COMMITMENT IN THE WORKL
Much has been written about the potential consequences of merge acquisitions, and there is no shortage of examples of failures (see Buono & Bowditch, 1989). One anticipated negative consequence of a merger or acquisition is a reduction of commitment, particularly among members of the acquired firm or the smaller of the merging companies. Only a few studies have been conducted, however, to identify the factors that contribute to the decline in commitment or, alternatively, help maintain commitment at a high level .This lack is perhaps because mergers and acquisitions tend, for various reasons, to be arranged in relative secrecy (Newman& Krzystofiak,1993). Nevertheless, those studies that have been conducted have generated some interesting results. We briefly review two of these studies.
Schweiger and DeNisi (1991) speculated that the negative impact of mergers on employees’ commitment might be because, at least in part, of the misinforma-tion (usually negative) spread in the absence of clear communication on the part of management about how the merger will affect employees. They conducted a quasi-experimental study in one of two merging Fortune 500 companies to test the hypothesis that providing employees with a “realistic merger preview” (analogous to realistic job preview, discussed earlier) would lessen the decline in commitment. Employees in one plant were given information about the merger shortly after it was announced and were kept informed about the progress being made thereafter through face-to-face meetings and a company newsletter. A hotline was also set up to address questions. As they arose. Employees in a second plant were not provided with this information. The researchers found that whereas commitment in the second plant decline steadily after the announcement, commitment in the plant where previews were given remained close to pre-announcement levels.
Newman and Krzystofiak (1993) conducted a longitudinal field study to examine the impact of an acquisition on the commitment of employees in the target firm (a small U.S. bank).They found, as expected, that commitment declined following the announcement of the acquisition. Not all employees were equally affected, however. The invesstigators noted that the decline in commitment was accompanied by more negative perceptions of the job and lower satisfaction with supervision. Although their date did not permit them to address issues of causality, Newman and Krzystofiak speculated that dissatisfaction with the change in jobs and supervision was responsible for the decline in commitment. Job security did not appear to be a factor in determining commitment in this case, but might be in others. Like schweiger and DeNisi (1991), Newman and Krzystofiak noted that communication is likely to be an important component in any program designed to build commitment to the new organization.