1 
 
 
 
 
Master Thesis in Strategic HRM and Labor relations 
 
 
 
 
Merger and Acquisition in Developing Countries: An explorative study of Employees’ 
Perceptions of Organizational Change 
 
 
 
Department of Strategic Human Resource Management and Labor Relations 
Author: Victoria Ajayi 
Supervisor: Thomas Jordan 
Semester: Spring 2016 
 
 
 2 
Acknowledgement  
My sincere gratitude goes to my supervisor, Dr. Thomas Jordan for his supportive and 
constructive criticism and guidance towards the success of this thesis work. I appreciate all 
lecturers in the school of Social sciences, Business and Economic law of the University of 
Gothenburg and Handels Hogskolan, Gothenburg for the transfer of knowledge through out the 
courses of this program.  
I appreciate the management of the organization of case study for granting me access into the 
organization. Also, to the respondents who participated for their selfless support and for taking 
time from their tight schedule to grant my interviews. 
My gratitude also goes to my friends for their support in kindness especially Rhoda Njoshe and 
Perpetual Edekor for babysitting for me while I study. I appreciate all my classmates for their 
morale support, their smiles gave me courage to carry on. To my son, I am grateful for his 
unconditional love, cooperation, and understanding. I appreciate my husband for the pushing 
me so hard to pursue my dream.  
And in all, I thank God for giving me one day at a time to sustain me through out the course of 
my study.  
Without every one of you, I wouldn’t have made it through. 
 
Victoria Ajayi 
May, 2016.  
Gothenburg 
 
 
 
 
 3 
Abstract 
The purpose of this study is to explore employees’ perspectives and experiences following a 
major change in their organization of employment.  The six underlying theories by Myeong-Gu 
Seo and N. Sharon Hill (2005) are the main theories used for the analysis of the findings. 
Additional theories by various researchers included are uncertainty theory, cynicism and 
resistance, and sensemaking theory. It is believed that emotions run high during and after major 
organizational changes such as merger and acquisition and there is no exception with the 
organization of the case study chosen for this thesis work. This study investigates how 
employees perceive changes after merger and acquisition, the impact it has on their career, the 
consequences they face as a result, and their coping strategies. 
The research was conducted in an organization that had undergone major changes following 
merger and acquisition. The organization is based in Nigeria. I gained easy access to the 
organization because; I had worked as Human Resource Assistance in the company before and 
throughout the period of change.  
Keyword: Acquisition, merger, change, Nigeria, employee experiences, coping. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
Table of Contents 
1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 6  
1.1 Background………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 6 
1.2 Motivation……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 8 
1.3 Presenting the problem………………………………………………………………………………… 9 
1.4 Thesis disposition…………………………………………………………………………………………..10 
2. Literature review and Theory…………………………………………………………………………………….12 
 2 Review of Previous Studies…………………………………….………………………………………12 
2.1 Anxiety Theory……………………………………………………………………………………………….15 
 2.2 Social Identity Theory……………………………………………………………………………………..16 
 2.3 Acculturation Theory ………………………………………………………………………………………18 
 2.4 Role Conflict Theory………………………………………………………………………………………..20 
 2.5 Job Characteristics Theory……………………………………………………………………………….21 
 2.6 Organizational Justice Theory………………………………………………………………………….22 
2.7 Uncertainty Theory………………………………………………………………………………………….24 
2.8 Cynicism and Resistance………………………………………………………………………………….25 
2.9 Sensemaking Theory………………………………………………………………………………………..25 
3. Research Methodology………………………………………………………………………………………………..28 
 3.1 Research Methodology…………………………………………………………………………………….29 
3.2 Case Selection………………………………………………………………………………………………….30 
3.3 Data Collection and Analysis…………………………………………………………………………….31 
3.4 Interviews and Limitations………………………………………………………………………………..31 
3.5 Reliability and Validity ………………………………………………………………………………………32 
4. Research Methodology…………………………………………………………………………………………………33 
4.1 Empirical Findings…………………………………………………………………………………………….33 
4.2 Acquisition and Merger…………………………………………………………………………………….33 
4.3 Organizational Structure…………………………………………………………………………………..34 
4.4 Organizational Change………………………………………………………………………………………35 
4.5 Employees’ Perception of Organizational Structure and Culture Change…………..36 
5. Discussion……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..43 
 5.1 Acquisition and Merger outcome……………………………………………………………………...43 
 5.2 The Six Underlying Theories in Merger and Acquisition…………………………………….43 
 5.3 Uncertainty Theory…………………………………………………………………………………………..46 
 5 
 5.4 Cynicism and Resistance……………………………………………………………………………………46 
 5.5 Sensemaking Theory………………………………………………………………………………………….47 
6. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...48 
6.1 Research Recap…………………………………………………………………………………………..……48 
6.2 Answers to Research Questions……………………………………………………………………....48 
6.2.1 Organizational Changes after Merger and Acquisition…………………………….…..……49 
6.2.2 Impact of Changes on Employees’ Career and Working Condition…………………….49 
6.2.3 Employees’ Perception of Organizational Change and their Coping Strategies….49 
6.3 Study Contribution……………………………………………………………………………………..…….49 
6.4 Further Research……………………………………………………………………………………………...50 
6.5 Suggestions…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…50 
7. References……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………52 
8. Appendix………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………54 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
Chapter One 
1. Introduction 
1:1 Background  
The quest for companies to expand beyond their territory of origin calls for strategy. One of the 
strategies is acquiring similar businesses in another territory or collaboration in the form of 
merger and/or acquisition. This trend has led to an increasing number of multinational 
companies in the global society creating an international network of markets by pulling all firm 
resources together. Barney (1991) identified three basic firm resources that firms use to gain 
sustained competitive advantage. These resources include the physical capital resource, the 
organizational capital resources and the human capital resources. The human capital resource 
i.e. the competences of individual managers and workers should be the most sensitive part of 
the three because it is the only resource that has feelings and emotions. Therefore, it is 
expected that while companies are pulling resources together for collaboration, there should be 
a careful consideration of the human dimension. Merger and acquisition (M&A) takes its toll on 
all firm resources regardless of what part of the world but it is assumed that the toll varies in 
different contexts. The context could include culture. Geert Hofstede et al. (2010) identified 
different layers of culture; they include the national level, the regional and/or ethnic and/or 
religion and/or linguistic affiliation level, the gender level, the generation level, social class level 
and the organizational level. In dealing with organizations, the two most important types of 
culture that are relevant are culture at the national level which in many cases especially in the 
Nigerian context, is the collective one, and the organizational culture. Harrison (1972, 1987) also 
suggests four main types of organizational culture, including power, roles, task achievement and 
personal support. It is important to refer to culture at this point in this study because it is one of 
the major changes in the organization chosen for the case study following M&A. Altendorf 
(1986, British Institute of Management, 1986) points out the fact that, at the macro level, the 
issue of culture compatibility is frequently cited to be a potential source of merger problems for 
the human resource, and so ultimately source of merger failure. He further characterized 
culture as the symbols, values, ideologies and assumptions that operate unconsciously to guide 
 7 
and fashion individual and business behavior to build cohesion in an organization. He likened 
organizational culture to societal culture to maintain order and regularities to the lives of it’s 
members which could arouse despair in their minds when there is change. In developing 
countries, in Africa to be precise, culture at all levels plays an exceptional role in everyday life of 
the people. Bearing in mind that merger and acquisition is a major organizational transition that 
involve restructuring, reorganizing, consolidations, layoffs, new technology and culture change, 
merger and acquisition in Africa have tendencies of reminding people about history of 
colonialism and hence, raise fear and uncertainty in employees and causing cynicism, rejection 
and defensive attitudes towards organizational change.   
Merger and acquisition could be perceived by business owners as an opportunity for business 
growth, while the perception of employees may rather be disappointment. Prashant Bordia & 
Nicholas DiFonzo (1998) quotes; “It was the best times (for stockholders), It was the worst of 
times (for employees): The corporation was restructuring.” However, with this developing trend 
of change, there is a wakeup call for individuals to sharpen their skills and develop their 
potentials in preparation for the uncertainties in the ever changing world.  
Description of the Organization  
This thesis is based on a case of a Nigerian company. The organization is a research company 
that focuses it’s expertise on market research, brand and communication, customer strategies, 
innovation and product development, and shoppers. Their clienteles include automotive, 
finance, political and social, technology, A-Z services and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). I 
worked in the organization first as an intern during my National Youth Service Corp (NYSC), a 
compulsory military service initiated to integrate and unite the Nigerian regions. This program is 
observed by students at the completion of higher studies. Youths are posted to organizations 
mostly in the government sectors, especially, schools, but when facilities are not enough to 
accommodate fresh graduates in the public sectors, they are allowed to observe their 
compulsory service in the private sector. The aim is to unite and integrate youths in the Nigerian 
regions and to introduce youth to working life, consequently gathering work experiences that 
employers often demand and opening opportunities for youths. I was retained and staffed after 
 8 
my youth program as a human resource assistant (HRA). I actively participated in the merger 
and acquisition process but resigned my appointment just at the completion for personal 
reasons that have nothing to do with organization and/or the changes involved. It is important 
to emphasize that my resignation has nothing to do with the organization to clear readers’ mind 
from bias.  
In the end of 2009, the case study organization celebrated its 30years anniversary of existence. 
It is important to mention that the organization was founded and owned by an individual who 
was regarded as the “chairman” and the sole owner of the business. Though the organization 
was an affiliate of Gallup International (an international consortium of independent market 
research and polling firms), and a member of professional associations such as AMA (American 
Medical Association) and PAMRO (Pan-African Media Research Organization), his vision for the 
organization at the time was to expand its scope and coast of business beyond Africa and the UK 
and also strategize on how to make more profit. This led to searching for a global organization in 
the same line of business for collaboration. A world class leading research organization emerged 
and agreed to acquisition and merger. The process started at the beginning of 2010 and lasted 
the whole year. This decision started the event that led to the purpose of this study. 
The organization was acquired and merged in 2010 by a global organization that invests in 
businesses in the field of market research. During the process, the organization made efforts to 
prepare their operational staff for the forthcoming change by investing in their professional 
training and development. This was a remarkable step except that the operation department 
was singled out to benefit from the program. There was an increasing quest for training and 
knowledge acquiring activities. The company invested in training both within the company and 
also enrolled the executive staff in the operation department in the University of Georgia to 
acquire proper certification as marketing research experts. Employees in this category were 
more prepared for the change. On the other hand, some employees were cut unprepared; some 
departments were outsourced which means employees in those departments automatically got 
laid-off from the company. Some employee competences were considered not up-to-date for 
the new organization. In most mergers, the experiences are painful for the employees of the 
 9 
acquired company and this study is set to explore to confirm if these experiences are similar in 
different context. 
It all started as a rumor that the organization was going to be sold out to a foreign company. 
Based on past events of similar occurrence in the country, employees became frightened that 
they might lose their jobs. The rumors about layoffs was more particular to the junior and 
contract staffs including the drivers, the security, the cleaners, the questionnaire editors, quality 
control officers, transcribers and the field interviewers that their departments are going to be 
outsourced and/or laid-off. Illicit behaviors such as fraudulent acts and stealing of gadgets like 
computers, fuel, company’s stationeries, souvenirs and toiletries, began to emerge especially 
among the junior/contract staffs. At this time, there was no formal communication to confirm 
the event from the management of the organization. Among the executives, employees that 
had weak appraisals in the previous year were also saddled with anxiety.  It became mandatory 
for them to pursue high performance in their tasks. These categories of employees were initially 
not enrolled in the training and development program that the organization set up in order to 
provide the employees with necessary certification that would qualify them as researchers. This 
training program was an effort by the organization to prepare the employees for changes that 
will be accompanied along with acquisition and merger.  
 Organizational Structure 
The organization is structured according to hierarchy. There are two categories of employees 
including permanent staff (management staff, senior staff and the junior staff), and temporary 
staff. There are seven departments in the organization namely, finance department, 
administration department, data processing department, Field department, executive (or 
Research department), Human Resource department and the directorates. Each of the 
departments also has subordinates; the subordinates under administration department include 
cleaners, drivers, protocol, secretaries, office assistance, production and the front desk. The 
human resource department subordinates are the audit and security.  
 10 
The executive department is divided into two parts, qualitative research and quantitative 
research. The qualitative department has transcribing as a subsidiary department. The data 
processing and the field departments work closely with quantitative research department. The 
data processing department has a high number of contract and junior staffs. It is also divided 
into subordinates namely editors, coders and punchers; they are responsible for questionnaire 
editing, and imputing the questionnaire data electronically, these three categories comprise 
both junior staffs and contract employees. Data processing executives are skilled employees 
responsible for data analysis, they work on the prepared data and they are in the cadre of the 
senior staff.  The field department has the highest number of contract staff with more than two 
thousand interviewers whose major duty is to administer quantitative questionnaires and 
collate them for delivery to the data processing department. The quality control is also a 
subsidiary of the field department. They conduct background checks and follow-up in the field. 
 Present Status of the Organizational after Change 
The organization has continued to change indefinitely. In the beginning of 2016, the 
organization went into collaboration with a different company, making in total, three companies 
into one. Although the organizational structure remains the same and most departments are 
retained, leadership decision lies with the acquirer. Superior positions were created by the 
acquiring organization to lead key departments. For instance, the position of CFO (chief finance 
officer) was created to take over leadership in the finance department. The HOF (head of 
finance) used to lead the finance team but now reports to the CFO. This caused a cynic attitude 
in the finance department, the head of finance felt like he had been systematically demoted. He 
retained his position title but he had a superior from the acquiring organization. This frustrated 
him so much that he resigned from the organization.  
Overall, the staff strength of the organization was reduced massively after the conclusion of 
merger and acquisition, consequently increasing the workload of retained employees. The audit 
department was dissolved and consultancy services of auditors are employed quarterly.  
 11 
There are no written documents to refer to for information about the history of events in the 
organization during and after merger and acquisition as regards the employee. The information 
on the company’s website is basically about the business. However, the background information 
is information I gathered as a participant in the organization during the merger and acquisition. 
1:2 Motivation 
I choose to study merger and acquisition in Nigeria because I am interested in the present status 
of the employment relation of the country. The fast growing trend of multinational companies 
(MNC) and globalization translates to increasing numbers of expatriates in Nigeria. Expatriation 
is not the focus of this study but from my observation during my employment period in Nigeria, 
especially in the case study organization, expatriation was an issue and a huge discussion among 
employees within and in the private sector in general. Now acquisition and merger which 
involves not only having expatriates as colleagues and managers but transferring the whole 
management and structure to foreign investors? This definitely from the abstract raise concerns 
therefore, this study is meant to explore employees’ perspective. 
In Nigeria, as far back as the 80s, there have been frequent merger and acquisition activities 
within the country, especially in the financial sector and some other forms of change such as 
privatization in the public sectors. However, considering the economic system of Nigeria, there 
are lots of private businesses with very minimal government interference, lack of employee 
trade unions and absence of collective agreement in the private sector. The problem of lack of 
employee trade unions and collective agreement in private sector put employees at risk of 
painful experiences and layoff when such private organizations decide to embark on business 
growth and development a strategy that involves major change. There are both local and 
foreign investors who invest in businesses but there is less sustainability for these businesses. 
Consequently, painful experiences at the workplace and job insecurity seem to be on the rise. 
Private businesses often consider foreign collaborations as a way to move their businesses into 
the global network by venturing into collaborations such as merger and/or acquisition. 
However, while many private companies consider the use of expatriates as a strategy to enrich 
their businesses, the worth of local employees is being devalued. The event during and 
 12 
especially after the completion of acquisition and merger in the case study organization that I 
choose and which this thesis is all about aroused my curiosity and interest.  
Therefore, this study is considered important because it will contribute to literatures on 
business evolution in Nigeria. Also the effect of unemployment on the masses poses more 
danger to the public health and safety on its own, losing a job or working under tension 
constitute severe stress and mental health of people. This in turn could result in severe public 
health issues. This study however, will serve as practical scenarios for therapist, organizational 
and occupational psychologist and career counselors to understand their prospective clients 
going through work related difficulties. 
1:3 Presenting the problem 
 The objective of this study is to explore the experiences of employees who have gone through 
an organizational change process involving layoffs, demotion, and other substantial changes in 
working conditions. Emphasis will be laid on how employees make sense of the whole process 
and how change is being approached. The information to be collected is expected to answer the 
research question:  
How do employees make sense of organizational change? 
However, to capture the whole sense making situation, the study should answer further 
questions such as: 
a. what changes in terms of physical and intellectual materials (such as business policy and 
work process guide) has been made since completion of the merger and acquisition in 
the company; 
b. what impact has the change process has on both career and working conditions of 
individual employees; 
c. what are the perceptions of employee about the present situation of the organization;  
d. what are the coping strategies of the employees in dealing with the situation. 
 13 
The first sub-question emphasizes the actual change in the organization after merger and 
acquisition in terms of structure, process, management, culture which includes values and 
norms. The second sub-question aims at directly exploring the impact of change on the 
individual employee. The third sub-question is about sense making and perceptions of 
employees about merger and acquisition; their perceptions in relation to how the management 
value their competences, how they feel about the security of their job and the satisfaction they 
derive from their job. The fourth sub-question explores how employees deal with the 
consequences of changes after merger and acquisition.  
Since this work is a case study, less emphasis will be laid on other companies that have gone 
through similar processes but in the later part of the paper there shall be references to other 
scenarios outside the case study. 
1:4 Thesis Disposition 
The first chapter of this study introduces the whole concept of the study including the 
background study, what motivates the author to write about the subject, the problem of study, 
the research method and the limitation(s) to this study. 
The second chapter explores relevant literature that has provided theories and models to 
support the research topic. Chapter three is all about the research method, data collection and 
analysis. Chapter four presents the empirical findings. Chapter five is the section for discussion 
of the empirical finding. Chapter six is the concluding section of this thesis work. The reference 
list of books, articles, and journals used for this thesis will be listed out in chapter seven and all 
appendices will be in chapter eight. 
 
