Today, mergers and acquisitions often grab headlines due to the large sums of money involved, and the number of stakeholders affected by it. Still, the increase in merger and acquisition activities, the capital involved, and the pervasiveness of these activities stand in sharp contrast to their high rates of failures. Scholars have attributed the failure of mergers and acquisitions to management failure when it comes to dealing with human aspects during the integration phase. The purpose of this paper was to examine how individual’s identities change overtime in a merger. More specifically, it examines the process of post-merger organizational identification in merger contexts through the lens of social identity theory. From this purpose, we formulated the following research question and two sub-questions: • How can post-merger identification be managed and integrated in an organization? o How can organizational identities transit from a pre-merger state to a post-merger state successfully? o What is the outcome of the post-merger identification process? The method used in this study was qualitative with an interpretive approach, which allowed us to gain a deeper understanding regarding the purpose and to answer our research question. Primary data came from purposive sampling, where 14 semi-structured interviews with individuals with various managerial positions in post-merger integrations were conducted to gain an understanding of how they tackled the integration process. The secondary data used resulted from previous research, literature, articles and other internet sources. The interviews were qualitatively analyzed through a thematic coding procedure. The backbone of our theory consists of perspectives on mergers and acquisitions from the lens of social identity theory. Particularly, it was used to understand the post-merger organizational identification process. The theoretical components were used to understand group formations and intra- and intergroup relationships, the effects mergers have on individuals, and what the effects of the outcomes of post-merger identification have on group and organizational identity. Our findings disclose that organizational identities are exclusive by nature and that they remain in this state unless managerial actions are taken which triggers commitment from groups to change. These actions must combine communication efforts with managerial interventions which promote intergroup cooperation, prototypical norms and values. Depending on the actions and the goal of the merger, the nature of the post-merger identity is a combination of two identities which forms an overarching one, or an assimilation of one identity into another. The contributions from this study come in two forms: theoretical and managerial. The theoretical contributions come through our findings showing how organizational identity emerge, change and how they are formed. The managerial contributions provide recommendations on how practitioners should facilitate the process, the vital role the manager has in the process and approaches they could take based on our findings.

Aim: The aim of our research is to explore and narrate the post-merger effects on employees' motivation and effective managerial role for the motivation management in the staff in Post-Merger Phase. Methodology: The research is qualitative and covers both, the managerial and employees’ approach through application of Herzberg (1966) motivational theory to assess certain changes in employees’ motivation level during the Post-Merger phase. Primary data is sourced from face to face interviews of respondents and narrated in empirical findings. Analysis and conclusion are derived on the basis of the State of Art theories. Conclusion: Merger affects the employees’ motivations by ignoring their motivational factors, communication and information sharing management. Managerial role is important to answer the employees’ job insecurities and maintain the level of their motivation effectively. Optimum employees-organization relationship can be secured through effective information and communication management for the success of corporate objectives and employees’ satisfaction. Contribution: The research greatly contributes towards knowledge in management studies and relevant information is useful for business management students, managers, and Merger implementing management about certain aspects of consequential organizational changes and motivational factors of the workforce. The repeated research to periodically observe the staff's motivation and effective managerial implements can enhance in-depth knowledge of potential effective remedies especially for new and possibly merging organizations. Through such kind of research works, Merger failure rate can be reduced and overcome gradually that result due to employee’s diminishing motivations at workplace and management's’ failure to take cognizance of Post-Merger changes in employee’s behaviour

Drawing on the organizational trust literature and research on postmerger integration, the authors develop a model that conceptually synthesizes the antecedents and consequences of trust in acquired organizations. The model proposes that the acquiring and target firms' relationship history, the interfirm distance, and the acquirer's integration approach will affect target firm member trust in the acquiring firm's management. Target firm member trust, in turn, may influence several sociocultural integration outcomes as well as postacquisition performance. The results of a case survey suggest that certain aspects of the relationship history and interfirm distance, such as the firms' collaboration history and preacquisition performance differences, are poor predictors of trust, whereas integration process variables, such as speed of integration, communication quality, and acquirer multiculturalism are major factors infl uencing trust. The implications for postmerger integration research and practice are discussed.

