A CASE STUDY ON THE POST-MERGER INTERSECTION …dermanoids.com/docs/dissertation.pdf · This qualitative case study research explored the post-merger cultural and staffing environments

A CASE STUDY ON THE POST-MERGER INTERSECTION BETWEEN

CULTURAL LEGACY DIFFERENCES AND STAFFING PROCESSES

by

Candi S. Reid

Copyright 2014

A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Doctor of Management in Organizational Leadership

University of Phoenix

iii

ABSTRACT

This qualitative case study explored the perceived cultural legacies at different

geographic sites several years after a significant merger and acquisition, and investigated

how these corporate cultures and staffing processes intersect including possible

influences on the use of HRIS tools, virtual workers, and knowledge management. The

objective of this research was to develop a theory in the form of a post-merger leadership

model that is based in the real-life experiences of leaders in a Fortune 500 Company who

have shared their experiences in such a post-merger environment. The responses from

semi-structured interviews of 20 leaders and human resource professionals with XYZ

Company, and the legacy organizations, were coded in NVivo for theme generation. In

order to address these questions, this study created a list of leadership themes based on

the outcome of the respondents’ comments in the areas of Corporate Culture and

Strategy, HRIS tools and processes, and Skilled Resource Utilization that aligned to both

the legacy and the current timeframes. Recommendations were made in the following

leadership areas: manage effective change including evaluating processes to align to

strategic direction, leveraging technology, and promoting success goals; structure

organizational alignment based on skilled resources and effective skill teams; create trust

through effective communication, and driving strategic changes fairly; communicate

strategic goals and outcomes both pre and post-merger; use appropriate power and

organizational alignment to drive innovation; and increase employee engagement by

promoting diversity and inclusion.

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DEDICATION

This dedication is extremely hard to make. My beautiful mother, Laura

Gochenour, passed away on October 21, 2014 at the age of 64. I have always had a desire

to continue my education, and my mom supported me every step of the way on this

journey. She always encouraged me, listened to my ideas, asked me questions about what

I was working on, and told me every day that she was proud of my efforts. It’s one thing

to hear praise from your mom, and think “Yeah, I know. You have to say that.” However,

with my mom, I knew she would tell me if the picture wasn’t quite right or if I needed to

think differently about something. I started my final course and preparation for

submission when she became very ill. Two weeks before she passed, she looked me in

the eye and made me promise that she would not be the reason if I did not become a

Doctor. That was a hard promise to make. I also knew that she fully believed that I would

finish this dream. I’m still dreaming with you mom.

I would also like to dedicate this to my Father, Roland Gochenour. Like my mom,

my dad has always supported my desire to finish school. When I was 19. I told him I was

getting married and I promised him I would go back to College someday. He said life

happens, and being a wife and eventually a mother would be “fine too”. I always thought

he said that just to challenge me. Upon completing my first degree, I said “I told you

Dad”, and made a similar comment upon completion of the Masters. Four years ago,

when I told him that I was going to begin this program, he laughed and said “You know

that I believe you can do this, and you don’t have to do this to prove me wrong. You did

that a long time ago!”

Mom & Dad – Doctor Sweetie loves you both! Thanks for being there for me.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Besides my parents, there is no one in this world that has supported me like my

husband, Garth Reid. There were at least three times in this program when I seriously

debating the value of finishing. In those moments he lifted me and made me realize I

could keep going. He had to listen to me read posts, papers, and this dissertation material

for four long years, and sacrificed a lot to see me through this program. I love you so

much! Thanks for being my best friend. I also want to thank our mom, Linda Cox, and

father-in-law, Mike Cox for putting up with us for all of the residencies, and many times

you said I could do this. You are wonderful people, and great parents. Thank you.

I want to thank John Holmes for encouraging me to do this, and challenging me to

jump into this program. (Don’t forget one whole year!) My cohorts in the program,

specifically Daniel Wingate III, made my Doctoral journey achievable. Chief, Cecilia

(Ceci), Michael, Mike, and Joslyn – I love you guys. May we all reach our dreams!