 
 
 14 
Chapter Two 
2: Review of Previous Studies 
Hogan and Overmyer-Day (1994) noted that most of the M&A literatures that focus on the 
human side has not been theory driven (cited in Seo and Hills, 2005, p. 423). Schweiger and 
Walsh (1990) stated that researchers have rather done retrospective and inductive studies on 
mergers and acquisitions often based on a single case and suggest their results as generalized 
antidotes for the effective management of merger and acquisition integration processes (cited 
in Seo and Hills 2005, p. 423). In contradiction to this fact, qualitative findings are meant to seek 
perceptions and patterns for building theory or support an existing theory; and cannot be 
generalized because of the differences in context.  
There are articles and other literature on merger and acquisition. In the academic literature, 
more emphasis is laid on outcomes of mergers and acquisition in businesses, with little 
concentration on the consequences of the outcome from employees’ perspective. There are old 
studies also on the employee experiences after a huge change that follows M&A. It is important 
to note that merger and acquisition is not a new concept in the business world. However, 
literatures that document the events of merger and acquisition are more common in the 
context of the United States.  
Most literature that I came across during the course of my research focused on events of M&A 
in the US. One of them is an article by Myeong-Gu Seo and Sharon Hill (2005), Understanding 
the Human Side of Merger and Acquisition: an integrative frame work. These authors applied 
theories of behavioral science to explain the events that transpires within an organization after 
going through merger and acquisition and the effect of changes on the human capital of the 
organization.   
Another work I came across is a book written by Anthony F. Buono and James L. Bowditch 
(2003), The Human Side of Mergers and Acquisition: Managing collisions between people, 
cultures and organizations. This book gave a deeper understanding of the effect of merger and 
 15 
acquisition on organization’s human capital. There are quotations from different sources in this 
book that depict anguish and frustrations of employees and even at the extreme death of an 
employee. One of the quotes goes;  
“I worked for 18years and gave them everything I had. Look how I end up, just like a run-over flat 
can in the street. There is no loyalty, no commitment, no feeling. When it got tough, they bailed 
out and let us sink (in a hostile acquisition)”. (Shweiger and Ivancevich, 1985,p. 47). 
 Another book that relates to the concept of merger and acquisition is Jean Helms-Mills’ (2003) 
Making Sense of Organizational Change. His book is about the organizational change initiative 
that Nova Scotia Power (once Nover Scotia Power Commission) went through 1988 to 2002.  
Since merger and acquisition is all about organizational change which could involve all or some 
of the organization components such as structure, culture, process, physical capital etc, I think it 
is relevant to refer to literature in the field of organizational change such as the likes of Helms 
(2003). 
2:1 Theories 
Anthony F. Buono and James L. Bowditch (2003) affirm that mergers and acquisitions are 
capable of transforming the organizational structures, processes, systems and cultures of one or 
both of the firms that may lead to stress, fear, frustration and confusion. It can also disorient 
the members of the organization. They further classify the impact of merger and acquisition into 
two levels; the personal level and the organizational level. On the personal level, it can lead to a 
sense of loss, psychosomatic difficulties, marital discord, and at the extreme, suicide. On the 
organizational level, the impact could be lowered commitment and productivity, increased 
dissatisfaction and disloyalty, high turnover among the key managers, leadership and power 
struggle among the leaders who stay and overall rise in dysfunctional work-related behaviors at 
all levels of the hierarchy. They summarized the theory; it’s source, outcomes and prescription, 
in the table 1 below. 
 
