Changes in employees’ attitudes at work following an acquisition: a comparative study by acquisition type

Citation

Guerrero, S. (2009), "Changes in employees’ attitudes at work following an acquisition: a comparative study by acquisition type", Strategic Direction, Vol. 25 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/sd.2009.05625cad.005

Changes in employees’ attitudes at work following an acquisition: a comparative study by acquisition type

Article Type: Abstracts From: Strategic Direction, Volume 25, Issue 3

Guerrero S.Human Resource Management Journal, July 2008, Vol. 18 No. 3, Start page: 216, No. of pages: 21

Purpose – examines how employee reaction varies in the event of an acquisition, looking at the impact of the legitimacy of the purchasing firm’s identity and the extent of organisational changes or discontinuity resulting from the acquisition. Design/methodology/approach – provides a literature review and generates hypotheses regarding changes in employee attitudes following an acquisition in terms of: social identity theory; stress theory; and a combination of the two. Describes the organisational context which involved a European industrial group which first acquired one competitor through friendly takeover and later a second competitor through hostile takeover. Discusses the sample used and the scales used to measure questionnaire responses obtained over a five-year period. Findings – shows that employees working at the acquiring organisation had higher identification scores than those at the acquired organisation, that insecurity scores increase at all organisations after the acquisition period and that there is a temporal link between organisational identification, insecurity and job satisfaction. Research limitations/implications – describes the research methods and the analysis of the data. Notes the possibility of other variables which could explain changes in attitude over the time period studied. Practical implications – advises that managers to consider the importance of communication, the mixing of employees at acquiring and acquired firms and the provision of support to employees. Originality/value – examines the impact of acquisition on employee attitudes over a period of time.Reference: 37AZ032DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-8583.2008.00068.x

Keywords: Employee attitudes, Mergers and acquisitions, Stress