The Power of positivity : how employee emotions and interaction can benefit cross-border acquisitions

Earlier research on mergers and acquisitions presents emotions as something problematic and negative that must be neutralized or controlled. However, emotions can also be the reason why individuals or organizations thrive. Thus, this study sets out to determine how employee emotions influence post-acquisition integration, paying particular attention to positivity in emotions. Taking a slightly unorthodox stance, this study adopts an abductive research structure guided by a moderate constructionist research philosophy in order to build a theory that is closely connected to empirical evidence. The empirical evidence that is crucial to abduction arises from an in vivo case study in two different acquisitions, where data collection centers on qualitative interviews and employee surveys. Emotions in general arise through appraisal—an evaluation of how pleasing or displeasing a triggering event is considered. Both individuals and groups can experience them. At work, emotions are triggered by work-related events and can influence work-related behavior. According to the findings of this study, a key positivity trigger at work is interactive communication. Previous research has indeed confirmed that communication is a key aspect during integration because social interaction and employee engagement can create a feeling of belongingness to the new organization. However, emotions are dynamic and vary within and between individuals and groups. According to the findings of this study, a key reason for this evolving nature of emotions is the surrounding emotional climate. An emotional climate refers to a socially constructed working atmosphere. It is visible in the predominant collective emotional states that arise through social interaction between organizational members. A positive emotional climate can improve organizational identification and performance, and thereby facilitate organizational change. The key theoretical contribution of this study is threefold. First, it acknowledges positive emotions. This can help overcome the previous negative bias in the emotion-centric acquisition literature. Second, it considers emotions in a more balanced manner, not as isolated instances but as both individual and collective instances, paying special attention to the relevant emotion triggers. This sheds more light on how and why emotions emerge during change periods, increasing the level of theorization in the field. Third, this study offers a more dynamic view of emotions in an organizational context, also shedding light on how to manage collective emotions following acquisitions. Together, these findings help answer the fundamental question of how to make acquisitions more successful. For practitioners, the key contribution is in the analytical power of the suggested framework. Managerially, the key elements for creating positive post-acquisition change are the chosen integration strategy and the managerial skills necessary to create the desired positivity. With regard to employee emotions, acknowledging the different levels of emotions and their triggers can help emphasize positivity and alleviate negativity. Simultaneously, an emphasis on the post-acquisition organization can help overcome us versus them thinking. With regard to communication, information sharing is essential to ensure day-to-day functions, but interaction is crucial for long-term engagement and motivation. With regard to the emotional climate surrounding change, awareness of the pre-acquisition climate and possible sub-climates can help predict fluctuations.Aiemman yrityskauppakirjallisuuden perusteella tunteet ovat ongelmallisia ja negatiivisia, joten