Submitted by Daniele Santos (danielesantos.htl@gmail.com) on 2017-01-18T19:20:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Ina -02102016.docx: 798193 bytes, checksum: c83882123b0ea9a1393ce60a818df5a9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Janete de Oliveira Feitosa (janete.feitosa@fgv.br) on 2017-01-24T13:34:46Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Ina -02102016.docx: 798193 bytes, checksum: c83882123b0ea9a1393ce60a818df5a9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-01-26T12:00:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ina -02102016.docx: 798193 bytes, checksum: c83882123b0ea9a1393ce60a818df5a9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-08 / The thesis explores the factors to consider for a successful post-merger integration. The hy-pothesis states that there are several levels of formal and informal factors critical in the post-merger integration contributing to successful mergers. The main focus of companies has typi-cally been on addressing possible synergies and financial effects. However, while analyzing the outcome of merger and acquisitions it has been seen that 70 to 90 percent of mergers fail to meet the long term financial goals over time. This indicates that the assessment of possible partners for a merger may not be the most effective. This thesis argues that factors such as organizational and cultural compatibility need to play a stronger role when selecting a partner to merge or acquire.

Problematisering: Ungefär 70 procent av sammanslagningar och uppköp som genomförs runt om i världen lyckas inte nå sina uppsatta mål. Tidigare forskning har uppvisat en rad olika anledningar till detta, där förändringsarbetet har påvisats vara avgörande för tiden efter att sammanslagningen har ägt rum. Denna period benämns med begreppet PMI (post-merger integration) och syftar till att integrera tillgångar, arbetsuppgifter och personal från de verksamheter som omfattas av sammanslagningen. Problematiken som uppstår under dessa perioder har till stor del visat sig bero på mänskliga faktorer snarare än finansiella aspekter som företagsledningar kan visa ett större intresse för. Det är därför väsentligt att uppmärksamma hur både ledning och medarbetare upplever arbetssituationen, för att skapa förståelse av vad som kan vara avgörande inom förändringsarbete för en sammanslagnings efterföljande period. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att skapa förståelse av hur ledning och medarbetare upplever arbetssituationen, med avseende på förändringsarbete, efter en sammanslagning av två tidigare skilda verksamhetsgrenar inom samma koncern. Forskningsfrågor: Hur skiljer sig ledningens upplevelser från medarbetarnas? Vilka parametrar inom förändringsarbete kan vara avgörande för hur arbetssituationen upplevs av ledning och medarbetare efter en intern sammanslagning? Kunskapsbidrag: Efter studerandet av hur arbetssituationen upplevs i perioden efter en sammanslagning, kan studien ge en indikation på vilka aspekter som organisationer bör fokusera på under integrationsfasen för att lyckas sammanföra de involverade parterna. Slutsats: Studien har påvisat att upplevelser av arbetssituationen efter en sammanslagning skiljer sig mellan ledning och medarbetare. Detta har främst visat sig i synen på vad som anses vara möjligheter kontra utmaningar för organisationen samt synen på ansvarsfördelning. Gemensamma upplevelser har påvisats gällande  samarbete, behov av kontinuerligt förbättringsarbete och förståelse för att förändringar  tar tid. De parametrar som har fastställts vara avgörande inom förändringsarbete för hur arbetssituationen upplevs efter denna typ av organisatorisk förändring kan  sammanfattas i uppföljningsarbete, engagemang, kommunikationsförmåga, mottaglighet, förändringsbenägenhet samt samarbetsvillighet och delaktighet. / Problematisation: About 70 percent of all mergers and acquisitions do not reach their desired goals. Research has identified several reasons for this, and has shown that it is necessary to focus on the integration process after the merger. The time after the agreement has been closed between the two parties is referred to as post-merger integration (PMI), which includes the integration between assets, business activities and personnel. One reason why mergers fail in this context depends on human factors rather than financial aspects as the top management might focus on. Therefore, it can be crucial to observe how top managers and employees perceive their situation at work to create understanding of what factors within change management that can determine how the situation is perceived during the PMI-process. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to create understanding of how managers and employees perceive their situation at work during the post-merger integration process when two former differentiated business lines have been merged within the same group. Research questions: How do the perceptions differ between managers and employees? What factors within change management can determine how the situation at work is perceived by managers and employees after a merger? Contribution: To create understanding about change processes after a merger, this study can indicate what factors organisations should focus on in the post-merger integration process. Conclusion: This study shows that the perceptions of how the situation at work is perceived differs between managers and employees. The differentiated perceptions have principally been shown in the context of what can be considered as opportunities versus challenges and how responsibility is assigned within the organisation. Common perceptions have also been identified and these can be summarized in cooperation,  ongoing improvement work and understanding of the fact that organisational changes  take time. Regarding what factors within change management that can determine how the work situation is perceived, several have been revealed. These can be concluded in terms of follow-up, dedication, communication, susceptibility, willingness to change, cooperativeness and complicity.

