Littérature scientifique sur le sujet « Sensemaking. Organizational identity. Merger and Acquisitions »

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the possible coexistence of single and multiple organizational identities (OIs) after mergers and acquisitions (M&A). In particular, it describes how the sensemaking process leads the acquired and acquiring companies to maintain multiple identities, even after the formal conclusion of the integration process. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a grounded study based on a single case study (M&A between a German chemical multinational and an Italian/Swiss pharmaceutical firm). Findings – While many previous studies suggest that the evolution of OI reduces ambiguity by providing multiple identities under a shared commonality, this paper shows that multiple identities might survive within the same “new entity.” Research limitations/implications – Despite being based on a single case, the paper argues that the choice of maintaining multiple identities may be even more appropriate than the tendency to converge toward one of the old ones or toward a new one. The “sense” that employees and managers give to the same “words,” as well as the “sense” that they make for them, mirrors the perception they have of the OI. Practical implications – The conclusions presented could help managers to facilitate sensemaking as a means of dealing with multiple OIs. Originality/value – Differently from the extant literature, the paper concludes by stating that striking a balance between single and multiple identities might provide the ideal platform for building a new identity based on plurality. When the two (or more) organizational contexts present some complementarities, the existence of multiple identities, and its inner ambiguity, is not a problem per se.

This research draws from the psychodynamic perspective of social identity theory to examine the causal effect of mergers and acquisitions involving a mismatch of external images on the sales force. Study 1, a natural longitudinal experiment, shows that a merger with a poorer-image firm immediately dilutes salespeople's organizational identification (OI), which in turn impairs their performance. As sense makers, salespeople who are more tenured experience stronger OI dilution, whereas those who perceive a high level of social inclusion experience weaker OI dilution. As sense givers, managers who emphasize the firm's strategic intent in their communication buffer the OI-dilution effect, whereas those who emphasize the firm's organizational culture aggravate the effect. Study 2, a scenario-based experiment, further demonstrates that the OI-dilution effect is stronger than the OI-enhancement effect from merging with a better-image firm. Furthermore, both studies confirm that the adverse effect of mergers and acquisitions that involve a mismatch of external image stems from image uncertainty rather than job uncertainty.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that pre-merger identification plays within a post-merger setting. Social Identity Theory (SIT) has conflicting reports on the role that pre-merger identification plays in post-merger integration. The current research explores a case study where enhancing pre-merger identification resulted in positive post-merger identification and intergroup relations; progressing knowledge in the field by analysing the contextual factors that facilitate this outcome. Design/methodology/approach – The research follows a case study design applying integration method for the study of changes over time. Two sets of in-depth semi-structured interviews underwent content analysis to derive thematic findings. Case detail was also provided to frame the results. Findings – Findings of the research showed that the integration strategy used to facilitate pre-merger ingroup identification reduced the perceived status differences between groups, moderately improved ingroup relations, and significantly improved intergroup relations. Practical implications – For strategic planners involved in managing change during a merger, the findings provide an alternative integration strategy to be used within a joint-brand structure. The research also provides several analysis points that managers can use to design appropriate integration strategies. Originality/value – The findings are important for the application of SIT to mergers and acquisitions, which commonly view pre-merger identification as a barrier to integration. The current study outlines the contextual factors which strengthen the relationship between pre-merger identity and post-merger identification.

Foreign acquisitions are perceived as threats to organizational identification. Consequently, they trigger members’ sensemaking on their relationship with the organization. Analyzing these sensemaking processes is fundamental to understanding how members interpret identity-threatening events and which logics and motives underlie their identification. We conducted interviews with 28 members of a German company that had been acquired by a Chinese competitor. The study reveals three phases of sensemaking about identification, namely assessment of uncertainty, evaluation of organizational continuity, and reassessment of the organization’s potential for self-enhancement. Initially, concerns for uncertainty reduction are prevalent. Needs for continuity, distinctiveness, and self-verification dominate continuity evaluation. In the last phase, members seek continuous self-enhancement. They hereby evaluate whether they still share the organization's ideology. Furthermore, they reassess the benefits they receive from the organization. The study constitutes a dynamic extension of identification theory. It uncovers salient identification motives and members’ causal reasoning during different sensemaking phases.

