Purpose – The purpose is to explain the relationship between communication and employee perceptions during organizational mergers. It will furthermore enhance the knowledge about effective organizational communication which should be able to ensure support and to deal with resistance. The study will be based on the actual merger between Växjö University and University of Kalmar in Sweden. Methodology – A comparative study is chosen as general research orientation. The employed methodology will be of a deductive and quantitative nature. Empirical data for this study will be collected through an online survey which is distributed among the employees of both Växjö University and University of Kalmar. Findings – Early information and communication seem to have an influence on the general attitude toward a merger but not on the general interest. Employees distinguish communication devises according to their quality. Appealing reasons induce positive effects on the employee’s opinion about the merger. Communication efforts were not able to visibly reduce resistance in the particular merger of Linnéuniversitet. Research limitations – The major limitation of this study lies in the limited amount of participants which makes it difficult to deduce concrete and general results and to formulate recommendations. A further methodological limitation lies in the used one point in time measurement. Recommendations and Conclusion – The focus of communication should rely on the quality of information and not on sheer quantity. Positive quality-related reasons should be emphasized during communication about mergers while still recognizing less favorable reasons. Mutual discussion should be provided so that constructive feedback can be obtained. / A

<p><strong>Purpose – </strong>The purpose is to explain the relationship between communication and employee perceptions during organizational mergers. It will furthermore enhance the knowledge about effective organizational communication which should be able to ensure support and to deal with resistance. The study will be based on the actual merger between Växjö University and University of Kalmar in Sweden.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Methodology – </strong>A comparative study is chosen as general research orientation. The employed methodology will be of a deductive and quantitative nature. Empirical data for this study will be collected through an online survey which is distributed among the employees of both Växjö University and University of Kalmar.</p><p><strong>Findings – </strong>Early information and communication seem to have an influence on the general attitude toward a merger but not on the general interest. Employees distinguish communication devises according to their quality. Appealing reasons induce positive effects on the employee’s opinion about the merger. Communication efforts were not able to visibly reduce resistance in the particular merger of Linnéuniversitet.</p><p><strong>Research limitations – </strong>The major limitation of this study lies in the limited amount of participants which makes it difficult to deduce concrete and general results and to formulate recommendations. A further methodological limitation lies in the used one point in time measurement.</p><p><strong>Recommendations and Conclusion – </strong>The focus of communication should rely on the quality of information and not on sheer quantity. Positive quality-related reasons should be emphasized during communication about mergers while still recognizing less favorable reasons. Mutual discussion should be provided so that constructive feedback can be obtained.</p> / A