I also want to thank my three sons for being there for me, Christian Hoxworth,

Taylor Reid, and Justin Hoxworth, and my sweet Allie. Thanks to all my friends and

family for sharing this journey. Paula Schmidt, Janine Jennings, Christa Hornbaker, Lara

Tarillo – you were wonderful as sounding boards. Thank you girls! Becky Ash, John

Gochenour, Buba Turner, Janice Osborne, Debra Huwar, and all the rest - you guys rock!

This wouldn’t be possible without my Chair, Dr. Steve Mohan. Your

encouragement to “write, write, write” kept me focused. I also want to thank my

committee who jumped in when needed with great advice, Dr. David Rico and Dr. Paul

Wallace. Thanks for the help with all of the editing Joe Owens. I knew we could get this

finished, and you saved me more than once!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. xi

LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xii

Chapter 1: The Introduction ................................................................................................ 1

Background ............................................................................................................. 1

Problem Statement .................................................................................................. 3

Purpose Statement ................................................................................................... 4

Significance of Study .............................................................................................. 5

Significance to Leadership ...................................................................................... 7

Research Method and Design ................................................................................. 8

Data Collection ....................................................................................................... 9

Research Questions ............................................................................................... 10

Definitions............................................................................................................. 11

Collective Memory ................................................................................... 11

Corporate Culture...................................................................................... 11

Knowledge Management .......................................................................... 12

Merger and Acquisition (M&A) ............................................................... 12

Corporate Culture and Organizational Culture ......................................... 13

Virtual Team ............................................................................................. 13

Assumptions .......................................................................................................... 14

Scope, Limitations, and Delimitations .................................................................. 14

Chapter Summary ................................................................................................. 16

Chapter 2: The Literature Review ..................................................................................... 18

Title Searches, Articles, Research Documents and Journals ................................ 19

Documentation ...................................................................................................... 19

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Search Terms ........................................................................................................ 19

Classifications of Literature .................................................................................. 20

Historic Overview ................................................................................................. 21

Culture and Organizational Theories ........................................................ 21


Quantification of corporate culture ................................................. 23

Organizational identity and corporate reputation. .......................... 24

Merger and Acquisitions ........................................................................... 25

Merger life-cycle. ............................................................................ 26

Failed mergers. ................................................................................ 26

Examples of successful mergers. .................................................... 27

Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) and Technology ............. 27

Skilled Resource Utilization ..................................................................... 28

Virtual teams. .................................................................................. 28

Knowledge management. ................................................................ 30

Current Findings ................................................................................................... 30

Leadership Theories .................................................................................. 30


Mergers and Acquisitions ......................................................................... 36

Information Technology, HRMS, and HRIS tools ................................... 40


Virtual teams and knowledge management. ................................... 41

Resolve communication gaps through increased trust. ........ 42

Cultural diversity, inclusion, and human resources. ............ 43

Leadership changes. ............................................................. 44

viii

Gaps in the Research Literature ............................................................................ 45

Chapter Summary ................................................................................................. 46

Chapter 3: Methodology ................................................................................................... 49

Research Method and Design Appropriateness .................................................... 49

Population ............................................................................................................. 50

Sampling ............................................................................................................... 51

Informed Consent...................................................................................... 53

Confidentiality .......................................................................................... 53

Data Collection ..................................................................................................... 54

Data Analysis ........................................................................................................ 55

Reliability and Validity ......................................................................................... 56

Chapter Summary of Methodology ...................................................................... 58

Chapter 4: Results ............................................................................................................. 60

Sources of Evidence .............................................................................................. 62

Limits to Research Participants and Interview Method ............................ 62

Transcription and Coding Anonymity ...................................................... 63

Respondent Pre-Merger Organization and Site Selection ........................ 64

Respondent Demographics ....................................................................... 65

Collection Procedures ........................................................................................... 66

Detailed Positive and Negative Theme Generation .................................. 68

Legacy Timeframe Study Findings ....................................................................... 69

Corporate Culture and Strategy ................................................................ 69

Company A legacy culture findings (Sites 1 and 4). ...................... 74

Company B legacy culture findings (Site 2). .................................. 75

Company C legacy culture findings (Site 3). .................................. 75

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Overall legacy culture findings. ...................................................... 76


Company A legacy skilled resource utilization findings

(Sites 1 and 4). ................................................................................ 79