The merger integration process in one of the most critical stages of the deal, and getting a good price is important, but not as important as making sure the deal works. There have been several theses discussing the merger process as well as the importance of post-merger integration, focusing on culture melding or financial system synergy. This study focuses on the post merger integration process of a subsidiary of MNC in Taiwan. The parent company in the past few years have acquired two MNCs and experienced two large global scale integration processes in which the Taiwan subsidiary followed the HQ directives to undertake acquisition integration of the two acquired firms’ local subsidiaries. The integration of two other local subsidiaries provides a rare opportunity to investigate the post-acquisition process occurred in a MNC context. The finding throws light on the post-acquisition process at the subsidiary level and how the process related to the parent’s global strategy of merger and acquisition. All three subsidiaries involved are mainly marketing and sales organizations. Therefore, this study would focus on the integration of marketing and sales functions. This study chose the case study research methodology because the pharmaceutical industry is the industry the research is most familiar with and there is no other case, either a subsidiary or a company, having experienced similar M&A. The researcher found the case company-subsidiary is a unique one, because of the two M&A it experienced, presenting a rare opportunity for studying M&A at subsidiary level. The case study approach investigated deeply the two complete M&A integration process. The case study approach relies on researching the parent and subsidiary history, academic literature on M&A, and in-depth interview with key executives of the subsidiary to identify key activities and decision points in the whole integration process. The research discovers that successful melding of cultures and integration of product management helps post-acquisition growth, and organizational learning played a key role in utilizing the first M&A experience to accelerate the subsequent merger-integration activities. Key words: Merger/ Acquisition, Post-merger integration, Product management process / The merger integration process in one of the most critical stages of the deal, and getting a good price is important, but not as important as making sure the deal works. There have been several theses discussing the merger process as well as the importance of post-merger integration, focusing on culture melding or financial system synergy. This study focuses on the post merger integration process of a subsidiary of MNC in Taiwan. The parent company in the past few years have acquired two MNCs and experienced two large global scale integration processes in which the Taiwan subsidiary followed the HQ directives to undertake acquisition integration of the two acquired firms’ local subsidiaries. The integration of two other local subsidiaries provides a rare opportunity to investigate the post-acquisition process occurred in a MNC context. The finding throws light on the post-acquisition process at the subsidiary level and how the process related to the parent’s global strategy of merger and acquisition. All three subsidiaries involved are mainly marketing and sales organizations. Therefore, this study would focus on the integration of marketing and sales functions. This study chose the case study research methodology because the pharmaceutical industry is the industry the research is most familiar with and there is no other case, either a subsidiary or a company, having experienced similar M&A. The researcher found the case company-subsidiary is a unique one, because of the two M&A it experienced, presenting a rare opportunity for studying M&A at subsidiary level. The case study approach investigated deeply the two complete M&A integration process. The case study approach relies on researching the parent and subsidiary history, academic literature on M&A, and in-depth interview with key executives of the subsidiary to identify key activities and decision points in the whole integration process. The research discovers that successful melding of cultures and integration of product management helps post-acquisition growth, and organizational learning played a key role in utilizing the first M&A experience to accelerate the subsequent merger-integration activities. Key words: Merger/ Acquisition, Post-merger integration, Product management process

