Change Agents and Resilient Practices: The Power of Symbolic Capital in a Post-Merger Integration Context

This study analyzes the interactions among mandated change agents within a post-merger integration context and examines the implications of their practices as they attempt to engage with others in a cross-boundary information system implementation project. We examine the case of the Metropolitan Healthcare Center, where three previously independent centers were merged into one, and follow the individuals who were appointed to ensure the integration of a new, mutual information system across the three center sites. We draw on a practice perspective and the notion of symbolic capital to shed light on post-merger practices and their outcomes. Our analysis suggests that one of the change agent’s practices of boundary consolidation through influence tactics were legitimized through discourses of authoritative knowledge and ‘group-making’. This facilitated the construction of symbolic boundaries between the merging parties, thus contributing to the resilience of pre-merger practices despite the planned intention to create change

The Role of Emotions in Cross-border Mergers & Acquisitions : A Systematic Review of the Inter-disciplinary Literature and Future Research Agenda

open access via Elsevier agreementPeer reviewedPublisher PD

The role of coaching and mentoring in transformational change, focusing on housing association mergers

Coaching and mentoring have grown rapidly in the last twenty years, reflecting increased level of interest in these fields. The widespread popularity, however, has been largely attributed to the anecdotal feedback about their effectiveness due to considerable gaps in the empirical research base. The aim of this study was to explore the role of coaching and mentoring in relation to transformational changes with particular reference to housing association mergers in the UK. As a result of constant merger activity, the largest twenty housing associations own 30% of the market share and the trend is likely to continue, making the research outcomes useful for future strategic planning of housing association mergers. This thesis includes empirical work through data gathered by semi-structured interviews and analysed by constructivist grounded theory methodology. The study found that coaching and mentoring play an important role in housing association mergers and transformational changes especially in creating a new shared identity and staff integration after housing association mergers. Integration can keep the merged housing associations together, thus reducing the merger failures in the housing associations. This study makes an original contribution to knowledge by presenting a conceptual framework. The framework incorporates different forms of coaching and mentoring, such as, one to one coaching, team coaching, executive mentoring and peer mentoring used in housing associations for the transformative learning of the housing officials

Investigating Employee and Organizational Performance in a Cross-Border Acquisition : A Case of Withdrawal Behavior

Research Funding Research Development Fund (RDF-18-01-16) and Key Special Program (KSF-E-15) of Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool UniversityPeer reviewedPostprin

Resist or Comply:The Power Dynamics of Organizational Routines during Mergers

The role of power and agency in the development of organizational routines is under-theorized. In this paper, we draw on an in-depth qualitative case study of a merger between two academic institutions, a college of art and a university, and examine the diverging responses of two organizational routines (admissions and budgeting) during the course of the merger to understand how power dynamics contribute to resistance/compliance of routines. Our findings suggest that the differences in routines’ responses to a merger initiative can be explained by applying Bourdieu's theory of practice and by employing the concepts of field and symbolic capital to unpack power relations in the context of organizational routines, and to disclose why some routine participants can exercise their agency while others cannot. We find that (a) the field within which a routine operates and (b) the actors’ symbolic capital and position-taking during change implementation shape routines’ responses to organizational change initiatives

Success factors in mergers and acquisitions : complexity theory and content analysis perspectives

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