Company B legacy skilled resource utilization findings (Site 2). .. 80

Company C legacy skilled resource utilization findings (Site 3). .. 80

Overall legacy skilled resource utilization findings. ....................... 80

HRIS Tools and Processes ........................................................................ 81

Company A legacy HRIS tools and process findings

(Sites 1 and 4). ................................................................................ 83

Company B legacy HRIS tools and process findings (Site 2). ....... 83

Company C legacy HRIS tools and process findings (Site 3). ....... 84

Overall legacy HRIS tools and process findings. ........................... 84

Current Timeframe Study Findings ...................................................................... 85

Corporate Culture and Strategy ................................................................ 85

Company A current culture findings (Sites 1 and 4). ..................... 92

Company B current culture findings (Site 2). ................................. 93

Company C legacy culture findings (Site 3). .................................. 93

Overall current culture findings. ..................................................... 94


Company A current skilled resource usage findings

(Sites 1 and 4). ............................................................................... 97

Company B current skilled resource usage findings (Site 2). ......... 97

Company C legacy skilled resource usage findings (Site 3)........... 98

Overall current skilled resource usage findings. ............................. 98

HRIS Tools and Processes ........................................................................ 98

x

Company A current HRIS tools and process findings

(Sites 1 and 4). ............................................................................. 101

Company B current HRIS tools and process findings (Site 2). .... 101

Company C legacy HRIS tools and process findings (Site 3). ..... 102

Overall current HRIS tools and process findings. ........................ 102

Chapter Summary of Results .............................................................................. 102

Chapter 5: Conclusions ................................................................................................... 105

Interpretation of Findings ................................................................................... 105

Findings Related to Research Questions................................................. 107

Emergent Leadership Themes ................................................................. 109

Recommendation for Action ............................................................................... 112

Establish Post-Merger Culture Evaluation Criteria ................................ 112

Effective Change ..................................................................................... 114

Organizational alignment. ....................................................................... 118

Strategy. .................................................................................................. 120

Power. ..................................................................................................... 121

Fairness (Create Trust). ........................................................................... 121

Employee success. .................................................................................. 122

Recommendation for Further Study.................................................................... 123

Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 125

References ....................................................................................................................... 127

Appendix A: Informed Consent ...................................................................................... 138

Appendix B: Confidentiality Statement .......................................................................... 139

Appendix C: Participant Interview Template & Questions ............................................ 140

Appendix D: Researcher Biography……………………………………………………145

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Classification of Literature ................................................................................. 20

Table 2: Respondent Organization and Site Breakdown .................................................. 65

Table 3: Respondent Demographics ................................................................................. 66

Table 4: Legacy Corporate Culture and Strategy Reference Details ................................ 70

Table 5: Legacy Corporate Culture and Strategy Themes and Representative Comments

........................................................................................................................................... 71

Table 6: Legacy Skilled Resource Utilization Reference Details ..................................... 77

Table 7: Legacy Skilled Resource Utilization Themes and Representative Comments ... 78

Table 8: Legacy HRIS Tools and Processes Reference Details ....................................... 82

Table 9: Legacy HRIS Tools and Processes Themes and Representative Comments ..... 82

Table 10: Current Corporate Culture and Strategy Reference Details ............................. 86

Table 11: Current Corporate Culture and Strategy Reference Details ............................. 88

Table 12: Current Skilled Resource Utilization Reference Details .................................. 95

Table 13: Current Skilled Resource Utilization Themes and Representative Comments 96

Table 14: Current HRIS Tools and Processes Reference Details ..................................... 99

Table 15: Current HRIS Tools and Processes Themes and Representative Comments . 100

Table 16: Emergent Leadership Themes from Positive and Negative Theme Details ... 109

Table 17: Leadership: Post-Merger Cultural Evaluation Criteria ................................... 114

xii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Gaps in XYZ Company HRIS Tools ............................................................... 108

Figure 2: Overlaying the STAR Management System Model ........................................ 117

Figure 3: Balanced Scorecard ......................................................................................... 123

1

Chapter 1: The Introduction

The goal of a successful merger or acquisition should be to integrate companies

immediately through process, tool, and corporate strategy alignment (Homburg &

Bucerius, 2006). Despite this goal, many previously merged organizations fail (Homburg

& Bucerius, 2006). Two of the areas that impact mergers are corporate culture (Miller,

2000) and the use of human resource information systems (HRIS) (Creasy, Stull, & Peck,

2009). Corporate culture is documented as a significant reason for failed mergers (Miller,

2000). Although some researchers indicate that integrating an HRIS system will drive

cultural changes (Creasy et al., 2009), this integration has not been explored heavily in a

post-merger environment.

