilled consultants to rapidly assess the situation, determine a feasible solution for the given time frame, and execute a system development plan. Our consultants worked around the clock supporting the negotiation process and providing the needed visibility to total cost information of each compensation alternative considered.

   Results
The project was completed on schedule allowing Continental management to negotiate a compensation plan for its employees that satisfied their needs while providing visibility to the total cost of each of their decisions.

Upon settlement of a compensation plan, Alliance Data Corporation assisted with the communication of the plans to each of the employees affected. ADC consultants set up convenient information centers in the baggage handling areas to assist Continental HR staff with the explanation of each individual's 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 Data’s Rapid Development Methodology
Alliance Data’s Rapid Development Architecture
Microsoft Visual Basic
Crystal Reports
Microsoft Access