 16 
Table 1: Underlying Theories in Merger and Acquisition (M&A) Literature 
Underlying 
Theories 
Sources of 
problems 
Predicted Outcomes Related Prescriptions 
 
Anxiety 
theory 
 
 
 
Social 
identity 
theory 
 
 
 
Acculturation 
theory 
 
 
 
Role conflict 
theory 
 
 
Job 
characteristics 
Uncertainty and 
anticipated negative 
impact on career 
and job.  
Prolonged anxiety 
and uncertainty 
 
 
Loss of old 
identities 
(Organizational, 
professional, 
workgroup)  
Interacting with 
other organizational 
members 
 
 
Contact with or 
adjustment to 
different 
organizational 
culture 
 
 
 
Ambiguous and 
conflicting roles 
 
 
 
Changes in post 
Low productivity 
Self-centered 
behaviors 
Mental and Physical 
illness 
Lack of motivation 
 
 
Sense of loss, anger 
and grief 
Denial and refusal of 
change 
Intergroup bias and 
conflict 
Acts of noncompliance 
 
 
 
Acculturative stress 
and resistance 
Interorganizational 
tension and conflicts 
Culture clash 
 
 
 
Low productivity 
Low job satisfaction 
 
 
 
Job satisfaction and 
Top-down communication; 
social support; participation 
in decision making; training 
managers to emphasis and 
listen to employees; golden 
parachutes; on-going 
communication; speeding up 
transition 
 
Disengagement efforts 
(grieving meetings); 
proactively assessing 
strengths of existing 
identities and framing new 
identities to be more  
appealing 
Creating a new identity, 
fostering cross-organizational 
arrangements and activities 
 
Cultural due diligence, 
fostering multiculturalism; 
facilitating intercultural 
learning; heightening 
awareness of thinking and 
behaviors that cause culture 
clash to develop 
 
Two-way communication; 
leadership of role 
clarification 
 
 
 
Post-M&A job redesign; 
 17 
theory 
 
 
 
Organization 
justice theory 
M&A job 
environment 
 
 
Perceived fair 
treatment of 
surviving and 
displaced employees 
commitment 
Absenteeism/turnover 
 
 
Psychological 
withdrawal 
Turnover 
involvement in job design; 
job transfer training 
 
 
 
