Organizational identification after a merger: a social identity perspective

Br J Soc Psychol. 2002 Jun;41(Pt 2):233-52. doi: 10.1348/014466602760060228.

Abstract

An analysis of the social identity processes involved in organizational mergers suggests that organizational identification after a merger is contingent on a sense of continuity of identity. This sense of continuity, in turn, is argued to be contingent on the extent to which the individual's own pre-merger organization dominates, or is dominated by, the merger partner. In support of this analysis, results of two surveys of merged organizations showed that pre-merger and post-merger identification were more positively related for members of dominant as opposed to dominated organizations, whereas perceived differences between the merger partners were more negatively related to post-merger identification for members of the dominated compared with the dominant organization.

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Organizational Innovation*
  • Social Dominance
  • Social Identification*