Trajectories and antecedents of integration in mergers and acquisitions: A comparison of two longitudinal research studies

TY - JOUR

T1 - Trajectories and antecedents of integration in mergers and acquisitions

T2 - A comparison of two longitudinal research studies

AU - Edwards, Martin R

AU - Lipponen, Jukka

AU - Edwards, Tony

AU - Hakonen, Marko

PY - 2017/10

Y1 - 2017/10

N2 - Despite existing research examining snapshots of employee reactions to organizational mergers and acquisitions (M&A), there is a complete absence of work theorizing or exploring rates of change in employees’ organizational identification with the merged entity. We address this gap using two 3-wave longitudinal panel samples from different M&A settings, tracking change in identification through a two-year period. Theorizing trajectories of change in identification across the organizations in both settings, we make predictions linked to expected antecedents of change in identification. Our research context (M&A-1) involves a merger of three Finish universities tracking 938 employees from each organization in three-waves (9 months pre-merger to 24 months post-merger). Our second context (M&A-2) involves a multinational acquisition tracking 346 employees from both the acquired and acquiring organization in three-waves (from 2-26 months post-acquisition). Using Latent Growth Modeling we confirm predicted trajectories of change in identification. Across both samples, a linear increase (across T1, T2 and T3) in justice and linear decrease in threat perceptions were found to significantly predict a linear increase in identification across the post-M&A period. We discuss organizational identification development trajectories and how change in these two antecedents account for changes in identification across M&A contexts.

AB - Despite existing research examining snapshots of employee reactions to organizational mergers and acquisitions (M&A), there is a complete absence of work theorizing or exploring rates of change in employees’ organizational identification with the merged entity. We address this gap using two 3-wave longitudinal panel samples from different M&A settings, tracking change in identification through a two-year period. Theorizing trajectories of change in identification across the organizations in both settings, we make predictions linked to expected antecedents of change in identification. Our research context (M&A-1) involves a merger of three Finish universities tracking 938 employees from each organization in three-waves (9 months pre-merger to 24 months post-merger). Our second context (M&A-2) involves a multinational acquisition tracking 346 employees from both the acquired and acquiring organization in three-waves (from 2-26 months post-acquisition). Using Latent Growth Modeling we confirm predicted trajectories of change in identification. Across both samples, a linear increase (across T1, T2 and T3) in justice and linear decrease in threat perceptions were found to significantly predict a linear increase in identification across the post-M&A period. We discuss organizational identification development trajectories and how change in these two antecedents account for changes in identification across M&A contexts.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85027720885

U2 - 10.1177/0018726716686169

DO - 10.1177/0018726716686169

M3 - Article

SN - 0018-7267

VL - 70

SP - 1258

EP - 1290

JO - Human Relations

JF - Human Relations

IS - 10

ER -