Agility is referred to as the ability of a firm to proactively or reactively adapt successfully to rapid changes within the business environment both internally and externally. The Post-Merger Integration (PMI) phase is characterized by rapid organizational changes which require new strategy methods that suit the nature of today’s fast paced business environments. Though characterized by changes, the PMI presents an opportune moment for the transformation of a business by exploring and exhausting the innovation potential of the integrating firms through the use of agile aspects that seek to identify risks and explore opportunities in a nimble manner. These aspects are several, but in this study, we delve into three namely, flexibility, adaptability and customer focus. The aspects of agility originated from fields of Software Development and are fairly new to the discipline of Business Administration but are considered to be evolving and popular across other fields of study. The current era is noted by scholars as the Scaled Agile Framework Development Era which is characterized by an emergence in agile frameworks that aid in large scale programs of an organization, such as the PMI in this case. This era represents a steppingstone to business agility, the future of agility that seeks to transform an organization to be adaptive to changes. The purpose of this study is to develop an agile framework drawing from empirical findings of the use of agility aspects in the context of a merger and acquisition, more specifically, the post-merger integration phase, to act as an innovation catalyst. To obtain insights and a better understanding on what we set ourselves to research, we explore an embedded single case study of a firm operating in a traditional industry, the maritime industry, in order to investigate the following research question:How can agility in the context of a Post-Merger Integration (PMI) contribute toinnovation? Eight semi-structured interviews with senior executives and senior managers of the case company were conducted in order to draw insights on their previous experiences with mergers and acquisitions. Empirical evidence was collected and coded in line with the Gioia methodology and with the aid of references to extant literature we began to build theory thereof. Our findings revealed that agile aspects may be adopted to complement and not necessarily replace existing hierarchical structures, procedures and processes within the PMI. Additionally, all three aspects of agility we sought to investigate prove to be useful to promote innovation in PMIs when adopted. The theoretical contribution of our study is the development of an agile framework that may be utilized in the PMI to identify, exploit and exhaust the innovation potential of the M&A activity. Furthermore, the framework may be validated in a different company or setting other than the company under study.

Empirical research findings on the consequences of post-M&A performance have generated several result, although most of which are inconsistent. The relation of such post-M&A performances to non-listed and listed companies can be relative especially when considering the companies economic and financial structure and other prevailing factors associated to the host country. However, most of these have been attributed to the choice of performance measurement indicators. This paper analyses and evaluates existing performance indicators that have been employed in the literature. It is argued that to overcome the limitations found in financial indicators of performance, a need to pursue multiple measures of performance in post-M&A research is needed. It also argues that the motives for the transaction should also be included as performance indicators. This hybrid approach will allow researchers and practitioners to measure the overall success of merger and acquisitions.

In recent years, the global mergers and acquisitions (M&As) boom surging, especially after the financial tsunami. The enterprise mentality ¡§the big get bigger¡¨, for the rapid expansion and market share. Breaking the previous mode of operation alone, corporate mergers and acquisitions have become an important strategy for the rapid growing and maintain competitive advantage. There are many factors that impact mergers and acquisitions integration. The real test is just beginning after mergers and acquisitions transaction is completed. Mergers and acquisitions integration management can help companies to play the synergies of mergers and acquisitions. It¡¦s an important key to determine the success of mergers and acquisitions. Information systems (IS) integration is among the most challenging tasks in corporate mergers and acquisitions (Alaranta and Henningsson, 2008). Corporate mergers and acquisitions generate the integration and remodeling of the corporate culture, business and organizational overlap. The relative makes the complexity of information systems integration becomes higher, and more difficult in the integration. At the same time, considering how to achieve the synergies, through integration of information systems and overcoming the uncertain changes. This study adopts the case study approach to a large panel manufacturer. Summarized the primary and secondary data and actually involved in the observed induction, related aspects of the system functionality, business process, organizational and external supply chain, to find the factors of information systems integration. And then explore the process of information systems integration in corporate mergers and acquisitions in order to establish the mode of information system integration. Finally also provide reference for large-scale merger and acquisitions.

<p>The problem areas of the 'human side' of mergers andacquisitions as well as post-merger integration are focusedupon in this study. An extensive review of merger-relatedliterature points to the problematic nature of this area oforganisation. Through the analysis of two international casemergers, their post-merger integration processes and theirproblem areas, the nature and causes of these problem areas areinvestigated. The results of the investigation indicate thatexpectations influence mergers and post-merger integration.What seems to be expected of mergers, post-merger integration,of the management of these processes as well as the involvedparties plays a role in the interpretation of and reaction tomerger-related occurrences. If expectations of a merger or anyof its specific features are not met, attitudes towards themerger can get increasingly negative. This evidentlynecessitates 'expectation management' within mergers and theirpost-merger integration processes.</p><p><b>KEY WORDS</b>: merger, acquisition, post-merger integration,'human side' of organisations, expectation, experience, casestudy, emergent theory</p>