Mergers have become a common feature for South African organisations since the
dawn of democracy in 1994. There are several studies completed internationally and
locally on how to handle mergers in general. There is limited research however on the
role played by communication in this process. In this regard, this study aims to analyse
the role of communication during a merger in an information communication
technology (ICT) organisation, underpinned by Nudge’s Change Theory, which
asserts that employees should be involved in the merger process, thereby making it
possible to take their views into consideration.
Quantitative and qualitative approaches were employed in this study to gain insight on
the role communication plays before, during, and after a merger. Primary data was
collected from employees based at the organisation’s Head Office in Pretoria, through
online questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Descriptive statistics and
thematic analysis was used to analyse data.
Results of the study show that communication with employees before, during and after
merger was poor, resulting in high levels of uncertainty among employees.
Furthermore, management did not provide adequate feedback to employees during
the process. This caused panic among employees and a lack of confidence in the
success of the merger. Based on these findings, it is recommended that top
management investigates ways of enhancing channels of communication to ensure
that communication with employees during mergers is not only meaningful but
effective. The findings confirm recommendations made by Nudge’s Change Theory of
the need to equip both management and employees during times of uncertainty. In
this regard, further research to be conducted with different companies in the sector on
the role employee communication plays during mergers to see if similar perceptions
are maintained or changed. / Communication Science / M. A. (Communication)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/27110 |
| Date | 09 1900 |
| Creators | Dikgale, Puleg David |
| Contributors | Hadji, M. J. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource (xix, 272 leaves), application/pdf |
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