Company and country effects in international mergers and acquisitions: Employee perceptions of a merger in three European countries

Abstract

Despite the prevalence of international mergers and acquisitions (M&A) there is a dearth of studies that draw on employee accounts of how they are affected by the associated restructuring. This omission is important because of the likely role of national context in conditioning the way employees are affected by organizational change in the post-merger period and the way in which employee perceptions of a merger are likely to vary according to which party to the merger an employee worked for previously. This article addresses three questions. First, to what extent are employee perceptions of an international M&A conditioned by the national context in which they operate? Second, how do employee perceptions of an international M&A differ between those in the dominant and those in the dominated parties to the merger? Third, are these twin effects independent or interdependent?