This paper argues that knowledge on ‘organizational culture’ has acquired authority and constitutes a ‘truth’ on mergers, a truth imbued with both enabling and constraining power effects. Taking a Foucauldian perspective, the paper theorizes ‘organizational culture’ as a discursive formation that is implicated in a regime of truth. This regime has involved a process of disciplinary normalization in merger integration with the result that ‘culture’ has become naturalized to ‘organization’. Drawing on ethnographic research into merger integration, these arguments are illustrated through two vignettes titled ‘surveillance’ and ‘sanctuary’. These represent the reproduction of, and resistance to, the truth effects of ‘organizational culture’. The implications of critically examining ‘organizational culture’ in this way are twofold: first, it opens up space for other merger discourses, and second, it enables positioning of merger accounts within cultural discourses in a way that forwards productive rather than divisive effects in theory and practice.
Altheide, David , and John Johnson1994‘Criteria for assessing interpretive validity in qualitative research’ in The handbook of qualitative research. N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln (eds), 485–499. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
Barley, Stephen , and Gideon Kunda1992‘Design and devotion: Surges ofrational and normative ideologies of control in managerial discourse’ . Administrative Scientific Quarterly37/3: 363–400 .
4.
Bate, S. P.1997‘Whatever happened to organizational anthropology? A review of the field of organizational ethnography and anthropological studies’ . Human Relations50/9: 1147–1175 .
5.
Boston, Jonathan , John Martin , June Pallot , and Pat Walsh1996Public management: The New Zealand model.Auckland, New Zealand: Oxford University Press .
6.
Buono, Anthony , James Bowditch , and J. W. Lewis1985‘When cultures collide: The anatomy of a merger’ . Human Relations38/5: 477–500 .
7.
Burns, Tom , and G. W. Stalker1961The management of innovation. London: Tavistock .
8.
Burrell, Gibson1988‘Modernism, postmodernism and organizational analysis 2: The contribution of Michel Foucault’ . Organization Studies9/2: 221–235 .
9.
Chatterjee, Sayan1986‘Types of synergy and economic value: The impact of acquisitions on merging and rival firms’ . Strategic Management Journal7: 119–140 .
10.
Chatterjee, Sayan , Michael Lubatkin , David Schweiger , and Yaakov Weber1992‘Cultural differences and shareholder value in related mergers: Linking equity and human capital’ . Strategic Management Journal13: 319–334 .
11.
Comtois, Elise , Jean-Louis Denis , and Ann Langley2004‘Rhetorics of efficiency, fashion and politics: Hospital mergers in Quebec’ . Management Learning35/3: 303–321 .
12.
Cartwright, Susan , and Cary Cooper1993‘The role of culture compatibility in successful organizational marriage’ . Academy of Management Executive7/2: 57–70 .
13.
Constas, Mark1992‘Qualitative analysis as a public event: The documentation of category development procedures’ . American Educational Research Journal29/2: 253–266 .
14.
Datta, Deepak1991‘Organizational fit and acquisition performance: Effects of post-acquisition integration’ . Strategic Management Journal12: 281–297 .
15.
The Dominion1998‘Beware “culture of restructuring” says report’ . The Dominion, 22 October 1998.
16.
Dreyfus, Hubert , and Paul Rabinow1983Michel Foucault: Beyond structuralism and hermeneutics. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press .
17.
Edwards, Derek , and Jonathan Potter1992Discursive psychology. London: Sage .
18.
Elsass, Priscilla , and John Veiga1994‘Acculturation in acquired organizations: A force-field perspective’ . Human Relations47/4: 431–453 .
19.
Feldman, Mark , and Michael Spratt1999Five frogs on a log: A CEO’s guide to accelerating the transitions in mergers, acquisitions and gut wrenching change. New York: HarperCollins .
20.
Foucault, Michel1972The archaeology of knowledge. London: Tavistock .
21.
