Identity versus culture in mergers of equals

Sri Zaheer; Margaret Schomaker; Mehmet Genc

doi:10.1016/S0263-2373(03)00013-6

Identity versus culture in mergers of equals

Sri Zaheer, Margaret Schomaker, Mehmet Genc

Administration (CSOM)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

55 Scopus citations

Abstract

We suggest that organizational identity-'who we are'-may be as influential as culture-'how we do things' in affecting the integration process, especially in mergers of equals. We also suggest that the framing of a merger as one of 'equals' is itself likely to reinforce existing organizational identities by setting up an expectation of strict equality in all aspects of the merger.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	185-191
Number of pages	7
Journal	European Management Journal
Volume	21
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-2373(03)00013-6
State	Published - Apr 2003

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study is part of a three-year project sponsored by the Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Consortium organized by the Strategic Management Research Center (SMRC) at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. The consortium consisted of five Minnesota firms that allowed the M&A team detailed access to a range of their acquisitions. The research team developed eight in-depth case studies based on over 30 interviews with senior managers from these consortium companies and other firms who had been on either the acquirer or target side of the deal. These cases provided the grounding for many of the ideas in this paper. Our sub-group focused on cultural compatibility, organizational identity, size and the post-acquisition integration process. The cases also provided insights into areas that needed further investigation. The M&A team then developed detailed questionnaires, which we used to survey about 100 acquiring firms and their targets. These survey data were supplemented with archival data on M&As from the SDC database, and from the press. As such, the ideas developed in this paper draw on data collected through a variety of methods including in-depth casework, examination of qualitative and quantitative archival data, periodic presentations and discussions with the consortium firms and the M&A team, interviews with managers in various acquirer and target firms, and preliminary results from the SMRC survey of both acquirers and targets.

Copyright:
Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

Culture
Identity
Integration
Mergers of equals

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Identity versus culture in mergers of equals

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