ne täytyy neutralisoida tai niitä täytyy hallita. Tunteet voivat kuitenkin myös olla syy ihmisten ja organisaatioiden kukoistukseen. Siksi tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää, miten työntekijöiden tunteet vaikuttavat yrityskauppaintegraatioon. Tutkimus kiinnittää erityistä huomiota tunteiden positiivisuuteen. Korostaakseen teorian ja empirian välistä yhteyttä tutkimus noudattaa abduktiivista, maltillisen konstruktionismin tieteenfilosofian ohjaamaa rakennetta. Abduktiossa keskeinen empiirinen aineisto kumpuaa tapaustutkimuksesta kahdessa yrityskaupassa, joista aineistoa kerättiin pääasiassa laadullisin haastatteluin ja työntekijöille suunnatuin kyselyin. Tunteet nousevat kognition pohjalta ja perustuvat laukaisevan tekijän tai tapahtuman arvioituun miellyttävyyteen. Tunteita ilmenee sekä yksilö- että ryhmätasolla. Työpaikalla tunteet kumpuavat usein työpaikan tapahtumista ja ne voivat vaikuttaa työntekijöiden käytökseen. Tämän tutkimuksen löydösten perusteella positiivisuutta työpaikalla voi kasvattaa etenkin vuorovaikutteinen kommunikaatio. Aiempi tutkimus onkin vahvistanut kommunikaation tärkeyden yrityskauppaintegraatiossa, sillä sosiaalinen vuorovaikutus ja työntekijöiden osallistaminen voivat luoda yhteenkuuluvuuden tunnetta uudessa, yrityskaupan jälkeisessä organisaatiossa. Tunteet ovat kuitenkin dynaamisia ja vaihtelevat sekä sisäisesti että eri yksilöiden ja ryhmien välillä. Tämän tutkimuksen tulosten mukaan yksi tärkeä syy tähän dynaamisuuteen on muutosta ympäröivä tunneilmapiiri, mikä viittaa sosiaalisesti rakentuvaan työilmapiiriin. Tunneilmapiiri näkyy yleisimpinä työyhteisön jakamina tunteina, jotka kumpuavat organisaation jäsenten välisestä vuorovaikutuksesta. Positiivinen tunneilmapiiri voi lisätä organisaatioon identifioitumista ja parantaa organisaation tuloksia—ja sitä kautta helpottaa organisaatiomuutosta. Tutkimuksen teoreettinen kontribuutio jakautuu kolmeen osaan. Ensin, tutkimus tunnistaa positiivisten tunteiden merkityksen. Näin tutkimus pääsee yli aiemmassa tunteita käsittelevässä yrityskauppakirjallisuudessa vallitsevasta negatiivisesta ennakkoasetelmasta. Toiseksi, tämä tutkimus tarjoaa tasapainoisen näkökulman tunteisiin eristettyjen instanssien sijaan yksilöllisinä ja kollektiivisina kokemuksina, kiinnittäen erityistä huomiota yrityskaupan aikaisiin tunteita laukaiseviin tekijöihin. Näin tutkimus lisää tietoa siitä, miten ja miksi tunteita syntyy muutosaikoina, lisäten alan teoreettisuutta. Kolmanneksi, tämä tutkimus käsittelee tunteita dynaamisena organisaatiokontekstin osana ja valottaa tunnejohtamisen periaatteita yrityskauppaintegraatiossa. Yhdessä nämä löydökset auttavat vastaamaan pohjimmaiseen kysymykseen siitä, miten yrityskauppojen onnistumisprosenttia voitaisiin parantaa. Liikkeenjohdon näkökulmasta tutkimuksen avainkontribuutio on rakennetun viitekehyksen hyöty analyyttisenä ja ennustavana työkaluna. Johdon näkökulmasta avaintekijöitä positiivisen yrityskauppaintegraation luomiseksi ovat valittu integraatiostrategia sekä positiivisuuden ylläpitämiseen tarvittavat johtamiseen liittyvät kyvyt. Työntekijöiden tunteisiin liittyen tunteiden eri tasojen sekä tunteiden syiden tunnistaminen auttavat korostamaan positiivisuutta ja lieventämään huolia. Samaan aikaan positiivisuuden painottaminen voi auttaa yrityskauppojen jälkeen yleisen me vastaan ne -ajattelun purkamisessa. Kommunikaatioon liittyen tiedon jakaminen on tärkeää päivittäisten toimintojen turvaamiseksi, mutta vuorovaikutteinen osallistuminen on ensisijaista pitkän aikavälin motivaation ja sitoutumisen synnyttämiseksi. Tunneilmapiirin kannalta tietoisuus yrityskauppaa edeltäneestä ilmapiiristä sekä mahdollisista alailmapiireistä on hyödyllistä heilahtelujen ennustamisessa

