Abstract
Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) offer both advantages and challenges to firms that pursue this growth strategy. Although various frameworks and approaches have been designed to reduce the risks of these transactions, high failure rates continue to plague M&A events. This study investigated a lesser-examined but powerful factor in change outcomes: organization identity. This study examined the effects of M&As on organization identity and identified practices for assessing and addressing identity threat and integration as part of an M&A. The research design was a single case study, with 11 employees ranging from individual contributors to executives being recruited from an organization that had recently undergone an M&A event. Each participant completed a one-on-one interview to gather their perceptions of their original company’s organization identity, any shifts they perceive in that identity, and how those shifts have affected them. Participants’ suggestions for managing organization identity for improved M&A outcomes were solicited. Study findings indicated that the M&A event had profound adverse impacts on the identities of the organizations involved in the event. The organization identity shifts affected organization members in significant and negative ways, including experiences of confusion, traumatic loss, diminished loyalty of the whole, and personal identity shifts. Proposed activities for managing organization identity throughout an M&A event include deliberate strategic alignment and human capital allocation, transparent communication, cross-organizational relationship building, and protection of customer and employee needs throughout the M&A event.
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Consolidation and merger of corporations; Organizational change; Group identity—Corporations
Date of Award
2024
School Affiliation
George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management
Department/Program
Business
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Masters
Faculty Advisor
Ann E. Feyerherm
Recommended Citation
Figler, Melanie, "Designing and evaluating a framework for assessing and addressing identity threat and integration as part of a merger and acquisition" (2024). Theses and Dissertations. 1513.
https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd/1513