Date of Award

5-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

Department

Bisk College of Business

First Advisor

Abram L.J. Walton Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Alexander R. Vamosi Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Charles E. Bryant D.B.A.

Fourth Advisor

Shellie Halstead Ed.D.

Abstract

Mergers and acquisitions are frequently leveraged as a vehicle for company growth. However, many of these transactions fail to yield a positive result and often cause a net loss of shareholder value.

There are many interrelated factors at work within a merger or acquisition. Structure, leadership, finances, strategic fit, market, and price are just a few variables to consider. However, the factor of culture, and the failure of cultural integration, has surfaced in literature as a significant contributor to losses within mergers and acquisitions.

This study built on the work of Harris, Hirschman, Kotter, and Schlesinger and examined the deleterious effects of entrenched cultural values in a company being merged or acquired. Organizational Cultural Entrenchment (OCE) was defined as a phenomenon, and its contributing effects to actively destructive voice raised in resistance to cultural shifts within the new organization were considered as contributors to merger and acquisition failure. Further, the effect of resistance mitigation treatments on the active and destructive voice was studied as an aid to combat cultural integration failure, resulting in suggestions to reduce the deleterious effects of OCE.

This work emphasizes the importance of measuring OCE in the acquired as a matter of due diligence within initial M&A processes. Practitioners are encouraged to leverage this awareness in applying proper treatments to thwart behaviors that may lead to M&A failure.

Download

Share

COinS