Very Similar and Entirely Different - A case study on organisational culture and human integration following a merger between two Swedish companies in the pharmaceutical industry
(2022) BUSN09 20221Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- Purpose: The purpose is to provide a nuanced understanding of organisational cultural differences, obstacles associated with the human integration process and management strategies to overcome them.
Theoretical Framework: Organisational cultural differences are treated as stemming largely from the organisation’s task environment, influenced by industry and function. Human integration is the process whereby cultural differences are mitigated to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and capabilities. If successful, the organisation can realise post-merger synergies.
Methodology: Qualitative single-case study with an abductive research approach.
Empirical Foundation: The empirical data was collected through nine semi-structured... (More) - Purpose: The purpose is to provide a nuanced understanding of organisational cultural differences, obstacles associated with the human integration process and management strategies to overcome them.
Theoretical Framework: Organisational cultural differences are treated as stemming largely from the organisation’s task environment, influenced by industry and function. Human integration is the process whereby cultural differences are mitigated to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and capabilities. If successful, the organisation can realise post-merger synergies.
Methodology: Qualitative single-case study with an abductive research approach.
Empirical Foundation: The empirical data was collected through nine semi-structured interviews from two levels of management, operational and top management. In order to get in-depth insights about their experiences, the interviewees selected came from both of the former companies and were part of the company during or after the first years of the merger.
Conclusion: Overall, the conclusions drawn from this study underline the inherent complexity of human integration. The findings specifically emphasise that industry and function as surrounding factors have a strong impact on organisational culture and the human integration process. Moreover, employee turnover has both negative and positive effects on human- and task integration outcomes. Lastly, our study suggests that providing opportunities for informal interaction and aligning human integration with the organisation’s strategy are of central importance. From a practical viewpoint, our study highlights that human integration can be embedded in an organisation’s everyday operation, whereby financial and strategic goals do not exclude a focus on the human aspects. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9084451
- author
- Eibich, Lea LU and Smedmark, Caroline LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- BUSN09 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Domestic M&A, Organisational Culture, Organisational Cultural Differences, Human Integration, Task Integration
- language
- English
- id
- 9084451
- date added to LUP
- 2022-07-01 15:24:11
- date last changed
- 2022-07-01 15:24:11
@misc{9084451,
abstract = {{Purpose: The purpose is to provide a nuanced understanding of organisational cultural differences, obstacles associated with the human integration process and management strategies to overcome them.
Theoretical Framework: Organisational cultural differences are treated as stemming largely from the organisation’s task environment, influenced by industry and function. Human integration is the process whereby cultural differences are mitigated to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and capabilities. If successful, the organisation can realise post-merger synergies.
Methodology: Qualitative single-case study with an abductive research approach.
Empirical Foundation: The empirical data was collected through nine semi-structured interviews from two levels of management, operational and top management. In order to get in-depth insights about their experiences, the interviewees selected came from both of the former companies and were part of the company during or after the first years of the merger.
Conclusion: Overall, the conclusions drawn from this study underline the inherent complexity of human integration. The findings specifically emphasise that industry and function as surrounding factors have a strong impact on organisational culture and the human integration process. Moreover, employee turnover has both negative and positive effects on human- and task integration outcomes. Lastly, our study suggests that providing opportunities for informal interaction and aligning human integration with the organisation’s strategy are of central importance. From a practical viewpoint, our study highlights that human integration can be embedded in an organisation’s everyday operation, whereby financial and strategic goals do not exclude a focus on the human aspects.}},
author = {{Eibich, Lea and Smedmark, Caroline}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Very Similar and Entirely Different - A case study on organisational culture and human integration following a merger between two Swedish companies in the pharmaceutical industry}},
year = {{2022}},
}