Mergers and Acquisitions in Practice

9How Do Communication and Cultural Differences Explain Post-Merger Identification?

Evidence from two merged dairy firms

David Kroon

Introduction

Organizations frequently use mergers and acquisitions (M&As) as a strategy to expand and improve their competitive advantage (Makri, Hitt and Lane, 2010). However, M&As often fail to meet their objectives (Dyer, Kale and Singh, 2004; Seo and Hill, 2005). Scholars increasingly attribute poor M&A performance to issues that arise during the integration phase (Cording, Christmann and King, 2008; Epstein, 2005). Birkinshaw (1999: 34; italics added), for example, concludes that ‘human integration’, concerned primarily with ‘the process of generating satisfaction – and ultimately a shared identity – among the ...