Fair and objective human 
resource; equal participation 
in decision making; treating 
employees with dignity and 
respect  
Elizabeth Hobman et al. (2004) theory of uncertainty is also considered for this thesis work. The 
authors define uncertainty as “an individual’s inability to predict something accurately” (cited in 
Milliken, 1987, p. 136). In their theory, they designed a model which classifies change 
uncertainty into three connecting types; strategic, structural and job-related. One might wonder 
if this theory is relevant since merger and acquisition has been concluded and uncertainty in 
most cases is more intense during the process; but uncertainty carries on because change is 
inevitable, organizations that has gone through one form of change in the past tends to do so 
over and over. Ola Bergstrom et al. (2014) in their work Paradoxifying Organization Change 
identified cynicism and resistance as employees’ perception of organization change in their case 
study. Patterns of cynicism and resistance will also be looked into; although in this case study, 
expression of cynicism and resistance might take a different dimension based on the mega 
context which will take us back to the concept of culture.  
Cameron Esther et al. (2015) also looked at the implication of change on the individual 
regardless of the level or degree of organizational change. They identified four different 
approaches to change; the cognitive approach, the behavioral approach, the psychodynamic 
approach, and the humanistic psychology approach to change. The cognitive approach will be 
related to the concept of sense-making. Jim Helms-Mills (2003) in his work about sense making 
of organization change at Nova Scotia Power, emphasizes Karl Weick’s (1995) approach to 
organizational sense making. Weick (1995) made a significant point that organizational sense 
making is different from everyday sense making though he affirms that everyday sense making 
can give an idea or lead to understanding the process of organization change and the behavior 
 18 
of the people who are making changes and responding to the changes. Karl Weick (1988) in his 
article “Enacted Sensemaking in Crisis Situation” characterized crisis by low probability and high 
consequence events that threaten the most fundamental goals of an organization. He further 
explains that the low probability of the event obstructs interpretations and makes sensemaking 
very difficult which will escalate the crisis situation. Therefore, theory of sensemaking will also 
be considered in the interpretation of the findings of this study. 
All the six theories will be discussed critically in the body of the text. It is also important to 
describe the connection among all the theories chosen. When news of changes spring up in any 
context, it creates anxiety for the members. Members tend to keep their anticipations at the 
top. Anxiety is usually accompanied by uncertainty, as members could start to guess what, how, 
who and where their fate lies at the end of change. These two characters are often passed on to 
the new organization especially when a change is indefinite. Most times, the end result of 
change leads to some behavioral characters which are expressed through attitudes like cynicism 
and resistance. This is common among employees who have been retained and transit to the 
new organization. This could as well translate to how they come to make sense and perceive the 
whole process. 
2:1  Anxiety Theory 
People are often characterized by anxiety when going through challenging times. Organizational 
change as described by Nicholas DiFonzo and Prashant Bordia (1996) could be an ailing tonic for 
an organization but a bitter pill for employees to swallow. They further described change as 
transition that often have a negative impact on employees and can be stressful hence, reducing 
their morale and productivity. Therefore, it will be fair to say that organizational change of any 
form is a challenge for it’s members. Myeong-Gu Seo and N. Sharon Hill (2005) also recognize 
that M&A is encompassed with major organizational change and they consider it as a significant 
source of anxiety. Buono and Bowditch (1989) connote that change in itself is often associated 
with anxiety, tension and resistance. They further explained that the degree of anxiety among 
individuals varies and depends on the characteristics of the M&A. Myeong-Gu Seo and N. 
Sharon Hill 2005 backed up the fact that anxiety varies among individuals and added that the 
 19 
manifestation differs at different stages of M&A. Seo and Hill however, focus their study on the 
anxiety experienced at the concluding period of M&A. They described the anxiety at this stage 
as a coping strategy with uncertainty by predicting what happens next to their future jobs with 
the organization and/or their career as a whole. Brockner et al. (1992) identified perceived 
threat of job loss as an influence on anxiety and distress. Schweiger Ivancevich and Power 
(1987) contribute that anxiety could result in self-survival instincts which employees engage in 
political maneuvering to protect their status, power and prestige. Seo and Hill (2005) suggest 
that this behavior often brings about destructive competition in the organization which could 
have a negative impact on organizational performance. Another form of anxiety influence 
identified by Astrachan (1995) is separation. Astrachan explained that in the face of a 
termination rumor, or during and after employees’ termination, fear of drastic change in 
relationships and/or in most cases putting an end to their relationships is triggered in the minds 
of their retained colleagues. Astrachan further pointed out depression and behaviors like 
hostility and withdrawal, as features of separation anxiety which depends on the proportion of 
people leaving and staying in the organization.  
Suggestions are raised in combating anxiety problems during organizational change by authors 
such as Garpin and Herndon (2000) and Schweiger and Denisi (1991). Formal communication 
from the top management down to the employee is most frequently suggested. The 
communication has to include the time and precisely what should be expected to happen in the 
organization and especially to the employees.  Timely and accurate communication reduces the 
ambiguity of events and curbs destructive rumors. Communication has to be continuous with 
counseling sessions or stress management training programs. This is suggested by Matteson and 
Ivancevich (1990). Scheck and Kinicki (2000) added that spouses, relatives, supervisors, 
coworkers and friends’ support can also help to lessen anxiety during the hard period. They 
further suggest that organizations, town house or focus and group and forums that offer 
interactive programs will be of great help as well. 
2:2 Social Identity Theory  
 20 
Peter James Burke (2006) described social identity theory as a social psychological analysis of 
self-conception in group membership, group processes and inter-group relations. He further 
explained that social identity theory defines the group cognitively in terms of people’s self-
conception as a group member. Burke explained that social identity theory addresses 
phenomena such as prejudice, discrimination, ethnocentrism, stereotyping, inter-group conflict, 
conformity, normative behavior, group polarization, crowd behavior, organizational behavior, 
leadership, deviance and group cohesiveness. Ashforth and Mael (1989) and Kramer (1991) also 
described social identity theory as a part of individuals’ identity that derives from membership 
in groups for instance, organizations and professions. Myeong-Gu Seo and N. Sharon Hill (2005) 
identified three identities that can be impacted during M&A process; organizational identity, 
professional identity, and work-group identity. They referenced Hogg and Terry (2000) who 
define organizational identity as distinctive attitudes that individuals associate with their 
membership to an organization. Myeong-Gu Seo and N. Sharon Hill (2005) affirm that, during 
M&A, both or one of the organizations abandon an old and adapt to a new organization 
identity. Haunschild et al. (1994) suggests that during this period, social identity theory predicts 
that employees’ will strive to attain a positive position for their group in the new organization. 
However, striving for attainment of a positive position could lead to complexities among the 
groups and could degenerate into serious conflict between the two organizations which could 
make the acquirer exercise its superiority by imposing its integration plan on the acquired 
(Marks and Mirvis, 1985). Employees’ acceptance of new identity during M&A often depends on 
the status of their existing group compared to the other partner (Terry and O’Brien, 2001). They 
illustrate their view with a scenario where an employee at a lower status organization who does 
not believe the other organization’s higher status is legitimate will have more negative 
responses to merger and will be less identified with the new organization than employees in the 
higher status organization, while members of the high status organization may also react 
negatively to the M&A because they believe their superior position is deserved and view the 
process as a threat to their status (Terry and O’Brien, 2001, p. 427). This could lead to exclusion 
of the lower status members in other words; employees in the lower status organization will like 
to identify with the higher status organization to enhance their status. Jean M. Mills (2003) 
 21 
contribution is based on Weick’s (1995) theory of identity construction. Weick (1995) described 
the individual’s identity as an important aspect of sensemaking. He further described it as a 
mundane aspect of the process of making sense that needs to be fore-grounded to understand 
the problems of organizational change (Mills 2003, p 126). Referring to Erez and Earley’s work, 
Weick (1995, p. 20) based his approach on the individual’s process of identity construction on 
three areas of need, including the need for self enhancement, the self-efficacy motive to 
perceive oneself as competent and efficacious and the need for self-consistency, Jean M. Mills 
(2003, p. 126). Mills acknowledges that Weick’s work is built on the post modernist theory that 
a sense of self or subjectivity develops and it transforms through involvement in discursive 
practices.  
However, one of the remedies to the problem of loss of identity during a major organizational 
change like Merger and acquisition is suggested by Terry and O’Brien (2001). Their suggestion 
aligns with other researchers: that employees’ attachment to their identities in their 
organizations should be examined in-depth in order to build likeable identities that employees 
will be attracted to in the new organization. This could be achieved by Myeong-Gu Seo’s and N. 
Sharon Hill’s (2005) proposition that newly formed organizations should make efforts to initiate 
a common in-group identity by creating a positive environment that will support interaction 
between the two groups. Gaertner et al. (1990) backed them up by adding that this initiative 
will reduce biases between the two groups when people see themselves as members of one 
large group under conditions of cooperative independence. Another suggestion to foster 
building new identity is suggested by researchers such as Bouno and Bowditch (1989) and 
Gutknecht and Keys (1993) include articulating anew vision, common goals, and organizational 
symbols, Myeong-Gu Seo and N. Sharon Hill (2005, p. 428). Myeong-Gu Seo et al. further 
reference researchers like Brooks et al. (2005) suggestion that corporate identity is made 
concrete through elements such as culture, products and communications. They further 
referred to Schein’s (1990) definition of organizational culture as that which is strongly rooted in 
the values, symbols and artifacts of an organization. Brooks et al. (2005) also suggest that the 
new organization can adopt one or both cultures, products and communication or integrate 
aspects of both or create an entirely new culture. Buono and Bowditch (1989) also suggest that 
 22 
there should be a disengagement effort such as grieving meetings where people can voice out 
their feelings and emotions openly as a means of letting go of their old identity. 
2:3 Acculturation Theory  
Berry (1980) gave a definition of acculturation by anthropology as changes in both groups that 
occur as a result of contact between cultural groups, Myeong-Gu Seo and N. Sharon Hill, 2005 
(p. 428). Argued by researchers in merger and acquisition like Elsass and Viega (1994) and 
Nahavandi and Malekzadeh (1988), acculturation is applicable to the process because it involves 
pulling different organizational cultures including values, beliefs and practices that define an 
organization together or imposing one on the other, Myeong-Gu Seo and N. Sharon Hill, 2005 
(p. 428). Elsass and Viega (1994, p. 433) further define acculturation as a network of integrated 
subcultures, considering an organization as a combination of individuals and groups who own 
their unique cultural identities. Myeong-Gu Seo et al. added that there is variation in the degree 
and rate of acculturation within the network of the integrated cultures. Berry (1980) proposed 
four modes in which acculturation occur. They include deculturation, assimilation, separation 
and integration, Myeong-Gu Seo and N. Sharon Hill, 2005 (p. 428). The four modes further 
explained deculturation as a situation whereby members of the organization neither retain the 
old organizational cultures nor replace it with the new one. Assimilation on the other hand is an 
instance where one organization adopts the culture of the other. Separation suggests that 
cultures of the two organizations are retained and, integration support that both organizations 
be flexible with their cultures to build a common ground for the new culture. Nahavandi and 
Malekzadeh (1998) explained that there must be an agreement between the two organizations 
on the integrating mode otherwise, there will be acculturative stress also known as culture clash 
in the organization. Elsass and Veiga (1994) backed this up and added that acculturative stress 
could lead to resistance and serious inter-organizational conflicts. Marks and Mirvis (1992) 
described culture clash as an event when people notice the difference between the two cultures 
and superiority ego sets in one part of the organization to the other which could result to one 
part of the organization attacking the other part while defending their own culture. Marks et al. 
added that culture clash may arise when apart of an organization feels threatened by the 
 23 
combination and losing their own norms and value. Cartwright and Cooper (1993b) suggest the 
effect of culture clash in an organization; they include low morale, absenteeism, turnover and 
decreased productivity.   
Marks (1999) however suggest that to address the problem of culture clash, there should be an 
assessment for potential culture clash followed by procedures for bringing both cultures 
together. He further suggests that a cultural due diligence or audit should be conducted as part 
of a merger and acquisition procedure to assess the cultural differences that exist between the 
two organizations and consequently enabling proactive planning of interventions to address 
potential acculturation problems. Mark tagged the differences as “people related” and they 
include corporate values, organization structure, decision making process, and reward systems.   
Elsass and Veiga (1994) also suggest multiculturalism where both cultures will be integrated and 
valued by both parts of the organization. Buono and Bowditch (1989) added to this point by 
suggesting facilitation of intercultural learning through workshops and presentations where the 
similarities and differences between the two organizations will be showcase and constructing a 
mutual problem solving strategy. Schweiger and Walsh (1990) added their view that this kind of 
interaction will either lead to intercultural tolerance or assimilation.  
2:4 Role Conflict Theory 
Myeong-Gu Seo and N. Sharon Hill, 2005 (p. 430) defined role as a set of expectations about 
behavior for opposition. They further define role ambiguity as uncertainty about what is 
expected in a role. Katz and Kahn (1978) connote the view of role conflict theory that 
psychological tension is triggered when an individual engages in incompatible roles. Researchers 
(e.g Marks and Mirvis 1992 and Ivancevich et al. 1987) reported that during merger and 
acquisition organizational culture, structure and job descriptions are in disarray, hence making 
organizational transition procedures very ambiguous, hence prolonging organizational 
integration which often results to role conflict and ambiguity. Schweiger et al. (1987) highlight 
some cause of role conflict during M&A. They include new job demands related to the merger. 
Secondly, employees are turned between being loyal to the old customers or to their coworkers 
 24 
and implementing the change required by the M&A and, finally, threat of job loss, Seo and Hill, 
(2005, p. 430). However, two way communications is considered the most effective remedy to 
this problem.  The communication as proposed by Bastien (1987) should consist of both active 
listening to the sources of role conflict and ambiguity and promptly responding to the role-
related issues. In addition Marks and Mirvis (1992) proposed a grounded managerial leadership 
where managers engage in personal discussion with the individual employees in the merged 
organization, to negotiate and clarify the expectations of their new roles. 
2:5 Job Characteristics Theory 
Hackman and Oldham (1975) reviewed job characteristics theory and came up with their 
conclusion that core job characteristics has influence on perception of the work environment 
and consequently has influence on motivation and job satisfaction. Job satisfaction can be 
defined by its characteristics; it includes skill variety, task identity, task significance, task 
autonomy and task feedback. 
It is a clear fact that following a major organizational change like merger and acquisition, 
employees’ attitudes and behavior change as well. These changes in attitudes and behaviors 
however could be as a result of job characteristics and the environment. Therefore, Seo and Hill, 
(2005) suggest that job characteristics theory is the only theory that relates to changes in 
perception of the work environment. 
Seo and Hill (2005) also point out that job characteristic theory focuses mainly on core 
characteristics of job task but they took a broader view of job characteristics and included other 
dimensions of the work environment such as career path, work relationships, support network, 