Foucault, Michel1979Discipline and punish. New York: Random House .
22.
Foucault, Michel1980Power/Knowledge. New York: Pantheon .
23.
Foucault, Michel1983‘The subject and power’ in Michel Foucault: Beyond structuralism and hermeneutigs, H.L. Dreyfus and P. Rabinow (eds), 208–228. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press .
24.
Fursich, Elfriede2002‘Nation, capitalism, myth: Covering news of economic globalization’ . Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly79/2: 353–373 .
25.
Galpin, Timothy , and Mark Herndon2000The complete guide to mergers and acquisitions. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass .
26.
Gergen, Kenneth1985‘The social constructionist movement in modern psychology’ . American Psychologist40/3: 266–275 .
27.
Gertsen, Martine , Anne-Marie Søderberg , and Jens Torp1998‘Different approaches to the understanding of culture in mergers and acquisitions’ in Cultural dimensions in international mergers and acquisitions.M. Gertsen , A. Søderberg , and J. Torp (eds), 17–38. Berlin: de Gruyter .
28.
Gertsen, Martine , and Anne-Marie Søderberg1998‘Foreign acquisitions in Denmark: Cultural and communicative dimensions’ in Cultural dimensions in international mergers and acquisitions. M. Gertsen , A. Søderberg , and J. Torp (eds), 167–196. Berlin: de Gruyter .
29.
Goldsmith, Michael2003‘Culture, for and against: Patterns of culturespeak in New Zealand’ . Journal of the Polynesian Society112/3: 280–294 .
30.
Hall, Stuart1992‘The west and the rest: Discourse and power’ in Formations of modernity, S. Hall and B. Gieben (eds). Cambridge: Polity .
31.
Hall, Stuart1997‘The work of representation’ in Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. S. Hall (ed.), 13–74. London: Sage .
32.
Hall, Stuart2001‘The spectacle of the “other”’ in Discourse theory and practice, M. Wetherell , S. Taylor , and S. Yates (eds), 324–344. London: Sage .
33.
Hannerz, Ulf1999‘Reflections on varieties of culturespeak’ . European Journal of Cultural Studies2/3: 393–407 .
34.
Harrison, Roger1972Understanding your organization’s character’ . Harvard Business ReviewMay/June: 119–128 .
35.
Haspeslagh, Philippe , and David Jemison1991Managing acquisition: Creating value through corporate renewal.New York: Free Press .
36.
Hood, Christopher , and Michael Jackson1991The administrative argument. Aldershot: Dartmouth .
37.
Hunt, John1990‘Changing pattern of acquisition behaviour in takeovers and the consequences for acquisition processes’ . Strategic Management Journal11: 69–77 .
38.
Jeffcutt, Paul1994‘From interpretation to representation in organizational analysis: Postmodernism, ethnography and organizational symbolism’ . Organization Studies15/2: 241–274 .
39.
Jemison, David , and Sim Sitkin1986‘Corporate acquisitions: A processperspective’ . Academy of Management Review11/1: 145–163 .
40.
Knights, David , and Glenn Morgan1991‘Corporate strategy, organizations, and subjectivity: A critique’ . Organization Studies12: 251–273 .
41.
Knights, David , and Theo Vurdubakis1994‘Foucault, resistance, power and all that’ in Resistance and power in organization. J. Jermier , D. Knights and W. Nord (eds), 167–198. London: Routledge .
42.
Larsson, Rikard , and Sydney Finkelstein1999‘Integrating strategic, organizational and human resource perspectives on mergers and acquisitions: A case survey of synergy realization’ . Organization Science10/1: 1–26 .
43.
Larsson, Rikard , and Michael Lubatkin2001‘Achieving acculturation in mergers and acquisitions: An international case survey’ . Human Relations54/2: 1573–1607 .
44.
Marks, Mitchell , and Philip Mirvis1985‘Merger syndrome: Stress and uncertainty’ . Mergers and Acquisitions20: 50–55 .
