Leadership in a post-merger context: The importance of people skills over politics

Abstract

Drawing on the merger and CEO succession literature as well as on findings from research on organizational change, this study examines what leadership issues drive success in a post-merger context. Our data from 45 recently merged units within a cooperative bank in Europe indicate that the people skills of the newly appointed top manager matter most. Specifically, his/her integration ability followed by the ability to positively influence the internal working environment are significantly correlated with post-merger success. Politics in terms of whether the top manager had a track record inside or outside the organization did not appear to be important.management and organization theory ;