status differences, geographic transfer and job security, all which was supported by researchers 
like Schweiger and Walsh (1990) who connote that it can have a huge impact on employee 
attitude, and behavior after merger and acquisition.   
It is advised that during post mergers and acquisitions employees’ job satisfaction and 
organizational commitment should be considered when it comes to job redesigning. This 
 25 
suggestion is proposed by Seo and Hill, (2005, p. 431), they argued that jobs should be 
redesigned in a way that sustains or increase employees’ job satisfaction and commitment to 
the organization. Cameron, Freeman and Mishra (1991) backed their point up and suggest that 
employees should be involved in the process of job redesigning. They suggest that this will 
reduce possible resistance and foster positive attitude during the transition period. Schweiger et 
al. (1987) also suggest that employees should be engaged in adjustment training; Newmann’s 
and Kryztofiak’s (1993) suggestion supports adjustment training, they added that it will help 
employees have a clear understanding of how the change will affect their work environment 
and the reason for the change.  Myeong-Gu Seo and N. Sharon Hill, 2005 (pg. 431), also suggest 
leadership, leaders are advised to come up with coping strategies for employees should there 
be a negative change in their work environment. 
2:6 Organization Justice Theory 
Myeong-Gu Seo and N. Sharon Hill, 2005 (pg. 431) suggest that organizational justice theory is 
meant to provide insights into the perception and behavior of surviving employees regarding 
how reselection and displacement of employees are being made after merger and acquisition. 
Cobb, Wooten and Folger (1995) point out that when employees experience a change process 
as fair, they tend to exhibit supportive attitudes towards change even under unpleasant 
circumstances of adversity and loss, Myeong-Gu Seo and N. Sharon Hill, 2005 (pg. 431). Merger 
and acquisition researchers have come up with three types of fairness perceptions that can 
influence employees’ reaction to an organizational change. The first one was identified by 
Adams (1965) namely, distributive justice. This explains the fairness of outcome received 
compared to an individual’s standard of fairness. The second one was identified by Thibaut and 
Walker (1975) and it is called procedural justice which implies the fairness procedures used to 
determine the outcomes. The third is the interactional justice i.e. how the organizational 
members are treated by those responsible for determining outcomes and procedures, Seo and 
Hill (2005 p. 431).  
Robert G. Folger, Russell Cropanzano (1998, p3) the subjectivity of inputs is one reason for the 
subjectivity of fairness. Their analysis that explains the subjectivity concept can be illustrated by 
 26 
comparing the employment relation in Sweden to Nigeria. In Sweden, when an organization 
embarks on layoffs, the last employed is usually the first to go; in the Nigerian context, the 
decision is solely by the management and Human resource. They set the criteria for selection 
which could be based on for instance, qualification, performance etc. However, if there is an 
event of layoff in an organization based in Sweden and the last employed is relieved of duty, it 
will be fair to employees because it is a clear rule in the Swedish employment relation. On the 
contrary, in Nigeria, since there is no written law or collective agreement in the private sector, 
layoff selection decision will be at the discretion of the organization. Greenberg (1987) like 
several researchers note that employees often pay attention to how people are treated in terms 
of distributive, procedural and interactional fairness Seo and Hill (2005, p. 432). Seo and Hill 
(2005, p. 431), also note that merger and acquisition researchers such as Fried et al. (1996), 
Gutknetcht and Keys (1993) and others, often discover that both surviving and displaced 
employees’ perception of fairness during M&A are often influenced by their attitude 
(psychological withdrawal) and behaviors (turnover). Adams (1965) gave a description of 
fairness as the giving and receiving of equivalent value much like the concept of reciprocity that 
Gouldner (1960) called a universal norm of fairness, Folger and Cropanzano (1998,p6).  
The procedural justice refers to fairness issues concerning the methods, mechanisms, and 
processes used to determine outcomes Folger and Cropanzano (1998, p. 26). Folger et al. 
illustrate procedural justice that issues might involve considerations about the proper way to 
conduct a decision-making process a dispute resolution process, an allocation process or layoffs 
in an organization under merger and acquisition for instance. The interactional justice is the 
informal procedure constraints on roles and behavior, Folger and Cropanzano (1998, p. 26). 
Both procedural justice and interactional justice are oppositely related, there are no laid down 
rules or protocols to follow for decision making in interactive justice. 
 Several suggestions are raised towards managing organizational justice perceptions during 
organizational restructuring such as merger and acquisition. Cobb et al. (1995 cited in Seo and 
Hill, 2005) suggest that outcome regarding the distributive justice that there should be clear and 
distinct information about employee role in the new organization. Cartwright and Copper (1996) 
 27 
however made their suggestion based on the procedural justice perceptions by adding that 
employees from both organizations should be more involved in important decision making 
including displacement of employees. Harrison (1998) and Krupar and Krupar (1988) suggest 
that human resource management policies and procedures in the merged organization should 
be reviewed using accurate, objective, unbiased and consistent across both organizations, 
Myeong-Gu Seo and N. Sharon Hill, 2005 (pg. 432). Fried et al. (1996), Gutknecht and Keys 
(1993) finally suggested that the displaced employees should be treated with respect. 
Furthermore, they added that the need for organizational change and the adversities that it has 
brought upon employees should be well communicated. Marks (1997) also suggest the use of 
integration manager who has good leadership skill and versatile during the process of M&A, 
Myeong-Gu Seo and N. Sharon Hill, 2005 (pg. 432).  
2:7 Uncertainty Theory 
DiFonzo et al. (1994) defined uncertainty as a psychological state of doubt about what an event 
signifies or portends, DiFonzo and Bordia (1998, p 296). DiFonzo et al. in their work emphasises 
connections among three attributes namely; uncertainty, rumor and communication. Their work 
studied and analyzed the connection among these three concepts but for the purpose of this 
study, their suggestions and findings on uncertainty is the relevant aspect to this study.  From 
my observation, uncertainty is a common issue in everyday work life in Nigeria. Frequent 
organizational change such as privatization, structure and/or management change and 
especially the subject of the case study in this thesis work, merger and acquisition are 
influenced by the Nigeria’s economic instability and/or continuous strategic attempt of business 
owners to maximize profit, facilitate growth and/or upgrade their businesses to meet up with 
global standards. I observed that uncertainty is often caused by rumors in the organization 
during acquisition and merger. Such rumors include layoffs, closing of plant, and/or 
management and structure change; all these causes chaos and panic within the organization 
during acquisition and merger. Blake and Mouton (1983), Hunsaker and Combs (1988) and 
Mirvis (1985) also admitted to the fact that employees naturally experience insecurity, 
uncertainty and a loss of sense of control during an organizational change. One might wonder 
 28 
how uncertainty theory is relevant to employees’ experience after an organizational change; 
most theories about uncertainty often focus on uncertainty during change process. My 
observation is that uncertainty continues after organizational change and employees’ insecurity 
is not lessened. DiFonzo and Bordia (1998, p 296) also note that organizational transformation 
often portends unpredictable future events and/or is accompanied by unexplained present 
occurrences.  
Researchers like Berger and Bradac (1982) and Heider (1958) suggest communicating accurate 
and timely information as well as activities such as interpersonal interactions as an aid to reduce 
uncertainty in an attempt to regain predictive and explanatory control of tension during 
acquisition and merger.  
2:8 Cynicism and Resistance 
Ola et al. (2014) in their article about cynicism and resistance reported that cynicism has been 
viewed as a form of resistance driven by unsuccessful implementation of organizational change 
or, in contrast, as a direct negative attitude towards management, Ola Bergstrom, Alexander 
Styhre and Per Thilander (2014, p. 384). They further explained that organizational cynicism can 
be seen as organizational members’ response to perceived changes and an effort to create a 
consistent image of everyday activities and formal organizational structures. Ola et al. 
referenced Dean’s et al. (1998) definition of organizational cynicism as a negative attitude 
towards ones employing organization comprising three dimensions: a belief that the 
organization lacks integrity, negative affect towards the organization, and tendencies to 
disparaging and critical behavior towards the organization that are consistent with these beliefs 
and affects, Bergstrom, Alexander Styhre and Per Thilander (2014, p. 387). In Nigerian 
employment relations, the case study company in this thesis work for instance, these three 
dimensions are very much related. Due to the economic situation of the country, employees 
often perceive their employers as not having integrity. This is because business owners are 
constantly looking for strategies for business growth and often make decisions that affect 
employees negatively. Employees’ lack of confidence in their employers often put fear of losing 
 29 
their jobs in employees. Constant fear consequently prevents employees to function at their 
best which backs the second point of Dean et al dimensions of organizational cynicism.  
One suggestion made to prevent or resolve cynicism in an organization that is going through 
some form of changes is that management should engage in communicating the reasons for 
change and involve workers in the process, Brown and Cregan (2008). Wanous, Reichers and 
Austin (2000) backed up Brown et al.’s point and added that this type of communication will 
make employees see things more from the management’s perspective.  
2:9 Sensemaking Theory 
Karl’s work on sensemaking has been a foundation for all other theories on sensemaking. I 
noticed that his theories are cited in most sensemaking literature I come across in the course of 
this thesis work. As mentioned earlier in the text, Weick (1995) made a significant point that 
organizational sense making is different from everyday sense making though he affirms that 
everyday sense making can give an idea or lead to understanding the process of organization 
change and the behavior of the people who are making changes and responding to the changes. 
Karl E Weick (1988) noted that sensemaking in crisis condition is made difficult because events 
that are used to understanding the crisis often intensify the crisis. He explained that this 
dilemma is interpreted from the perspective that people enact the environments which 
constrain them. It is argued that commitment, capacity and expectations affect sensemaking 
during crisis and the severity of the crisis itself. It is proposed that the core concepts of 
enactment may comprise an ideology that reduces the likelihood of crisis, Karl (1988, p. 305). 
Karl emphasizes that straight forward proposition conceals a difficult dilemma because people 
think by acting. He suggests that to sort out a crisis as it unfolds often requires action which 
simultaneously generates the raw material that is used for sensemaking and affects the 
unfolding crisis itself. Cameron Esther et al. (2015) came up with four different approaches to 
change, namely the cognitive approach, the behavioral approach, the psychodynamic approach 
and the humanistic psychology approach to change. Consequently, how employee makes sense 
of their retention after acquisition and merger could be view from the four named perspectives.  
The behavioral approach to change focuses on employees’ attitudes towards change and what 
 30 
motivates such attitudes. Cameron et al. mentioned non-financial reinforcement such as 
feedback and social reinforcement as a means to help employees through sensemaking. They 
explained that the feedbacks could take positive or negative forms depending on the 
managerial style. They explained that the cognitive approach to change is about individual’s 
decision making ability to solving problem during crisis. Relating this to employee in acquisition 
and merger, the way individual thinks and interpret the event of change will determine their 
attitude towards organizational change. 
Cameron et al. used Kubler-Ross work to explain the psychodynamic approach to change. Ross 
used the findings from her seminal work “On Death and Dying” in 1969. Her work described the 
psychological stages terminally ill patients went through in coming to terms with their 
conditions. Subsequently, her research was considered relevant to other people experiencing a 
significant change process. She categorized her findings into five stages namely; denial, anger, 
bargaining, depression and acceptance. Employees that have went through a major change 
event and gained retention after the process first find it difficult to comprehend and adjust to 
the changes at work. Thus, I classify the adjustment period as a denial period, when the 
individual employee struggles to adjust to the changes. This will follow by anger and frustration 
especially when the disparity between the old and new organizational culture is pretty wide. 
Employees then get to a compromise stage where though angry about the event, will bargain 
with his/herself to find a common ground adjustment and accept it. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 31 
Chapter Three 
3.1 Research Methodology 
A qualitative method is a way of thinking about and studying social reality, Anselm Strauss and 
Juliet Corbin (1990). Therefore, this thesis work is approached using a qualitative method. 
Saunders et al. (2003) gave three kinds of research methods namely; exploratory research, 
descriptive research and explanatory research. Employees’ perceptions are explored and 
described using related theories. Joseph A. Maxwell (2012) presents a five component model to 
address specific sets of concerns. The five components include goals, conceptual framework, 
research questions, methods and validity. All these components have served as guides to 
cohesively put this thesis work together. Maxwell gave comprehensive explanations to all the 
components mentioned above. He defined goals as a set of convictions for the worth of study. It 
emphasizes issues that will be clarified, the benefits of the result and the practices and policies 
the study is meant to influence.  The conceptual framework elaborates the concept of the study 
plan. It clarifies the theories, beliefs and previous results which guides the research work and 
has served as guide to choosing suitable literature and preliminary studies needed to 
understand the content of study. The research questions capture the researcher’s curiosity 
about the content of study in simple phrase(s). Method is a step by step protocol that will be 
followed for collecting information. It gives detailed information about the relationship 
established, the selection method and criteria for selection, the time and location, the 
technology used for retrieving information,  strategies for analysis and techniques and 
documents that helped in retrieving information. Validity clarifies all biases and establishes 
conviction and also answer the research question.  
I have carefully selected nine participants who have been retained after merger and acquisition. 
The method used to gather information for this study was through consented recorded 
interviews. However, the respondents are anonymous as is the organization of study. Among 
the nine participants, there are two respondents who have risen to managerial positions in the 
research department, one data processing executive who has also risen to the position of data 
processing manager since the conclusion of merger and acquisition, the executive assistant who 
 32 
has the longest term of service, the IT manager; we were retained together in the organization 
after our compulsory military service, two data processing assistants who were contract staffs 
but got their appointment revised to permanent employees after merger and acquisition, one 
production assistant and one office assistant, who have both remained on contract 
employment. 
I chose the interview method for gathering information because it is considered most suitable 
especially for the context of the case study. The interviews were conducted via Skype since I 
could not afford to travel down to Nigeria to meet my respondents personally. Interview 
sections gave the respondents the opportunity to self expression which include gestures, body 
language and allowed me to know when the respondents are holding back on information that 
they consider to be sensitive. It is also important to mention that respondents were very 
comfortable with me as an ex-colleague and had no problem opening up to me.  
Case Selection 
A single case study is selected for this study. Based on the purpose of the study, it is important 
to select a company that has gone through merger and acquisition and still have employees 
from the old organization retained in the new organization. It is important to note that this 
study is focused on the retained employees from the old organization to explore their 
perceptions and experiences since the changes that have taken place in the organization after 
acquisition and merger.    
3.2 Data Collection and Analysis 
Saunders et al. (2003) gave two types of data i.e. the primary data and the secondary data. 
However, Saunders suggests that strengths and weaknesses should be considered for which 
ever type of data chosen for a research. Primary data is defined as data that an individual 
collects independently to fulfill a specific purpose while secondary data is data that has been 
gathered by researchers to fulfill different purposes or data available in other published sources. 
For this study, primary data are used which was gathered through the interviews 
 33 
 
