Cultural Identity Tensions in a Post-Acquisition Organization

Abstract

This study examines the problems associated with cultural integration in the aftermath of a corporate acquisition. Based on focus groups and one-on-one interviews with members of a post-acquisition organization (PAO), the results reveal three identity tensions used by organization members to reconcile conflicting pulls toward identification and disidentification: collaboration/competition, assimilation/autonomy, and consensus/command. Findings indicate that members across the four sites of the PAO reconcile these identity tensions differently, resulting in more evidence of disidentification at the two sites that had been acquired by the larger organization, than at the other two sites which had been long-standing locations of the acquiring organization. Implications are discussed relative to cultural and identity issues during periods of organization mergers and acquisitions.

Keywords:

• Identification
• Identity Tensions
• Disidentification
• Organizational Culture
• Mergers and Acquisitions

The authors would like to thank Joann Keyton, Tim Sellnow, John Stone, and four anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

Notes

A previous version of this paper was presented as a “Top Paper” at the annual convention of the International Communication Association, New Orleans, May 2004.

1. Because this research deals with an acquisition, the shorthand M/A will not be used in the remainder of the paper unless warranted for clarity.

2. Tech and CIE are pseudonyms for real companies.

3. All interview and focus group comments are coded by the state in which the site was located to preserve anonymity.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gerald L. Pepper

Gerald L. Pepper is Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth

Gregory S. Larson

Gregory S. Larson is Assistant Professor at the University of Montana, Missoula