Hooked on a feeling? An interpretive study of organizational identity (dis)continuity during strategic change programmes†

This paper explores how organizational members perceive identity (dis)continuity when they are caught in the crossfire during strategic change programmes. Illustrative data stems from a Finnish company that underwent a change from family ownership to corporate investor ownership, resulting in a broad organizational transformation. The findings indicate that organizational members perceive identity (dis)continuity during strategic change programmes in many ways, influenced by both the organizational context and personal experience. The organization's ability to signal continuity and the strength of the individual member's emotional bond to the old organization seem to be key elements in directing member perceptions towards identity continuity or discontinuity – in other words, liminality. The organizational identity perspective improves our understanding of the individual-level dynamics of strategic change programmes, helping managers engage and motivate members to execute the change. In effect, strategic change programmes where programme management understands and acknowledges the role of identity may improve organizational outcomes.</p

Socio-Cultural Integration in Mergers and Acquisitions: The Nordic Approach

This chapter digs deeper into the theory and practice of why and how emotions emerge during mergers and acquisitions. The chapter discusses emotions from a cognitive appraisal theory viewpoint, and examines them in practice through a case study of a Finnish–German acquisition where employees were invited to reflect on their emotions regarding integration. The findings suggest that acquisitions raise several emotions, both positive and negative, both in the acquiring and acquired companies. These emotions are triggered by events employees perceive as personally relevant in the workplace. The conclusions offer managers ideas on how to foster positive emotions at different organisational levels to enable smoother and swifter integration following an acquisition.</p

Managing Positive Change: Emotions and Communication Following Acquisitions

This article takes a positive organizational scholarship lens to change management and explores what is the relationship between emotions and communication in managing positive change. Through an abductive study, it suggests a framework of positive post-acquisition change, which centres on interaction in the generation of positive emotions. The framework is built based on a Finnish – German merger completed in late 2013 and substantiated through a German – Finnish acquisition completed in early 2017. Based on the findings, positive emotions can enhance employee identification with the post-acquisition organization as well as increase motivation and engagement in change. Conversely, negative emotions are likely to cause protectionist, change-resistant behaviour. Whereas top-down communication is essential in ensuring day-to-day functions, interaction enables the creation of positive emotions and thereby engages employees in change-congruent behaviour.</p

When all doors close: Implications of COVID-19 for cosmopolitan entrepreneurs

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic is an external shock that has disrupted the foundations of everyday life. For cosmopolitan entrepreneurs, the impact is even more decisive as it confronts their core values and jeopardises their identities, ways of working and the lifestyles they cherish. Cosmopolitans are individuals who identify themselves as citizens of the world and voluntarily move from country to country in pursuit of self-fulfilment in both life and work. Cosmopolitan entrepreneurs are future-oriented and open to the world and the opportunities it may provide. Beyond securing, maintaining and improving their professional and/or economic positions, their mobility is an elementary part of the cosmopolitan life itself, something they find attractive, interesting and stimulating. Thus, a cosmopolitan entrepreneur’s business is often non-location-bound to enable continued mobility. With our interview-based research, we shed light on how COVID-19 has changed the lives of Finnish-born cosmopolitan entrepreneurs, discussing what they feel about the changes and how they see their future.</p

Why Would You Run around Chasing a Ball? Embodied and Temporal Emotions during Leisure Time Physical Activity

The emotional outcomes of leisure time physical activity have previously been explored in laboratory experiments. To increase understanding of lived experiences, this paper explores the phenomenon through a qualitative lens, exploring real-life stories of how individuals experience emotions when engaging in leisure time physical activity. To illustrate our findings, we present six vignettes reflecting different activity patterns at work and at leisure. Whereas previous research largely focuses on positive emotional outcomes, our findings indicate that both sedentary and physically active adults experience both positive and negative physical activity-induced emotions during leisure. In addition, while previous research has highlighted the calming effect of the socio-spatial activity environment, particularly green spaces, our findings indicate that socio-emotional outcomes may be a key motivator for leisure time physical activity. These findings have significant implications for our understanding of the complexity of physical activity-induced emotions, influencing also physical activity promotion and servicescapes