Organizational socialization approach to mergers and acquisitions integration: Helpfulness to organizational commitment

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are examples of major organizational change. Various studies have explored a combination of factors that contribute to merger success or failure. M&As are still failing today even though these studies provide detailed insights into the whole process. This situation indicates that there is still room for improvement, especially when it comes to the management of human resources and the retention of the employees in the merged organization following the merger decision. My dissertation looks at the role of organizational socialization (OS) in terms of OS practices and domains in relation to the retention of the employees during the merger integration period. I discuss that particular OS practices that are useful for information acquisition about job and firm related aspects impact the organizational commitment (OC) of the employees. Following a merger decision, employees need to be guided by their organizations due to the uncertain environment the merger event creates and the unique characteristics of the merger process. The helpfulness of OS practices and domains is examined for the employees of merging organizations. I find that training programs have a positive effect on OC during the integration period, while social activities and observation have negative effects. There is no support for the effect of information types on OC. There is a positive relationship between OC and the acquisition of information on formal organizational goals and values through the HRM department and a negative one when the same information is obtained through manual/written sources and co-workers. Also, getting information on individual work roles through observation creates a negative effect on OC. Finally, information on changing HR practices through orientation programs and manual/written sources positively impacts OC.