Steven H. Appelbaum, Catherine Karelis, Anne Le Henaff and Beverly McLaughlin
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are inherent to firms evolving in today’s business world, whether they be corporate giants, SMEs or start-ups. While the ultimate objective of an…
Abstract
Purpose
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are inherent to firms evolving in today’s business world, whether they be corporate giants, SMEs or start-ups. While the ultimate objective of an M&A is to improve the newly constructed firm’s performance, financial and technical impacts are but some of the considerations the organization will need to face. Indeed, employee resistance appears to be a major factor in the overall success of this strategic move. The purpose of this paper, three part, is to provide a thorough overview of the forces at play in employee resistance to change, its influence on the M&A’s success, and the ways to address such resistance.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on existing empirical studies, industry expert findings and academic reviews, this paper sought to link together the concepts of communication at a time of change, leadership, employee involvement, feeling of adherence to the firm (the four key pillars) and their respective influences in how they may handicap or aid the firm in achieving its M&A objectives.
Findings
Although it may seem like a straightforward concept, resistance to change in the turbulent time that is a merger and acquisition situation is anything but simple. Classic assumptions of resistance being a negative force or participation being a requisite part of overcoming resistance are challenged. At the same time, leadership and employee feeling of adherence to their previous organization play a supporting role when compared to the significant influence of communication pre, during and after the merger. The ensuing portrait is thus multifaceted and underscores the complexity of handling an M&A at the human resources level.
Research limitations/implications
Whilst the paper allowed to identify and link the different factors at play, a thorough empirical study in order to compare and contrast those factors at an M&A’s different stages (pre-during-post), and thus evaluate their respective importance, would be commendable.
Practical implications
In providing an overview of several aspects at play in employee resistance to change, this paper allows a management practitioner to consolidate their knowledge on the process’ four key pillars.
Social implications
By illustrating not only its – expected – negative outcomes, but by also providing a glimpse at some potential benefits in terms of increased merger performance, this paper gives managers incentives to not always challenge but also embrace their employee’s resistance to change as a healthy part of the firm’s transformation process.
Originality/value
This literature review provides an overview of resistance to change and draws parallels between the concepts explored herein and the M&A situation, which would be useful to the general practitioner undergoing an M&A.
Details
Keywords
Steven H. Appelbaum, Catherine Karelis, Anne Le Henaff and Beverly McLaughlin
Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are inherent to firms evolving in today’s business world, whether they be corporate giants, SMEs or start-ups. While the ultimate objective of an…
Abstract
Purpose
Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are inherent to firms evolving in today’s business world, whether they be corporate giants, SMEs or start-ups. While the ultimate objective of an M&A is to improve the newly constructed firm’s performance, financial and technical impacts are but some of the considerations the organization will need to face. Indeed, employee resistance appears to be a major factor in the overall success of this strategic move. Throughout this three-part paper, the purpose of this paper is to provide a thorough overview of the forces at play in employee resistance to change, its influence on the M&A’s success, and the ways to address such resistance.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on existing empirical studies, industry expert findings and academic reviews, this paper sought to link together the concepts of communication at a time of change, leadership, employee involvement, feeling of adherence to the firm (the four key pillars), and their respective influences in how they may handicap or aid the firm in achieving its M&A objectives.
Findings
Although it may seem like a straightforward concept, resistance to change in the turbulent time that is an M&A situation is anything but simple. Classic assumptions of resistance being a negative force or participation being a requisite part of overcoming resistance are challenged. At the same time, leadership and employee feeling of adherence to their previous organization play a supporting role when compared to the significant influence of communication pre, during and after the merger. The ensuing portrait is, thus, multifaceted and underscores the complexity of handling an M&A at the human resources level.
Research limitations/implications
Whilst the paper allowed to identify and link the different factors at play, a thorough empirical study in order to compare and contrast those factors at an M&A’s different stages (pre-during-post), and thus evaluate their respective importance, would be commendable.
Practical implications
In providing an overview of several aspects at play in employee resistance to change, this paper allows management practitioners to consolidate their knowledge on the process’ four key pillars.
Social implications
By illustrating not only its – expected – negative outcomes, but by also providing a glimpse at some potential benefits in terms of increased merger performance, this paper gives managers incentives to not always challenge but also embrace their employee’s resistance to change as a healthy part of the firm’s transformation process.
Originality/value
This literature review provides an overview of resistance to change and draws parallels between the concepts explored herein and the M&A situation, which would be useful to the general practitioner undergoing an M&A.
Details
Keywords
Steven H. Appelbaum, Catherine Karelis, Anne Le Henaff and Beverly McLaughlin
Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are inherent to firms evolving in today’s business world, whether they be corporate giants, SMEs or start-ups. While the ultimate objective of an…
Abstract
Purpose
Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are inherent to firms evolving in today’s business world, whether they be corporate giants, SMEs or start-ups. While the ultimate objective of an M&A is to improve the newly constructed firm’s performance, financial and technical impacts are but some of the considerations the organization will need to face. Indeed, employee resistance appears to be a major factor in the overall success of this strategic move. Throughout this three-part paper, the purpose of this paper is to provide a thorough overview of the forces at play in employee resistance to change, its influence on the M&A’s success, and the ways to address such resistance.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on existing empirical studies, industry expert findings and academic reviews, this paper sought to link together the concepts of communication at a time of change, leadership, employee involvement, feeling of adherence to the firm (the four key pillars), and their respective influences in how they may handicap or aid the firm in achieving its M&A objectives.