Despite ongoing crisis and recession, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are used by companies to reinforce and sustain their place in business world. Regardless of M&As popularity, though, the successful integration of employees’ merging partners and the effective management of the relationships between them and with their merged organization, remains a major challenge not frequently considered during merger process. In this respect and related to the above, the present paper by critically reviewing new research within M&As, attempts to provide a comprehensive integrative review based on the essentials and implications of the social psychological theories of group processes and intergroup relations as represented by the Social Identity Approach (SIA) and related to intergroup structure, fairness, legitimacy and leadership procedures, accompanied by the description of the knowledge-based view (KBV) of M&As which focuses on knowledge integration and capabilities transfer during post-combination. In that way, it aims to reflect on pre-and post-M&A important contextual and process merger success factors (i.e. micro-behavioural and macro-organization/strategy perspectives). Also, based on significant insights drawn from empirical findings discussed, our review seeks to translate them into practical implications for organizational practice and explore promising issues and directions that could expand our understanding and managing of merger integration efficiently.

Despite ongoing crisis and recession, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are used by companies to reinforce and sustain their place in business world. Regardless of M&As popularity, though, the successful integration of employees’ merging partners and the effective management of the relationships between them and with their merged organization, remains a major challenge not frequently considered during merger process. In this respect and related to the above, the present paper by critically reviewing new research within M&As, attempts to provide a comprehensive integrative review based on the essentials and implications of the social psychological theories of group processes and intergroup relations as represented by the Social Identity Approach (SIA) and related to intergroup structure, fairness, legitimacy and leadership procedures, accompanied by the description of the knowledge-based view (KBV) of M&As which focuses on knowledge integration and capabilities transfer during post-combination. In that way, it aims to reflect on pre-and post-M&A important contextual and process merger success factors (i.e. micro-behavioural and macro-organization/strategy perspectives). Also, based on significant insights drawn from empirical findings discussed, our review seeks to translate them into practical implications for organizational practice and explore promising issues and directions that could expand our understanding and managing of merger integration efficiently.

Theoretical background. Research questions. Appropriateness of an "aggregation" managerial response to multiple Organizational Identities after Merger & Acquisition in pharmaceutical industry. Organizational identities evolution: sensemaking and causal maps. A case study of M&A in banking industry. Effects of Information Systems adoption, implementation and assimilation on Organizational Identity during the integration process after a M&A.

Today, mergers and acquisitions often grab headlines due to the large sums of money involved, and the number of stakeholders affected by it. Still, the increase in merger and acquisition activities, the capital involved, and the pervasiveness of these activities stand in sharp contrast to their high rates of failures. Scholars have attributed the failure of mergers and acquisitions to management failure when it comes to dealing with human aspects during the integration phase. The purpose of this paper was to examine how individual’s identities change overtime in a merger. More specifically, it examines the process of post-merger organizational identification in merger contexts through the lens of social identity theory. From this purpose, we formulated the following research question and two sub-questions: • How can post-merger identification be managed and integrated in an organization? o How can organizational identities transit from a pre-merger state to a post-merger state successfully? o What is the outcome of the post-merger identification process? The method used in this study was qualitative with an interpretive approach, which allowed us to gain a deeper understanding regarding the purpose and to answer our research question. Primary data came from purposive sampling, where 14 semi-structured interviews with individuals with various managerial positions in post-merger integrations were conducted to gain an understanding of how they tackled the integration process. The secondary data used resulted from previous research, literature, articles and other internet sources. The interviews were qualitatively analyzed through a thematic coding procedure. The backbone of our theory consists of perspectives on mergers and acquisitions from the lens of social identity theory. Particularly, it was used to understand the post-merger organizational identification process. The theoretical components were used to understand group formations and intra- and intergroup relationships, the effects mergers have on individuals, and what the effects of the outcomes of post-merger identification have on group and organizational identity. Our findings disclose that organizational identities are exclusive by nature and that they remain in this state unless managerial actions are taken which triggers commitment from groups to change. These actions must combine communication efforts with managerial interventions which promote intergroup cooperation, prototypical norms and values. Depending on the actions and the goal of the merger, the nature of the post-merger identity is a combination of two identities which forms an overarching one, or an assimilation of one identity into another. The contributions from this study come in two forms: theoretical and managerial. The theoretical contributions come through our findings showing how organizational identity emerge, change and how they are formed. The managerial contributions provide recommendations on how practitioners should facilitate the process, the vital role the manager has in the process and approaches they could take based on our findings.