3.3 Interviews and Limitation 
The interview guide used for the interviews I conducted was adopted and modified to suit the 
purpose of this study from Jean Helm Mill’s work “Making Sense of Organizational Change” 
(2003, p. 213). Though I had a formal guide the interviews were conducted in a semi formal 
style because of the familiarity between the respondents and I, a former colleague. English and 
Yoruba, one of Nigeria’s native languages, were the main languages used for the interview.  
The number of respondents is limited because more than 70% of the employees present in the 
organization during this period are no more with the organization; some resigned their 
appointments voluntarily, some were laid off, while others were part of the departments that 
were being outsourced. In total nine interviews were conducted. Our mode of communication 
was Skype and Facetime. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. The time schedule for 
the interviews was also informal. The interviews were conducted over the weekends, in the 
evenings and intermittently. All these conditions were purposely to suit the respondents’ 
conveniences since they cannot grant the interviews during work hours. Gender was not 
considered while recruiting respondents, however, out of the nine respondents three are male 
(one research manager, the IT manager and the production assistant) and six are females (one 
research manager, one data processing manager, the executive assistant, two data processing 
assistant, and the office assistant).  
Reliability and Validity 
Lincoln and Guba (1985) proposed that the criteria in the qualitative paradigm to ensure 
trustworthiness are credibility, fitness, audibility and confirmability.  They also refined the 
criteria to credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. They further 
recommended specific strategies to be used to attain trustworthiness such as negative case, 
peer debriefing, prolonged engagement, and persistent observation, audit trails and member 
checks. They further proposed that the characteristics of the investigator are important. They 
 34 
must be responsive and adaptable to changing circumstances, holistic, having processional 
immediacy, sensitivity and ability for clarification and summarization, (Cited: International 
Journal of Qualitative methods; Janice M. Morse et al., 2002).  
To fulfill all the criteria suggested by Lincoln and Guba (1985), all the information that I used for 
this case study were sourced in the organization through interviews and information from the 
company website. Also I have tried to be very much objective in my analysis to remove all 
biases. 
3.4  Ethical Considerations 
The CEO of the case study organization was contacted via e-mail and I got approval before I 
begin my study. The result of the study will be presented to them probably; the management 
can gain insight into their employees’ feelings and may adopt some solutions to improve their 
employees’ attitude towards future changes in the organization.  
The respondents were duly selected based on their willingness to grant me audience for the 
interviews. The interview recording was also according to their consent. Other conditions, such 
as time and place were also mutual. Most importantly, the organization of case study and the 
respondents to interviews are all anonymous. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 35 
Chapter Four 
4. Empirical Findings 
The empirical findings are presented in this chapter. The main concept of acquisition and 
merger in the organization of case study will be described in details. The activities that transpire 
during the process of acquisition and merger will be clearly described. The context of change 
such as the structure, the management and processes will be elaborated in details. 
However, the main objective of this study is to explore employees’ perceptions and experiences 
towards the changes that had and/is happening in the organization. How they make sense of 
the changes and their present emotional status in terms of feelings and attitudes towards work 
and in the work environment. The effect of organizational change on employees’, how they 
cope with the situation and the expectation(s) they have from the new organization; all these 
will also be explored to give answers to the research question.  
4.1 Employees’ Perspectives of structure and culture change after Acquisition and Merger 
4.1.1 Background Question 
The interview guide I used comprises questions that explore feelings and encourage employees 
to express them selves. The questions are arranged systematically to dig deep into their 
thoughts. The first question is a background question. It is about respondent’s personal 
information such as name, gender, age (optional), term of service, department and position.  
The second part comprises of questions about the organizational culture, the third section is 
designed to find out about changes in the organizational structure, and the last section explored 
employees’ perceptions.   
4.1.2 Organizational Culture 
Question Two, Three, Four and Six intend to find out the changes that have occurred in terms of 
the organizational culture. Although in terms of organizational culture, it seems the organization 
has succeeded in their acculturation. When asked “Following the Merger and Acquisition in 
2011, do you feel that the culture change has made any difference in how senior management 
 36 
treats employees?” most of the respondents share the same opinion about the organizational 
culture. One of the respondents replied; 
“No, there are no significant changes in how we relate” 
I notice however that this question was interpreted differently by different employees. Another 
employee who had worked in the organization for sixteen years as an executive assistant to the 
CEO and Directors while asked the same question said: 
 “Not really. The issue is still on salary. Staffs are still being under paid” 
Employees confirm that acquisition and merger has had no effect on the relationship between 
staff and management, especially in terms of communication. All respondents affirmed that 
communication among staff at all levels is mutual. For instance when I asked if employees 
would feel comfortable in approaching their managers or Human Resources if they are unhappy 
with how their supervisor had handled a situation, respondents’ perception is uniform. I got 
responses like;  
“Yes! Like I said, communication is not a problem around here”; “of course, yes, why not” 
Another pattern discussed during the interviews concerns employees’ feeling in terms of 
recognition for their job. Respondents have no objection to the fact that their job is being 
recognized. Two of the respondents used qualifying words to attest to this fact;  
“Fair enough, I feel like my job and routine duties are well recognized” and another respondent 
responded that “there is actually”.  
This shows that the new organization has successfully considered the employees in designation 
of the organizational culture by placing value and recognition to good efforts of their 
employees.  
4.1.3 Organizational Structure 
However, taking initiative on duties varies among the employees depending on their 
departments and their job description. Employees in the departments where specific 
instructions are needed for daily routines feel differently from employees that are in 
 37 
departments where initiatives are taken when needed and necessary. There are job descriptions 
that clearly serve as guides to every employee’s routine, however some might need to take 
initiative and be able to make quick decision when there is difficulty at work.  For instance, the 
respondent that works as an executive assistance have worked in the organization for sixteen 
years; this means that most of the managers and directors and even the CEO met her in the 
organization so it is believed that she has distinct understanding of her duty and how to execute 
them. Her response when asked: Will your immediate supervisor let you take responsibility in 
decision-making for routine matters, and do you feel you have enough responsibility? Was,  
“I take decisions on my job alone except if it is something I don’t understand and need to 
clarify from my boss first before I go ahead” 
Another respondent who had worked for the organization for six years first as a contract staff 
for three years before retained to a permanent position said she has moved within departments 
three times and her duty is specific, her response to same question as above is that; 
 “No, I have to take instruction and follow them accordingly; my opinion or initiative is not 
allowed” 
This is understandable because she works in the data processing department where specific 
guidelines are applied to daily routines. This means that there is flexibility in decision making 
within the organization. In terms of workload employees response is uniform; they all believe 
that they have more than enough responsibilities 
4.1.4 Employee Perception of Acquisition and Merger 
Employees seem to have a hidden understanding of the reason for acquisition and merger. 
When I asked if they have any idea of why the organization went into Merger and Acquisition 
and what the objectives are, respondents agreed that the reason was to maximize profit and 
push the company into the global network. The personal assistant however does not sound 
convinced. Her response was; 
“I don’t have much idea. I only know that they went into merger for the growth of the 
business” 
 38 
With this response, I could deduce that this employee is not convinced with the reason that the 
management of the organization has given them and/or she has a different opinion. The first 
phrase of her response “I don’t have much idea” could be analyzed as either the company did 
not give enough clarification and communication was not as effective or, she might have 
information that she was holding back. The second part started with “I only know” this clearly 
confirms that she have a different opinion about the motive behind the acquisition and merger. 
However, another employee responded spontaneously to the same question and sound 
convinced and very sure by the explanation, she said 
“Yes, to be able to meet our client needs all over the world, to have more good reputation 
and to maximize profit” 
These two responses are quite different though both concluded that the reason is for business 
growth but the first response shows a kind of reservation by starting by “I don’t have much 
idea”, which means she believes that there is more to the reason given to them.  
Both organizations have succeeded in redefining the value of the organization without leaving a 
trace. As it was suggested in theory, cultures from both organizations were conjoined with 
compromise on both ends. One could expect a major difficulty pulling both cultures together 
but it is important to mention that the acquired company had been an international company 
prior also, Nigeria as a British colony has inherited the western official cultures including English 
language, corporate dressing, respect for superior colleagues and other forms of official 
relationship that are permissible in a corporate settings. This is confirmed by one of the 
responses when asked if the new value has any reflection on their daily routine; 
“Like I said, I do not notice any significant change from how the company used to be up 
till now, my supervisor tell me what to do and how to do it so, I work towards achieving the 
laid down objectives by doing my work as I suppose to do it” 
Perceptions of employees about the implementation of change vary among my respondents 
from different departments. For instance employees in the operation department, who are 
 39 
permanent employees’ feel that there are no changes, they still work in teams and each 
member’s task is divided by the team manager. Their perceptions of change mostly centre on 
the improvements and achievement they have benefitted through the change. They have 
achieved a qualification and certification in research, the physical work environment like the 
work stations, both hardware and software tools that have improved their technical knowledge 
of their work are motivations to embrace change.  
Departments that have the highest numbers of employees especially in the junior category 
and/or temporary workers (such as the field interviewers, quality control and the data 
processing department) have downsized the most and consequently have increased 
responsibilities of the retained employees. One employee expressed that;  
“There were changes in roles. Change in roles as in, where we have duplicate of roles. For 
example, where we have two employees doing almost the same work, they add the works 
together for one employee and give the other one new role. That is why I have been 
transferred twice to different departments” 
Employees tend to focus on the bright side of the outcome of acquisition and merger when 
asked about their general view and perception of acquisition and merger. In my interview with 
the organization’s Assistant Manager, IT who has worked in the organization for eight years, he 
said one good thing about the change is that it makes his work easy. More sophisticated 
software has been provided which helps him to monitor employees’ compliance to how to use 
the office internet. One of the field managers said works are no more delayed especially due to 
prompt fund release. A respondent from the finance department also added that the 
department now has updated accounting software which has enhanced their scope of 
knowledge in their career and has made their work easy and efficient. To cap these revelations, 
one respondent’s response summarizes employee experience in terms the impact that 
acquisition and merger has had on their career, he said: 
“To me it's ok because it makes me learn new things and develop myself through the 
exposure I am getting to the business” 
 40 
Employees agree that the major advantage of the acquisition and merger is that the 
organizational credibility to the clients has increased immensely. They meet targeted deadlines 
and deliver to their clients promptly. This was confirmed by one employee in the operations, he 
said; 
“I think it has provided a platform to learn new things and improve on the technicality of 
discharging our duties and also has improved the organization’s credibility to deliver as 
promised to our clients” 
From another employee point of view, she thinks there is an issue of favoritism. She 
commented that some employees are treated better than the others. She was clever enough 
not to specify, her comment was;  
“U know what it entails in most organizations, they favor those they love” 
However, the downside is most felt by the junior and temporary employees in the field and data 
processing departments. All respondents believe that the organization is not at a disadvantage 
at all. Two of the respondents (one from data processing and the other from the field, 
interviewer) reported that their work loads has tripled and they work towards targeted 
deadlines. This means that there is no space for idleness; one respondent added that they 
forfeit their lunch break most times because they are no more allowed to eat at their desk. 
Instead, a common room for staff has been setup for lunch breaks, unlike before the acquisition 
and merger where they are allowed to eat along side work.  For respondents in the operations, 
they believe that the increment of workload is not as important as the pressure of meeting their 
deadlines.   
When asked about employees’ general opinion about the whole change, employees seem not to 
be sure of their judgment. Three of the respondents did not want to respond to the question. 
One of them said, “I am speechless, I wish I have a choice, I will leave willingly without regret. I 
don’t even know what exactly to talk about” 
Another respondent commented that,  
 41 
“I don't know….. No be small thing o……Na real exam questions…. What will I say 
o…Ok…….The employees are not happy with changes because there is no increment of 
salaries…. We discuss that very much among us. There is loss of jobs, we panic about that 
everyday… our jobs are not secure they can ask any employee to go anytime without any 
benefits. A colleague resumed work as usual on Monday morning and was asked to report to 
the Human Resource, and that was the end. We all felt sorry for her because previous month 
she was attacked by armed robbers and they snatched her car with some money in her bag. 
So, you see it’s sad with the situation of the country, losing job is not palatable at least not at 
the moment” 
I observe from responses I got that the situation of the organization at the moment is good for 
the business and the key actors. Many employees have a huge sense of exclusion and feel 
insecure, especially with keeping their jobs for as long as they want it.  Though employees affirm 
that the organization seems to have improved on their structure and processes, but there is no 
consideration for employees’ welfare. One of the responses I got shrinks my heart, the 
respondent lamented in Yoruba (a native language) which is translated as; 
“The owner of the business just handed us over without considering us. His son is the 
CEO. We are the ones suffering the consequence, and he also collect millions of Naira for 
property rent and dividend, they don't even consider their workers… they just take 
decision anyhow. Gbogbo eyan loti get ready (everyone is ready), because anything can 
happen at anytime.” 
The company has made undeniable and tremendous progress after the organizational value 
change and/or redefined in terms of functionality. The organization has brought about positive 
changes in employees’ efficiency in the workplace. These facts can be deduced from 
respondents however, what the organization has in store for employees are what they are not 
sure of. Instead, employees nurse a fear of sudden job loss. When asked if they are satisfied 
working for the organization, employees at the senior cadre and at the operations believe that it 
is just fine with them. However, other employees do not feel satisfied with working in the 
organization.  One of the respondents said, 
“No… There should be job security and in terms of employees they want to dismiss, there 
should be benefits and compensation” 
 42 
I wanted to find out from the employees if they think the organization is a better place to work. 
I already know the position of employees in the junior category, for instance one respondent 
said;  
“It is not a better place to work at all. I’m not satisfied with the present situation in the 
company; I don't have a choice than to stay with them till I get a better place. Everybody should 
be treated well” 
I expected a different opinion from the employees of the operations but was surprised that they 
are a little hesitant in their response. I got responses like; “uhmmmmm…. Not bad”; “yeaaa… 
not really bad”. Their suggestion to improve this condition is that the organization should 
empathize with employees and give what is due promptly. Note that I do not mean to compare 
opinions; my intention is to explore individual feelings of employees to have a general overview 
of the human resource capital of the organization after acquisition and merger. However, 
responses from individual employees clearly described that it’s different stroke to different 
folks. What employees perceive most unfair is significantly, benefits in terms of salary, 
allowances and/or severance payment during exits.    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 43 
Chapter Five 
5. Discussion 
In this chapter, my personal reflection as to how the theories I have chosen for this study 
connects with my empirical findings will be discussed. The theories I chose for this study include 
anxiety theory, social identity theory, job characteristics theory, cynicism and resistance, 
acculturation theory, sensemaking theory, role conflict theory, organization justice theory and 
uncertainty theory. I will find patterns from the empirical findings that relates to all these 
theories.  
5.1 Acquisition and Merger Outcome 
Acquisition and merger in the organization of case study has its implication on both the business 
owner and the employees. The aim is to devise a new way to make profit, to improve the 
organization’s functionality, credibility and reputation and to present the organization to the 
forefront of the global market. In my opinion, the organization had chosen acquisition and 
merger as its business renewal strategy by breaking down the whole process, structure, value 
and culture to rebuilding a new brand which is expected to attract new clients, and foster new 
relationships. I conclude that the organization made less effort in clarifying the motive of 
change. Employees that have served the longest term in the organization have more cordiality 
especially with the management. I could say that they do not agree with the given reason for 
change and feel more betrayed by the organization because of the position that the change has 
left them 
5.2 The Six Underlying Theories in Merger and Acquisition  
Myeong-Gu Seo and N. Sharon Hill, (2005) used the six underlying theories which have been 
used by researchers to explain employees’ psychological and behavioral responses to merger 
and acquisition and other forms of organizational changes. These theories are also used to 
explain employees’ psychological and behavioral responses gathered as empirical findings for 
the purpose of this thesis work. 
 44 
Employees of the organization case study started to be anxious from the beginning of the 
acquisition and merger process. The rumor that broke out was worrisome and for a long period, 
there was no communication from top to down. By the time organizational change was 
communicated to employees, anxiety has begun to take its toll on employees. One of the 
outcomes was layoffs, outsourcing, and systematic demotion. It has been six years, but these 
events have continued and have not lessened the toll of anxiety on employees. Rather it has 
increased their frustrations and willingness to leave the organization voluntarily.  Consequently, 
employees lost their sense of employeeship during the process of acquisition and merger. There 
was confusion as per what the new organization will be called and which of the two companies 
will be their employer. This issue was resolved after the official declaration and conclusion of 
the acquisition process but, the issue of social identity started again in the beginning of 2016 
when the management announced that the organization has gone into collaboration with 
another company, consequently changing the name of the organization yet again.  
The organization obviously succeeded with acculturation because employees have no problem 
adapting to the new culture. Respondents reported that there is no significant difference in job 
process and their daily routine from what the organization used to be before acquisition and 
merger though there is creation of new positions to accommodate employees from the 
acquiring organization. Marks and Mirvis (1992) suggest a grounded managerial leadership 
where managers engage in personal discussion with the individual employees in the merged 
organization, to negotiate and clarify the expectations of their new roles. This has helped 
employees so much to have no problems adjusting to their new roles. Respondents who were 
involved in taking new and/or additional roles in their works have proper guidance and follow-
up by their managers.  
Employee attitude can be easily explained by the job characteristics theory. According to the 
review by Hackman and Oldham (1975), job characteristics have a huge influence on employee 
perceptions of the work environment, which also have influence on employee motivation. The 
work environment for employees as suggested by Myeong-Gu Seo and N. Sharon Hill, 2005, 
could influence their career paths, work relationships, support networks, status differences, 
 45 
geographical transfer and job security. In my case study, employees have imbalanced 
perceptions of all the aforementioned characteristics. Job security has the major influence on 
other characteristics. Employees of the case study organization continually fear that their jobs 
can be taken away from them anytime. One of my respondents also felt that the organization 
place more value on some employees and such employees are more favored. This feeling has a 
huge influence on their job satisfaction and prevents them from thriving at the top of their 
career. Geographical transfer is not applicable in the case of this organization therefore 
employees have no concern about that. While there are status differences, relationships among 
employees at all levels are mutual and official.   
Myeong-Gu Seo and N. Sharon Hill, 2005 (pg. 431) suggest that organizational justice theory is 
meant to provide insights into the perception and behavior of surviving employees regarding 
how reselection and displacement of employees are being made after merger and acquisition. 
Therefore, merger and acquisition researchers have come up with three types of fairness 
perceptions that can influence employees’ reaction to an organizational change. The first one 
was identified by Adams (1965) namely, distributive justice. This explains the fairness of the 
outcome received compared to an individual’s standard of fairness. The second one was 
identified by Thibaut and Walker (1975) and it is called procedural justice which implies the 
fairness of the procedures used to determine the outcomes. The third is the interactional justice 
i.e. how the organizational members are treated by those responsible for determining outcomes 
and procedures, Myeong-Gu Seo and N. Sharon Hill, 2005 (pg. 431).  In this case study, 
employees have no clue as to what criteria the organization used when selecting which 
employees to retain in the new organization. Respondents’ belief is that management is partial 
in their selection or fairly that the selection was random. This put them in a position of unease 
because it could be anyone at anytime. This notion could be explained by interactional justice. 
In my opinion, downsizing of employees is not a pleasant occurrence and whatever criteria used 
in selection can never be perceived as fair by employees, because every employee believes that 
they deserve a fair chance and especially in a situation where employees feel insecure.  
 
