Business Marriages Through Mergers and Acquisitions in the Creation of Corporate Stepfamilies

Abstract

Common discussions for mergers and acquisitions revolved around economic and market logic. However, M&As are not exclusively economic events, but human events with human influences. Since families and corporations share many related characteristics and deal with similar tasks and issues, this study adopted the metaphor of corporations as stepfamilies to identify critical issues and challenges when integrating two corporations. Using three stepfamily models namely Biological Discrimination Approach, Incomplete Institutionalization Approach, and Deficit-Comparison Approach, this study described how the employees feel regarding the integration, the problems they faced, and the strategies managements can use to improve the integration process. This qualitative research explored the lived experiences of five employees who work for the merged, acquired, or acquiring company before, during, and after the acquisition or merger. Through the use of semi-structured face-to-face interviews, the researcher was able to analyze the gathered data to address the main research question, “How do business marriages through mergers and acquisitions create corporate stepfamilies” It was found out that there are similarities and/or differences in the emotional experiences of individuals involved in stepfamilies and in merged or acquired corporations such as uncertainty, inferiority, and profound stress. They also faced similar issues and problems such as tangled hierarchies and competition among members. Moreover, there are stepfamily strategies that emerged from the suggestions of the participants that managements can employ to make the M&A process a more positive process for employees.