Ett företags organisationskultur består av ett gemensamt värdesystem som har en meningsskapande funktion för de anställda i företaget som identifierar sig med organisationen. I en företagsfusion, där två eller flera företag går samman, har det visat sig vara svårt att förena olika organisationskulturer på grund av motstånd från de anställda. Tidigare forskning kring detta har till stor del fokuserat på de anställdas agerande i en fusion. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur anställdas meningsskapande i en fusion påverkades av deras identifikation med organisationen. Med en kvalitativ intervjustudie undersöktes hur anställda i fyra företag hade upplevt en fusion av företagen. Resultatet visade att även om förändringsprocessen hade upplevts negativt av samtliga deltagare varierade upplevelsen av det nya företaget och dess kultur utifrån deltagarnas tidigare bolagstillhörighet. Analysen visade att identifikationen med de tidigare organisationskulturerna påverkade de anställdas menings-skapande i situationen och därmed skapandet av en ny gemensam organisationskultur.

Bakgrund: Sammanslagningar är vanligt förekommande och görs bland annat av ekonomiska skäl. Det är vanligt att sammanslagningar inte ger önskat resultat och skapar sämre moral och arbetskultur. Den mänskliga faktorn och organisationskulturen förbises då fokus ofta ligger på ekonomi. Kulturella skillnader är en stor utmaning vid sammanslagningar och inverkar stort på sammanslagningens resultat. Kulturer som är samstämmiga ökar chanserna att medlemmarna i organisationerna eller enheterna är mer positiva och bidrar till att göra sammanslagningen lyckad. Människors sociala identitet spelar in för hur en individ känner samhörighet och tillhörighet till en organisation eller enhet. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka och beskriva hur organisationskultur inverkar vid sammanslagningar genom att undersöka artefakters betydelse. Studien ämnar göras utifrån aspekten organisationskultur och specifikt artefakter i förhållande till social identitet, samhörighet- och lojalitetskänsla då en längre tid passerat sedan en sammanslagning genomförts. Metod: Kvalitativ metod valdes för att svara på studiens syfte och få en så rättvis och sanningsenlig bild som möjligt. Semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med åtta medarbetare som är berörda av sammanslagningen. Även dokument från den studerade organisationen har legat till grund då de anses viktiga vid historiskt inriktad forskning och kan vara bra när kulturella skillnader och anställdas beteende studeras. Slutsats: Studien visar att människan som artefakt har stor betydelse för var de anställda lägger sin lojalitet och känner samhörighet. Studiens resultat visar även att flera andra typer av artefakter, såsom aktiviteter och arbetskläder har betydelse för detta. Det visade sig att chefens sätt att vara och kommunicera reflekteras i de olika enheterna och även ses som en symbol för organisationen. Det framkommer att i stort sett allt som sker i en organisation har en symbolisk betydelse och att artefakter kan användas för att implementera önskade värderingar och beteenden i en organisation. Ett medvetet arbete med organisationskultur och artefakter kan användas som ett verktyg för att uppnå en lyckad sammanslagning.
Background: Mergers are common and financial issues are one reason. It is common that mergers do not produce the desired results and often create poorer morals and work culture. The human factor and organizational culture are often disregarded as the focus is on finances. Cultural differences are a major challenge in mergers and have a major impact on the merger's results. Cultures that are consistent increase the chances that members of organizations or units are more positive and contributes to make the merger successful. People's social identity plays a role in how an individual feels about belonging to an organization or entity. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to research and describe how organizational culture affects mergers by researching the significance of artifacts. The study aims to make, based on the aspect of organizational culture and specific artifacts in relation to social identity, sense of belonging and loyalty after a long time has passed since the merger. Method: The qualitative method was chosen to respond to the study and get as fair and truthful picture as possible. Documents from the studied organization have also been used as they are considered important in historically oriented research and can be good when studying cultural differences and employee behaviour. Conclusion: The study shows that human as an artifact is of great importance for where the employees place their loyalty and feel togetherness. The results also show that several other types of artifacts, such as activities and work clothes have significance for this. It appears that the manager's way of conducting and communicating is reflected in the various units and seen as a symbol for the organization. It appears that almost everything that happens in an organization has a symbolic significance and that artifacts can be used to implement desired values and behaviours in an organization. A conscious work with organizational culture and artifacts can be used as a tool for achieving a successful merger.

This chapter conceptualizes identity construction in mergers and acquisitions (M and As) as sensemaking where discursive resources are mobilized to construct, transform, and at times destruct senses of organizational identity. M and As are offered as specific contexts where resources such as stereotypes, tropes, narratives, and antenarratives are drawn on to make sense of self (and others) in the transition from legacy organizations to new combined organizational entities. The chapter proposes a theoretical framing based on discursive sensemaking and offers examples from extant research to specify and illustrate it. As a case in point it highlights dynamics of discursive sensemaking with regard to national identity in international M and As. Finally, the chapter outlines avenues for future research.