The impact of merger and acquisition activity on employee attitude in the telecommunications industry

Abstract

Mergers & acquisitions are a phenomenon globally that organisations have been experiencing for years, and within the South African telecommunications industry. The success of mergers and acquisitions is underpinned by many factors that impact post-merger integrations. Research fails to understand the impact that mergers and acquisitions have on employees, which significantly affects the success of mergers & acquisitions. The objective of this research is to understand the impact that mergers & acquisitions activity has on employee attitude. The research will explore the associations that organisational restructuring, dynamic capabilities, social identity, organisational justice and merger & acquisitions motives have on employee attitude. Using quantitative methodology, the research was conducted using a survey that collected data from 120 respondents who have been impacted by mergers and acquisitions within the telecommunication industry in South Africa over five weeks to identify the relationship between employee attitude and employee performance. The findings from this research support that increased merger & acquisitions motives, dynamic capabilities, social identity and organisational justice have a strong correlation to employee attitude. These findings extend existing literature conducted on a firm-level and in developed countries to the local context of South Africa.