 46 
5.3 Uncertainty Theory 
DiFonzo et al. (1994) defined uncertainty as a psychological state of doubt about what an event 
signifies or portends. From the inception of the acquisition and merger process, uncertainty has 
taken over the psyche of employees. The main uncertainty concern is about layoffs. Employees 
fear that they will lose their job anytime that the company will fade and at a point will be totally 
lost and what will be their fate when this happens. DiFonzo and Bordia (1998, p 296) also note 
that organizational changes often portends unpredictable future events and/or is accompanied 
by unexplained present occurrences. This is true and can be related to the situation of the case 
organization, unexpected changes that come frequently cause doubt in employees and reflect in 
their performances because they have to second guess themselves in their daily routines. 
Employees communicate among themselves and discuss issues that bother them around the 
work-place, this will continue to encourage rumor and in return increases the feeling of 
uncertainty. 
5.4 Cynicism and Resistance  
Work-place cynic expression is passive in an economy like Nigeria’s. Employees especially in the 
private sectors don’t often voice their frustrations or express any objection/resistance to 
whatever the employer bring to their table. It takes its toll on employees’ health, family life and 
general welfare. The organization this thesis work is studying is not an exception. Ola et al. 
(2014) define cynicism and resistance as a form of resistance driven by unsuccessful 
implementation of organizational change, or in contrast, as a direct negative towards 
management. This definition does not explain the case at the organization of this case study. In 
terms of implementation, the organization has tremendous success with acculturation and 
integration of the two companies. Adaptation is very easy and effortless because the culture 
was successfully passed on to the new company without ambiguity. However, a cynic attitude 
has only been provoked in employees because there is still uncertainty in terms of job security. 
Another factor that instigates uncertainty in employee is the issue of benefit. Employees 
obviously, as part of their expectation look forward to  receiving more robust incomes, probably 
being paid in dollars because the organization is being taken over by a global company. Ola et al. 
 47 
(2014) also suggest three dimensions to organizational cynicism. The first is employees’ belief 
that the organization lacks integrity. This is much related to this case because employees were 
actually disappointed and felt let down. The second dimension is negative attitude towards the 
organization. The second dimension is not applicable in this case because the atmosphere at the 
work environment is already tensed up by fear of getting laid-off, for these employees have to 
keep up the right attitude and do their jobs appropriately. The third dimension is tendencies to 
disparaging and critical behavior towards the organization that is consistent to this belief. There 
is an element of the third dimension going on in the organization. There is every tendency that 
employees overreact or exaggerate the course of events in the organization because their 
expectations are not being met.   
5.5 Sensemaking theory 
Karl E. Weick (1988) suggests that commitment, capacity and expectations affect sensemaking 
during a crisis situation and the severity of the crisis itself. The time span employees spend in 
service sometimes reflects on their commitment, which in turn justifies why employees crave 
for compensation. In the event of organizational change, employees raise their expectation for 
the long awaited compensation. When this expectation gets unfulfilled, it triggers resentment in 
employees and they find it difficult to make sense out of the situation. Weick (1995) that 
organizational sense making is different from everyday sensemaking. He added that everyday 
sense making can give an idea or lead to understanding the process of organization change and 
the behavior of the people who are making changes and responding to the changes. 
It is difficult for employees to make sense out of this situation because change is not over in the 
organization. The level of uncertainty is still very much high in the organization and employees 
expectations are not fulfilled.  
 
