Managing Positive Change: Emotions and Communication Following Acquisitions

Figures & data

Figure 1. Abductive research process. Modified from Järvensivu and Törnroos (2010, p. 103).

Table 1. Respondents.

		2015	2016
Respondents		681	1,082
Response rate (%)		50	80
Location (%)	Finland	24	33
	Germany	39	28
	Poland	14	18
	Czech Republic	13	11
Employment length (years, %)	<1	11	9
	2–6	21	18
	7–10	14	17
	11–15	12	12
	>16	42	44
Age (years)	<25	5	5
	25–34	19	16
	35–44	24	24
	45–54	35	36
	>55	17	19
Position (%)	White-collar	51	43
	Blue-collar	49	57

Figure 2. Emotions at Alpha Group in 2015.

Table 2. Emotions at Alpha Group (see also Harikkala-Lahinen, 2019, pp. 228–232).

Emotion	Core relational theme at Alpha Group	Quotes from employees
Happiness	Continuity of employment	‘The takeover made it possible to combine our strengths, which strengthens the company for the future.’ ‘The establishments of joint objectives and values is positive as a matter of principle, and especially good for team building.’
Relief	Positive future outlook	‘It will secure the company's future in the increasingly tougher market as well as ensure work.’ ‘At last we have a chance to reforge the huge potential that can make my environment into a real success.’
Pride	Credit in perceived advancement	‘I’m proud to be part of this group!’ ‘Makes me proud to work at a company, which values honesty and fairness! It’s good that we have out spoken values in the company.’
Anxiety	Uncertainty of the future	‘Uncertainty about the future. Some decisions and changes have caused concern.’ ‘Anxiety and sense of insecurity in the future.’
Anger	Experience of offense	‘Anger. People don't appreciate each other between different departments.’ ‘Management must live up to these values as an example, otherwise they are senseless.’
Sadness	Loss of colleagues or pre-acquisition identity	‘Nowadays I am somewhat sad that personnel has been dismissed.’ ‘The company can no longer be called a family company.’
Jealousy	Begrudging perceived favouritism	‘Was Beta bought with the employees’ operating profit bonus money?’ ‘A feeling of inequality, Germany has a better position.’
Hope	Fearing chaos but seeing potential	‘Nevertheless, a small something called “hope” took hold of me. Slowly I am gaining confidence in the Alpha Group and I am praying that this will stay that way for a long time.’ ‘I hope, and I will cooperate in that regard, that the expressed values will continue to be lived up to over a longer period.’

Table 3. Information sharing and interaction.

	Information sharing	Interaction
Tools	Bulletin boards, newsletters, presentations, meetings	Informal gatherings, team meetings, workshops
Voice	Led by the organization, mainly top-down	Employees invited to join, even though often initiated top-down
Purpose	Informing	Engaging
Language	Localized for individual understanding	Chosen to ensure shared understanding
Importance	Essential for functionality	Essential for motivation and ownership

Figure 3. A framework for positive post-acquisition integration.

Table 4. Emotions at delta (see also Harikkala-Lahinen, 2019, pp. 236–237).

Emotion	Core relational theme at Delta	Quotes from employees
Happiness	Development opportunities	‘Investments are positive for the whole company, and the new recruitments. They build faith in continuity.’ ‘The peace and happy feeling, they hopefully will carry us for a long time.’
Relief	Continuity	‘The times before the deal were … I often felt like something must happen.’ ‘I was relieved. I saw it as positive for Delta and Delta’s employees.’
Pride	Best practices	‘In the end Delta is an old company, so being Finnish and where this all begun, somehow you want to hold onto that.’ ‘Our way of doing things is definitely better.’
Anxiety	Uncertainty over ‘us’ versus ‘them’	‘If you don’t know what is going on, you feel a little insecure about everything.’ ‘There are things that aren’t under our control, and that seems difficult.’
Anger	Violation of best practices	‘There’s a spirit that OK, this is how things are, we can’t help it. Let’s do it although it makes no sense.’ ‘Anger and frustration, and it leads to a bit of irony, it becomes a joke, when you are just trying to survive somehow.’
Sadness	Loss of accustomed routines	‘Our voice is not heard about quality, and there is no interest in quality in-house.’ ‘When there are many changes going on simultaneously, at some point you just stop caring.’
Hope	Seeing future potential	‘Very hopeful, I am hoping that we will have improved operational preconditions.’ ‘Sometimes it feels heavy, but another time better. You just have to think that it won’t continue like this forever.’

Figure 4. Integration at Delta.

Järvensivu, T., & Törnroos, J. Å. (2010). Case study research with moderate constructionism: Conceptualization and practical illustration. Industrial Marketing Management, 39(1), 100–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2008.05.005

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Harikkala-Lahinen, R. (2019). The power of positivity: How employee emotions and interaction can benefit cross-border acquisitions. University of Turku.

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Data Availability Statement

Due to the nature of this research, participants of this study did not agree for their data to be shared publicly, so supporting data is not available.