This qualitative case study research explored the post-merger cultural and staffing

environments of a large organization. Current research on mergers and acquisitions have

focused on what a business needs to do in order to integrate prior to a merger, but the

research fails to address remaining differences in the geographic cultures within long-

term post-merger environments. It is possible that these differences lead to using

personnel resources differently, and drive business processes and leadership styles

depending on the legacy culture rather than the integrating organization. Additional

knowledge focused on post-merger cultures will be a key resource to help teach leaders

the necessary skills to effectively integrate the post-merger organizations into the new

culture.

Background

Large engineering companies are often globally dispersed because of mergers and

acquisitions of several smaller organizations. Marks and Mirvis (2012) stated the

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estimated failure rates of mergers and acquisitions between 60 and 80% (Homburg &

Bucerius, 2006). Although different company geographic locations with very separate

corporate cultures integrate, it can leave multiple culturally based teams with different

views, beliefs, and experiences (French, 2009; Sparrow, 2007). According to Miller

(2000), the mismanagement of cultural issues is responsible for most failed acquisitions.

The cultural diversity between small geographic sites within a large company can

commonly be seen within three areas of organization: tools, processes, and business rules

(French, 2009).

Corporate culture includes organizational strategies and leadership decisions

based on the amount of risk and level of reward achieved (Deal & Kennedy, 1996). How

a business leader chooses to plan, hire, and maintain staffing and skill levels within an

organization are based on these cultural components. Human resource information

systems (HRIS) are organizationally defined in this study as business tools, which

include the common software systems and enterprise systems that contain human

resource tools allowing a business to plan, staff, or evaluate technical skilled resources

through an organization.

According to (French, 2009), future research is necessary in the areas of

information system tools utilization, and the impacts of cultural differences within a post-

merger organization. Current research about mergers and acquisitions is focused in four

primary areas: economics, finance, corporate strategy perspective, and organizational

theory perspective (Homburg & Bucerius, 2006). It is currently unknown if the

differences between corporate cultures after a merger or acquisition play a role in the

business decisions a leader makes around the application of HRIS tools. This exploratory

3

case study seeks to explain the causal relationships at the intersection between the

corporate cultures in a post-merger organization, the use of staffing tools, and how skilled

resources are utilized to help create some knowledge for making effective business

decisions.

The goal of this study was to identify cultural changes that could be beneficial in

aligning the post-merger organization, and provide a theory and framework for future

leadership training and education to impact post-merger integration. Once a company has

a framework for technology integration in a post-merger organization, additional training

must occur to help leaders leverage these different cultures and working environments

(McComb, 2012).

Problem Statement

Failure to integrate technology and cultures often results in key talent leaving one

location in the organization through layoffs, when other locations within the larger

organization could have used the help. Brown (2011) stated that post-merger

organizations must align the corporate culture, and often the area of greatest difficulty is

identification of discrepancies within an organization many years after numerous

mergers. If staffing processes are interpreted differently in separate sites based on the

cultural legacy of the original organization residing in one geographic location, it

prevents the ability to staff the best skills through different programs (Crintea, Burlacu, &

Micu, 2012). The staffing differences also create an inability to leverage resources

through virtual teams, co-located teams, and knowledge management, all of which are

critical components in a successful global organization (Saonee, Manju, Suprateek, &

Kirkeby, 2011).