45.
Marks, Mitchell , and Philip Mirvis2001‘Making mergers and acquisitions work: Strategic and psychological preparation’ . Academy of Management Executive15/2: 80–92 .
Nahavandi, Afsaneh , and Ali Malekzadeh1988‘Acculturation in mergers and acquisitions’ . Academy of Management Review13/1: 79–90 .
50.
Olie, René1994‘Shades of culture and institutions in international mergers’ . Organization Studies15/3: 381–405 .
51.
Pablo, Amy1994‘Determinants of acquisition integration level: A decision-making perspective’ . Academy of Management Journal37/4: 803–836 .
52.
Parker, Martin2000Organizational culture and identity: Unity and division at work. London: Sage .
53.
Porter, Michael1987‘From competitive advantage to corporate strategy’ . Harvard Business ReviewMay/June: 43–49 .
54.
Prichard, Craig , Deborah Jones , and Ralph Stablein2004‘Doing research in organizational discourse’ in The Sage handbook of organizational discourse. D. Grant , C. Hardy , D. Oswick , and L. Putnam (eds), 213–235. London: Sage .
55.
Ravenscraft, David , and F. M. Scherer1989‘The profitability of mergers’ . International Journal of Industrial Organization7: 101–116 .
56.
Schwartzman, Helen1993‘Ethnography in organizations’. Qualitative Research Methods, volume 27. Newbury Park, CA:Sage .
57.
Scott, David2003‘Culture in political theory’ . Political Theory31/1: 92–115 .
58.
Shotter, John1993Conversational realities: Constructing life through language. London: Sage .
59.
Smircich, Linda1983‘Concepts of culture and organizational analysis’ . Administrative Science Quarterly28: 339–358 .
60.
Søderberg, Anne-Marie , and Ingmar Björkman2003‘From words to action? Socio-cultural integration initiatives in across-border merger’ in Merging across borders: People, cultures and politics. A. Søderberg and E. Vaara (eds), 139–176. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School .
61.
Stace, Doug , and Richard Norman1997‘Re-invented government: The New Zealand experience’ . Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources35/1: 21–21 .
62.
Townley, Barbara1993‘Foucault, power/knowledge, and its relevance for human resource management’ . Academy of Management Review18/3: 518–545 .
63.
Vaara, Eero1999Towards a rediscovery of organizational politics: Essays on organizational integration following mergers and acquisitions. Helsinki: Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration .
64.
Vaara, Eero2000‘Constructions of cultural differences in post-merger change processes’ . Management3/3: 81–110 .
65.
Vaara, Eero2002‘On the discursive construction of success/failure in narratives of post-merger integration’ . Organization Studies23/2: 211–248 .
66.
Vaara, Eero2003‘Post-acquisition integration as sensemaking: Glimpses of ambiguity, confusion, hypocrisy, and politicization’ . Journal of Management Studies40/4: 859–859 .
67.
Vaara, Eero , and Janne Tienari2002‘Justification, legitimization and naturalization of mergers and acquisitions: A critical discourse analysis of media texts’ . Organization9/2: 275–304 .
68.
Van Maanen, John1988Tales of the field. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago .
69.
Very, Philippe , Michael Lubatkin , Roland Calori , and John Veiga1997‘Relative standing and the performance of recently acquired European firms’ . Strategic Management Journal18/8: 593–614 .
70.
Walter, Gordon1985‘Culture collisions in mergers and acquisitions’ in Organizational culture.P. Frost , L. Moore , M. Louis , and J. Lundberg (eds), 301–314. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage .
71.
Weber, Yaakov1996‘Corporate culture fit and performance in mergers and acquisitions’ . Human Relations49/9: 1181–1202 .
72.
Wetherell, Margaret , and Jonathan Potter1992Mapping the language of racism: Discourse and the legitimation of exploitation. New York: HarvesterWheatsheaf .
