Managing change in M&A projects

Merger and acquisition (M&A) project is a process when two or more companies are restructured as a whole with common goals. There is a restructuring aspect in M&A projects´ goals. Current structures need to reorganized as a new single structure after the project decision is taken. A major challenge facing M&A projects is to manage change process effectively. Employees identify themselves with the organization which they spend their life for and believe that their efforts and their personal characteristics contribute to the organizations personality. They need to know that their salary is going to be paid regularly,and they also need to know their role, their responsibilities and their possible future position in the organization. When M&A possibility occurs, the employees expectations could be destroyed. They feel like they have been betrayed. In this paper, we investigate the organizational change and its effects on employees in merger and acquisition projects, considering personal characteristics of the employees and characteristics.