Findings
Although it may seem like a straightforward concept, resistance to change in the turbulent time that is a merger and acquisition situation is anything but simple. Classic assumptions of resistance being a negative force or participation being a requisite part of overcoming resistance are challenged. At the same time, leadership and employee feeling of adherence to their previous organization play a supporting role when compared to the significant influence of communication pre, during, and after the merger. The ensuing portrait is thus multifaceted and underscores the complexity of handling an M&A at the human resources level.
Research limitations/implications
Whilst the paper allowed to identify and link the different factors at play, a thorough empirical study in order to compare and contrast those factors at an M&A’s different stages (pre-during-post), and thus evaluate their respective importance, would be commendable.
Practical implications
In providing an overview of several aspects at play in employee resistance to change, this paper allows a management practitioner to consolidate their knowledge on the process’ four key pillars.
Social implications
By illustrating not only its – expected – negative outcomes, but by also providing a glimpse at some potential benefits in terms of increased merger performance, this paper gives managers incentives to not always challenge but also embrace their employee’s resistance to change as a healthy part of the firm’s transformation process.
Originality/value
This literature review provides an overview of resistance to change and draws parallels between the concepts explored herein and the M&A situation, which would be useful to the general practitioner undergoing an M&A.
Details
Keywords
Stephen Buetow, Vivienne Adair, Gregor Coster, Makere Hight, Barry Gribben and Ed Mitchell
Fear is seldom reported in the research literature on barriers to accessing general practitioner (GP) care. One reason may be that some patients are unwilling to admit to fear of…
Abstract
Fear is seldom reported in the research literature on barriers to accessing general practitioner (GP) care. One reason may be that some patients are unwilling to admit to fear of this care. This is especially so for patients who, for social, cultural and historical reasons, have a poor sense of self, or do not wish to challenge professionals, or both. In New Zealand, the Maori and Pacific peoples are disproportionately characteristic of these patients and have poor access to GP care, including asthma in children. This paper contributes to the literature on using key informants to interpret another group’s needs, and integrates and adds to known patient attitudes that can hinder access to GP services.
Details
Keywords
Robert J. Kaminski and David W.M. Sorensen
Uses data on 1,550 nonlethal assaults recorded by Baltimore County Police Department. Examines factors that are associated with the likelihood of officer injury after an assault…
Abstract
Uses data on 1,550 nonlethal assaults recorded by Baltimore County Police Department. Examines factors that are associated with the likelihood of officer injury after an assault. Notes that factors affecting the probability of assault do not necessarily correspond with the factors that affect the likelihood of injury. Analyzes a broader spectrum of contributory factors than those addressed by other research. Finds inter alia that greater officer proficiency in unarmed defensive tactics may reduce their assault‐related injuries, since most incidents do not involve arms; that in‐service training should be biased toward less experienced officers who are at greater risk; that officer height is a significant variable; that many officers suffer multiple attacks; that domestic disturbances do not rank higher than other dangers, but that this may reflect the possibility that officers anticipate potential violence and take better precautions before attending the scene.
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Keywords
The past two decades have seen an increase in personal mobility; people are often transferred by their companies to divisions in other countries. As a result, interactions between…
Abstract
The past two decades have seen an increase in personal mobility; people are often transferred by their companies to divisions in other countries. As a result, interactions between members of different cultures are prevalent in organizations; such interactions can cause miscommunication and conflict unless people understand the meaning and assumptions underlying communicative behavior such as account‐giving. Unfortunately, there has been little conceptual or empirical work examining effective account‐giving and account evaluation in intercultural situations. In an attempt to fill this gap in the literature, this paper presents a literature review and develops a theoretical model of the relationships among culture, face concerns, account‐giving, and evaluation of accounts.
Paul Carlisle and Barry Loveday
This article discusses the qualities of leadership and contrasts the role of a leader with that of a manger. It analyses the impact of the New Public Management (NPM) regime's…
Abstract
This article discusses the qualities of leadership and contrasts the role of a leader with that of a manger. It analyses the impact of the New Public Management (NPM) regime's performance management strand on leadership in the public sector. The achievement of targets is seen as a measure of political success and analysis is made of the manner in which this is reinforced throughout public organisations. The effects of ‘robust’ performance management techniques are examined and examples given of the negative impacts of quantitative targets. It is argued that the function of the leader is reduced to that of managing the attainment of these centrally set goals. As a result risk‐taking and innovation are constrained to that which is required for the achievement of these goals. This is seen as an explanation for the current prevalence of ‘gaming’ ploys and is linked to a drop‐in integrity in the pursuit of outputs. It is further argued that the target regime sees the ‘Sovietisation’ of the public sector and a return to the Taylorian values of an industrial past. A brief case study of social service provision illustrates the potential for negative outcomes that may result. This article concludes that when a ‘tick in the box’ is allowed to suffice the qualities of public sector leadership are inevitably reduced and confined to the panopticon of centralised targets.
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The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 and its amendment – the Trade and Competitive Act of 1988 – are unique not only in the history of the accounting and auditing…
Abstract
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 and its amendment – the Trade and Competitive Act of 1988 – are unique not only in the history of the accounting and auditing profession, but also in international law. The Acts raised awareness of the need for efficient and adequate internal control systems to prevent illegal acts such as the bribery of foreign officials, political parties and governments to secure or maintain contracts overseas. Its uniqueness is also due to the fact that the USA is the first country to pioneer such a legislation that impacted foreign trade, international law and codes of ethics. The research traces the history of the FCPA before and after its enactment, the role played by the various branches of the United States Government – Congress, Department of Justice, Securities Exchange commission (SEC), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); the contributions made by professional associations such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICFA), the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the American Bar Association (ABA); and, finally, the role played by various international organizations such as the United Nations (UN), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). A cultural, ethical and legalistic background will give a better understanding of the FCPA as wll as the rationale for its controversy.