David M. Schweiger

Communication with Employees Following a Merger: A Longitudinal Field Experiment

This study examined the impact of a realistic merger preview, a program of realistic communications, on employees of an organization that had just announced a merger. Employees in one plant received the preview and those in another received limited information. Results based on four collections of data indicated that the preview reduced dysfunctional outcomes of the merger. Those effects continued over the duration of the study and, in some cases, measured attributes returned to levels comparable to their levels before the merger was announced. We discuss implications for organizations contemplating mergers or acquisitions and for researchers interested in such activities.

Experiential Effects of Dialectical Inquiry, Devil's Advocacy and Consensus Approaches to Strategic Decision Making

This longitudinal laboratory study of fast-advancing middle managers involved in strategic planning compared the effectiveness of dialectical inquiry, devils advocacy, and consensus approaches to ...

Top Management Turnover M Related M&A’s: An Additional Test of the Theory of Relative Standing

To date, the most promising attempt to explain departure rates of executives of acquired firms examined the conditions that create perceptions of relative standing, but did not gauge the perceptions themselves. This study extends this line of research by surveying the post-merger perceptions of the top managers of firms acquired in friendly, related deals. We used a two-stage data collection design with the attempt to explain turnover in the first three years following the acquisition, and also predict it in the fourth year.

The acquisition process as a learning process: Evidence from a study of critical problems and solutions in domestic and cross-border deals

While mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are clearly on the rise, most deals do not create value. Researchers have attempted to explain poor performance by a failure to adequately manage the acquisition process. Following this research, this study first attempted to identify key problems faced and solutions employed by acquirers during the stages of the acquisition process for domestic and cross-border deals. Results were then interpreted from a learning perspective, which itself revealed that the acquisition process can be understood both as a learning process applied to the focal deal and as a learning process aimed at improving the acquisition process itself. Moreover, results indicate that both forms of learning are affected by an acquirers experience in a particular target country.

Strategies for Managing Human Resources During Mergers and Acquisitions: An Empirical Investigation

Recent evidence suggests that many mergers and acquisitions have not achieved the strategic and financial benefits that acquiring top managers have expected them to. A number of reasons have been advanced for this, including lack of strategic fit between the combining firms, excessive purchase prices and organizational and human resource problems. This article explores the last cause in detail and provides an empirical investigation of how 80 firms affiliated with the Human Resource Planning Society attempted to manage or avoid these problems. Particular areas examined in this investigation include pre-merger planning and post-merger implementation.

Cognitive and motivational frameworks in U.S. research on participation: a meta‐analysis of primary effects

In this paper we classify 86 published studies of participation conducted in the U.S. according to whether they are based on cognitive or motivational conceptual frameworks, then conduct a meta-analysis of 124 correlation coefficients obtained from them to determine whether distinguishing between conceptual frameworks portends differences in the findings of U.S. research on the effects of participatory processes on performance and satisfaction. Results reveal noticeable differences in the findings of participation–satisfaction research, but also indicate that these differences diminish substantially upon elimination of research based on single-source self-reports. If interpreted as evidence of percept–percept inflation, these findings are wholly consistent with those of other recent analyses. If interpreted as evidence of the greater accuracy of self-report measures of intra-psychic phenomena, they suggest that research on the relationship between participation and satisfaction has been influenced by the conceptual frameworks used to design studies and formulate conclusions.

Beaten Before Begun: The Role of Procedural Justice in Planning Change

This investigation examines the potential adverse effects of planning strategic change on the employment relationship. We proposed that planning change can alter the psychological contract such that employees believe that organization obligations to the employee will diminish. We also argue that planning change may adversely affect employees’ perceived obligations to the organization, their trust in management, and their intention to remain with the organization but that such effects depend upon whether employees perceive the planning process to be procedurally just. We tested these hypotheses in a longitudinal study of a utility company undergoing reengineering planning. The findings supported the proposition that reactions to planning change depend upon perceptions of procedural justice in that employee obligations and intention to remain were only adversely affected by planning when employees perceived the process as unjust. Surprisingly, planning change did not significantly affect trust for employees...

Transnational project teams and networks: making the multinational organization more effective

The role of transnational project teams and networks (TPTNs) has increasingly become an important organizational mechanism for facilitating horizontal cooperation in multinational corporations (MNCs). In spite of this importance, there is little information on this innovative form of organization. Using data collected from 9 teams in several organizations, this paper explores the impact that context has on TPTNs, how such teams function and the role that leadership plays in their effectiveness. Practical recommendations and implications for future research are provided.

Creating value through merger and acquisition integration

Successfully integrating mergers and acquisitions (MA Hubbard, 1999; Galpin & Herndon, 2000; Habeck, Kroger & Tram, 2000; Marks & Mirvis, 1998; Feldman & Spratt, 1999; Schweiger, 2002; Haspeslagh & Jemison, 1991; Schweiger & Goulet, 2000; Hitt, Harrison & Ireland, 2001). Almost everyone writing on this topic acknowledges that integration is a critical part of M&A value creation. In spite of these acknowledgements, the literature has not directly demonstrated a clear linkage between value creation and the integration process. It is the primary purpose of this chapter to do so.

Job Stress and Mental Well-Being: Similarities and Differences among American, Japanese, and Indian Managers

The sources and mediators of occupational stress have been assessed frequently but rarely from a cross-cultural perspective. The present study examined responses to a number of stress, social support, job satisfaction, and personal characteristics measures and their relationships to mental well-being among samples of lower-, middle-, and upper-level managers in the United States, Japan, and India. These data suggested basic similarities between 178 U.S. and 306 Indian managers; the 222 Japanese managers tended to report more negative reactions than the other two groups. Variability among these groups was seen, however, in the relative weights given to the factors of the mental well-being measure and in the association of these factors with the various independent variables. Implications and shortcomings of these results are discussed, along with suggestions for future research priorities.