Critical Encounter

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of how people in a joint venture between two knowledge intensive companies experience their first meeting. Human factors are increasingly being held responsible for merger failure and the most frequent explanation for the conflicts that often arise between people is ‘culture clash'. We argue that ‘culture clash' provides an imperfect explanation, as it is based of a functionalistic view on organizational culture. Instead, we suggest a symbolic approach to culture using this approach. We have found that the conflicts that arise are due to differences in conceptions between individuals, rather than collectives. A second reason is insufficient information, which makes it difficult for people to form an understanding of their situation. This leads to increased insecurity and often suspicion about the partner's real intentions. We have found that integration and meeting places are important, in terms of providing opportunities for knowledge sharing, the development of a shared understanding and establishing a new identity.