 
 
 48 
Chapter Six 
6. Conclusion 
6.1 Research Recap 
The main objective of this thesis work is to explore the feelings of employees in a case study 
after a major transformation of the organization. After reviewing similar studies, I discovered 
that most merger and acquisition outcomes take a toll on the employees. I chose to do a similar 
study but in a Nigerian context in order to explore how feelings and reactions are put into 
attitudinal expression. To answer the research questions highlighted in chapter one of this 
thesis work, interviews were conducted with the employees that were retained after acquisition 
and merger. The interviews were recorded with the consent of the respondents and 
transcribed. The information retrieved from the interviews is used as the empirical data for this 
study.  
6.2 Answers to Research Questions  
6.2.1 Organizational Changes after Acquisition and Merger 
Based on the empirical findings, there were few changes in the physical capital i.e. the structure 
of the organization. The color of the building was changed to pink against the initial blue color. 
The logo and name of the organization was also changed to that of the acquiring organization. 
Work stations were modified and rearranged to suite the style of the acquiring organization. In 
terms of the human resource capital, there was a massive downsizing of the staff; many 
employees were laid-off. To avoid duplicate roles, duties were merged and assigned 
appropriately. For instance, where there are five employees working on the same task, the 
organization reduced it to two employees working on the same quantity of task. 
In terms of intellectual property, there were no changes made in the company policy because, 
the policy was already in tune with the national policy of Nigerian labor law applicable to private 
organizations and the work process does not reflect any change.  
 49 
6.2.2 Impact of Change on Employees’ Career and Working Conditions 
Acquisition and merger has significant impacts on employees’ careers. In the body of this thesis 
work, I emphasized that before the conclusion of acquisition and merger the organization 
invested in training and development programs for the employees to ensure that they acquire 
the competence required by the acquiring organization. This has tremendous impact on 
employee careers such that many of the employees that were laid-off at the conclusion of the 
process could secure even better jobs with remarkable organizations. For those who were 
retained, their confidence was boosted and their technical knowledge of the job was improved.  
The working conditions especially in terms of benefit do not meet up with employees’ 
expectation. Employees’ major complaint is that there is no increment of salaries rather, their 
workload has doubled and deadlines are now placed on high priority.  
6.2.3 Employees’ Perception of the Organization and Coping Strategies 
Employees still feel like acquisition and merger is only beneficial to the business owner but has 
offered them job insecurity. Due to continuous layoffs in the organization, employees feel like it 
is just a matter of time for them to get hit with the same stroke. They perceive that the 
organization is partial and those employees that are favored do not necessarily have high 
performance in their duties.   
Employees at the senior level and the operations does not seem dissatisfied in any way rather 
they have experienced career development, improvement in physical working conditions, wages 
and benefits and especially improved technology to enhance their productivity. Consequently, I 
cannot deduce from their responses that they have any cynic attitude, and therefore they do 
not need coping strategies. One of the respondents in this category of employee confirmed that 
the criteria for layoff in their department have been mainly about competence, no biases. The 
new organization does not condone mistakes especially that which could cost the organization a 
big loss of reputation and/or profit.  
 50 
However, employees on the junior category and other departments are majorly concerned 
with coping with the situation. One of the coping strategies I could identify is that 
employees concentrate more on their job and they do it well in accordance to instruction. 
The situation of the country is that of “work to survival” and for employees to keep their 
jobs and meet up with their essential daily survival, they strive to work to keep their jobs. 
This could be deduced from a quote from one respondent who says’ 
 “ I work towards achieving the laid down objectives by doing my work as I am  supposed 
to do it” 
Another coping strategy I identified is communication. Since employees can express themselves 
especially to the management through the human resource. Self expression is very important in 
frustrating times and being able to communicate that is very commendable. The third coping 
strategy I found was that employees tend to focus on the positive side of the merger and 
acquisition and most importantly take the advantage of learning and development which could 
enhance their chances to securing another job.  
6.3 Study Contribution 
This thesis work is intended to contribute to the area of human resource capital in mergers and 
acquisitions. This area in recent times has not been receiving much attention in merger and 
acquisition studies. Most literature I came about for this studies are old and mostly contain 
cases in the USA.  
Another area this thesis work is intended to contribute to is organizational therapy. Sometimes, 
to help employees maintain their sanity and sound state of minds, organizations seek the help 
of therapists to help assist employee going through challenging times. Therapists need insight as 
to what could be going on in the minds of employees and the effect it could have on their health 
welfare, family welfare and social welfare. 
Organizations going through similar changes can also benefit from this study. This thesis work 
could help such organizations to gain insight into what to expect during and after the change 
 51 
process. It is also recommended for employees in the labor market to create awareness and 
sensitize them about the events of organizational change. This will prepare them for future 
changes that might come up in their workplaces and build up coping strategies if they find 
themselves in a similar situation in the future. Lastly, this thesis work is meant to encourage 
researchers to make further research in this area to facilitate varieties of literature. 
6.4 Further Research 
This study focused on employees that were retained after merger and acquisition in the 
organization of case study. However, I suggest further research that will tend towards 
employees that have left the organization either by choice or layoff. It would be interesting to 
explore perceptions of employees who do not survive organizational crises like merger and 
acquisition. Exploring their feelings will provide more understanding as to how their feelings 
could affect their career, family and social life. 
6.5 Suggestions  
In this case acculturation and integration of organizational resources is not really the issue. The 
main issue lies with the employees themselves. Among the junior categories and staffs from 
other departments different from operations, having high expectations of the outcome has 
really made it difficult for them to see the good side and appreciate the changes around their 
work environment. Secondly, employees cannot relax and settle in to the new system because 
of the continued layoffs, which set them on panic that they can lose their job at anytime. 
My suggestion to these two pressing issues is first, though salary increment could bring about 
financial stress to the new organization. However, organizations can present incentives to 
employees and communicate appropriately to them about the financial state of the 
organization. The organization should also include all employees in an increment or incentives 
plan. This will solve the problem of some set of employees feeling that the organization is being 
partial or favor some set of employee rather than others. It will also help employees understand 
that they are not being intentionally treated unfairly. 
 52 
Secondly, plans of layoffs should be done at ones with adequate communication. The 
communication should be made with empathy and compensations. Organizations can seek 
professional assistance of therapists and psychologists who can help employees go through the 
ordeal with healthy emotions. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 53 
References 
Journal Articles 
Allen J., Jimmiesson N. L., Bordia P., and Bernd E. I. (2007). Uncertainty during Organizational Change: 
Managing Perceptions through Communication. Journal of Change Management, 7, pp. 187-210. 
Bergstrom O., Styhre A., and Thilander P., (2014). Paradoxifying Organizational Change: Cynicism and 
Resistance in the Swedish Armed Forces. Journal of Change Management, 14, pp. 384-404. 
Bordia, P., Hobman, E., Jones, E., Gallios C., and Callan J. V., (2004). Uncertainty during Organizational 
Change: Types, Consequences, and Management Strategies. Journal of Business & Psychology, 18, pp. 
507- 532. 
Bordia P., Hunt E., Paulsen N., Tourish D., and DiFonzo N. (2004). Uncertainty during Organizational 
Change: Is it all about control? European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 13, pp.345 – 
365. 
DiFonzo N. and Bordia P. (1998). A tale of two Corporations: Managing Uncertainty during Organizational 
Change. John Wiley & Sons Inc., Human Resource Management, 37, pp. 295 – 303. 
Furaker B., Hakansson K., and Karlson J. C. (2007). Flexibility and Stability in Working Life. British Journal 
of Industrial Relations, 45, pp. 863-865. 
Morse J. M., Barett M., Mayan M., Olson K., and Spiers J. (2002). Verification Strategies for Establishing 
Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research; International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 1, 13-22.  
Seo Myeong-Gu and Hill N. Sharon (2005). Understanding the Human Side of Merger and Acquisition: An 
integrative framework. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 41, pp. 422-443. 
Van Dijk R. and Van Dijk R. (2009). Navigating Organizational Change: Leaders, Employee Resistance and 
Work- based Identities. Journal of Change Management, 9, pp. 143-163. 
Weick K. E. (1988). Enacted Sense Making in Crisis Situations. Journal of Management Studies, 25, pp. 
307 – 317. 
 
 
 54 
Books 
Buono A. F., and Bowditch J. L. (1989). The Human Side of Mergers and Acquisitions: Managing Collisions 
between People, Cultures and Organizations. California:  Jossey- Bass Publishers. 
Burke P. J. (1939). Contemporary Social Psychological Theories. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University 
Press. 
Burke P. J., Stets J. E. (2009). Identity Theory. Oxford, London: Oxford University Press 
Cameron E., and Green M. (2015). Making sense of Change Management: A Complete Guide to the 
Models, Tools and Techniques of Organizational Change. Great Britian and United States: Kogan Page 
Publishers 
Folger R. G., and Cropanzano R. (1998). Organizational Justice and Human Resource Management. 
Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi: SAGE Publications 
Helms M. J. (2002). Making Sense of Organizational Change. London and New York: Routledge, Taylor 
and Francis Group 
Hofstede G., Hofstede G., and Minkov M. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind: Intercultural 
cooperation and its importance for survival. New York: McGraw- Hill 
Maxwell J. A. (2012). Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach. Los Angeles, London, New 
Delhi, Singapore and Washington: SAGE Publications 
Normann N (2001). Reframing Business: When the Map Changes the Landscape. Chichester, New York, 
Weinheim, Brisbane, Singapore, and Toronto: John Wiley and Sons Limited 
Spielberger C. D. (2013). Anxiety: Current Trend in Theory and Research, Vol. II. New York, San Francisco 
and London: Academic Press, A subsidiary of Harcourt Brace Jovanovic Publishers 
Taylor S. (2013). What is Discourse Analysis? London, New Delhi, New York, and Sydney: Bloomsbury  
 
 
 55 
Appendix 
1 INTERVIEW GUIDE 
Background 
1. How long have you worked for this organization and in what department(s)? 
Organizational Culture 
2. Following the Merger and Acquisition in 2011, do you feel that the culture change has made any 
difference in how senior management treats employee? 
3. Do you think that present communication between management and employees is adequate? 
4. In your opinion, is there enough recognition for doing your job? 
5. Will your immediate supervisor let you take responsibility in decision-making for routine 
matters, and do you feel you have enough responsibility? 
6. Would you feel comfortable in approaching your manager or Human Resource if you were 
unhappy with how your supervisor had handled a situation? 
7. Do you have any idea of why the organization went into Merger and Acquisition and what the 
objectives are? 
8. Now that the value has been defined, what changes, if any, have you made in your daily routine? 
9. How has the cultural changes been implemented in your unit? 
10. What are your feelings about this cultural change? 
11. What do you see as the benefits of this cultural change for the employee and the organization? 
Employees’ Perspective of Change 
12. Do you see any disadvantages with this change for the employees and the organization? 
13. What do you believe to be the general opinion of this change 
14. Is progress being made with the organization,  
15. Do you see change happening in the workplace through the living of the values? 
16. Is this organization a better place to work?  
17. Are you satisfied with working for the company?  
18. If not, what would you suggest to improve the organization 
19. Do you see the color and logo of the organization as an issue?  
20. If so, do you want a previous color or the situation to remain as it was? 
 56 
2 Model for Qualitative design 
 
 
Validity 
 
 
 
Methods 
 
 
Conceptual 
Framework 
 
 
Goals 
 
Research 
Question