Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Ph.D. in Public Administration, Department of Management, Alborz Campus of University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
3 Associate Professor, Department of Management, Shahid Sattari Aviation University, Tehran, Iran
4 Assistant Professor, Department of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
1- INTRODUCTION
The role of organizational culture in the success of mergers and acquisitions is crucial, but its complexity makes it a challenging task to integrate among merged or acquired organizations. Unfortunately, there is a lack of comprehensive knowledge on the factors that should be considered and how to effectively integrate organizational culture after a merger. This gap in understanding can greatly impact the effectiveness and efficiency of the significant investments made in this area. To reduce this gap and improve the existing theoretical and practical knowledge in this field, the current research seeks to answer these questions: 1) what are the factors that must be taken into account during the integration of organizational culture? 2) what are the causal and order relationships between these factors? 3) what stages does the process of integrating organizational culture include after the merger? Such knowledge can help top managers of organizations undergoing mergers and acquisitions to manage this aspect of the organization more effectively, and it will also improve the existing theoretical knowledge in the field of organizational culture management.
2- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The majority of studies have only examined the importance of culture or organizational culture management in mergers and acquisitions. Despite being an integral part of M&A, culture has been a low priority in M&A situations. In addition, acculturation strategies, including cultural integration, have received less attention in studies. Articles related to organizational culture in mergers and acquisitions were divided into three general categories. The first category is articles that address the importance of culture and cultural management. The second group has addressed the role and impact of cultural integration in mergers and acquisitions, and their efforts have led to the identification of some factors for creating cultural integration. The third group of articles specifically addresses the identification of factors or a framework for creating cultural integration after mergers and acquisitions.
3- METHODOLOGY
This qualitative research utilized an inductive approach and the studied method. The goal was to identify the elements of cultural integration through empirical evidence within a real-life context. Data for the study was gathered through semi-structured interviews and document review and analyzed using trend analysis. In this research, the reliability of the data was assessed using the double coding method, also known as the reproducibility index. The results showed a subject agreement percentage of 74%, indicating acceptable reliability. To ensure the validity of the interview, the entire research process was carefully examined. This included studying the interview questions and having them confirmed by experts, as well as ensuring the questions were clear and easy for the interviewees to understand. Additionally, the speech and fluency of the questions were corrected, and the interviewees' voices were recorded. Finally, the results were reviewed and approved by experts in the field.
4- RESULTS & DISCUSSION
The process of integrating organizational culture after a merger or acquisition has been presented in two models: a preferential model and a stepwise model. The stepwise model consists of six important steps for integrating the organizational culture, they include: 1) identifying causal conditions (to identify and implement the components contributing to cultural development, 2) developing a desired culture (to identify existing cultural differences and establish a new, shared culture for the integrated organization), 3) creating the necessary platforms (to implement the new culture and make the necessary reforms based on the required platforms), 4) counting the intervenors (to remove obstacles and create facilitators to accelerate necessary cultural integration), 4) learning and promoting culture (to spread culture, and 6) integrating the organizational culture (to promote employee behaviors following the new common culture.
5- CONCLUSIONS & SUGGESTIONS
This research has provided a comprehensive understanding of the various dimensions and components of cultural integration and its stages after merger and acquisition. Paying attention to these dimensions and applying the identified stages in merger and acquisition plans, organizations can effectively create and improve the cultural prerequisites necessary for a successful transformation.
Keywords
©2025 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)
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