4

Crintea et al. (2012) stated that although a positive result can occur during a

merger if the company being absorbed in a merger has a corporate culture strong in

innovation, customer focus, and effective leadership models, a negative cultural legacy

can result in differences in the way products are developed, how talent or resources are

used, and even the failure of the merger. The specific problem this study was designed to

address was to identify remaining corporate cultural differences that exist several years

later in a post-merger organization and how these cultural differences may intersect

staffing decisions or the way human resource tools are used.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceived cultural

legacies at different geographic sites several years after a significant merger and

acquisition, and investigate how these corporate cultures and staffing processes intersect

the use of HRIS tools and skilled resource utilization. The research was designed to help

evaluate the employees, leaders, and HR professionals within a post-merger company

where the resulting organization wants one identity at all locations, and the ability to

leverage resources across multiple sites. This case study evaluation was accomplished

through interviews, observations of the organizational alignment among the sites, and

analysis of the staffing processes across the multiple locations.

Understanding and knowing what resources are available in an organization, and

organizational alignment, are critical for managers to make comprehensive decisions and

improve organizational performance (Watad, 2010). This study provided data necessary

to explore the topics and perceived connection between corporate culture, staffing

processes, and use of HRIS tools in a post-merger organization. Specific observed data

5

from multiple sites including years since the merger, how long the participants were with

the organization and the size of the site was triangulated with the interview results of

those leaders.

Significance of Study

Schleifer and Vishny (1991) stated that although the restrictions on mergers

increased in the 1980s based on changes in antitrust policies, the percentage of mergers

increased in the US. One hundred and forty three of the Fortune 500 companies existing

in 1980 were acquired by 1989, most of them through hostile takeovers (Schleifer &

Vishny, 1991). According to Miller (2000), over 85% of failed mergers are directly

related to the corporate culture differences between two organizations. Corporate culture

was not a primary consideration in mergers and acquisitions during the large merger

waves of the 1960s and 1980s, but the failure rate of mergers remained fairly consistent

(Marks & Mirvis, 2012). Kotter and Heskeett (1992) performed a quantitative study of

over 200 organizations, and showed revenue growth of 682% with companies who

purposefully managed their corporate culture, over 166% with companies who did not.

Current literature shows more studies need to focus on evaluating post-merger

organizations existing during these large merger waves (Agrawal, Ferrer, & West, 2011;

Appelbaum, Roberts, & Shapiro, 2009; Weber, Rachman-Moore, & Tarba, 2012), and a

significant lack of studies attempt to evaluate how the legacy cultures from those

previous mergers may interact with staffing processes, HRIS system usage, virtual work,

and knowledge management processes sometime after the mergers. This study closed the

gap of knowledge and possibly help decrease the failure rate of mergers based on

corporate culture differences.

6

Various respondents included employees, leaders, and HR professionals,

primarily within the four distinct merger sites of California, Virginia, Colorado, and

Missouri within a large Fortune 500 Company. The sites were based on significant

mergers to the organization taking place from 1980 to 2005. This study provides a view

of different organizational alignments, and potentially identifies ways to evaluate various

corporate legacy culture differences several years after a merger and acquisition. The

process used in this case study could be applied as a research tool on other large

organizations with multiple sites based on previous mergers and acquisitions.

The individuals were asked how they perceive the cultures have changed since the

merger, how the HRIS usage has changed since the merger, and how different tool

integrations can appear to be aligned to the cultural legacy differences based on the

previous mergers. Once a company has a framework for instituting change, additional

training must occur to help managers leverage these different cultures and working

environments (Brown, 2011). Because of rapid changes in a global workforce, leaders do

not know how to lead the workers with co-located, virtual workers, or through knowledge

management efforts (Ebrahim, Ahmed, & Taha, 2009). This study will advance the body

of knowledge around post-merger organizations, and how corporate culture plays a role

the legacy organizations ability to successfully staff and utilize the skilled resources

within the larger organization several years after a merger. The results generate additional

information to help provide better leadership training for successful integration after a

merger.

7

Significance to Leadership

In current research regarding organizational alignment, a difference exists around

functional skill alignments versus program or geographic organizational alignments. One

theory is that very site specific organizational alignment creates innovation and a sense of

independence of the smaller site within the large (Brown, 2011). The other approach

suggests that a functional alignment with a corporate rather than geographic alignment

allows the organization to create one message which enhances the global position of the

organizational strategies (Clawson, 2006; Harrison & Shirom, 1999).

Leaders of organizations consisting of previous mergers and acquisitions need to

reevaluate the functional hierarchy to find the right structure to align to the future

strategies of an organization (Brown, 2011). An organization with the wrong structural

alignment necessary to affect corporate cultural harmony in a post-merger organization

will not be as effective at reaching corporate strategies (Jones, 2010). This study should

help identify the cultural legacy differences still residing within a large global

organization, as it has shed light upon the functional alignments that are a part of the

corporate culture of a specific post-merger site.

Leaders must understand what it means to have a global strategy and to leverage a

skilled global workforce (Ebrahim et al., 2009), and this study helped to identify aspects

of that need. Studies show that the use of virtual teams are critical for the success of the

global business, and leaders must learn how to address differences in tasking,

communication, and team development to overcome the difficulties of not having

employees working side-by-side (Berry, 2011; Ebrahim et al., 2009; Florea, 2010;

Sargeant, Loney, & Murphy, 2008; Sivunen, 2006). The findings from this study should

8

enhance the ability of global organizations with multiple site cultures based on previous

mergers to evaluate core values and behaviors that embrace diversity and inclusion,

remove geographic barriers, and recognize everyone is a leader.

Research Method and Design

This qualitative study investigated sites with a large global organization that has

undergone a merger or acquisition, and asked to what extent the respondents feel culture

drives technical usage, or to what extent they believe technical usage has shaped the

culture of the organization. Qualitative studies focus on non-numeric data, such as views

or beliefs (Simon, 2010), and can explore how leaders perceive cultural aspects and the

amount of HRIS usage by leadership from an acquired organization. The primary focus

of a qualitative case study is to ask how or why when addressing the research question

(Yin, Gwaltney, & Abt Associates, 1982), and this study may help answer how the

differences of staffing decisions and HRIS usage, including the use of virtual or

knowledge workers at a particular post-merger site, may intersect with the corporate

culture of that site.

According to Deal and Kennedy (1996) corporate culture is seen in the

intersection between the amount of risk an organization takes and the amount of benefit

or payout received. They created an instrument that measures culture through four

quadrants. The authors identify that no organization fits exactly in one box, and the boxes

are just a means to help classify the differences in culture. This instrument was used in

the format of the interview questions, designed around these cultural measurements, to

provide a way to evaluate the differences in varied cultural levels.

9

The purposes of a case study are to address specific events found in real life and

add knowledge of this occurrence for future leaders’ benefit (Creswell, 2008; Simon,

2010; Yin et al., 1982). The case study method contributes to knowledge about political,

social, and organizational groups and individuals, through holistic and important

characteristics of events found in real-life (Yin et al., 1982). This case study involves

organizational and managerial processes related to staffing and virtual work, corporate

culture in a post-merger organization, and functional and structural groups within an

organization. The case study is preferred for contemporary events and behaviors when

the events being studied cannot be manipulated (Creswell, 2008; Simon, 2010; Yin et al.,

1982). Explanatory case studies not only explore and describe phenomena, but also seek

to explain causal relationships and to develop theory (Creswell, 2008).

Data Collection

An exploratory case study is designed to allow the researcher the ability to iterate

through the phases of the collection process (Creswell, 2008). The researcher should be

continually looking for emerging themes, evaluating responses as they are being

uncovered and making observations to help define and analyze the case under review

(Creswell, 2008; Simon, 2010). This case study began data collection through informal

interviews with volunteer participants previously identified by the XYZ Company

Human Resource department. The participants worked at a specific location within the

previous merged legacy organization and still working for the organization at the time of

the study. During the interviews, the participants were asked open ended questions to

explore the perceived cultural legacies at different geographic sites in a post-merger

10

organization, and investigated how these corporate cultures and HRIS usage intersect,

and how these affect skilled resource utilization.

The individual tone and assumptions of both the participant and the interviewee

can lead to different qualitative responses and interpretation in an open ended interview

format (Creswell, 2008). To help establish consistency in the interview methods,

questions asked, and the way the qualitative data was interpreted, an initial sample set of

interview questions were developed to ensure applicants were reminded of the consent

form, and helped guide the researcher to ask the same set of questions to each participant

(Appendix D). As stated in the Appendix sample, the researcher asked further refining or

probing questions as part of the iterative process offered by the case study method.

In addition to the interviews, observations of the skilled resource utilization of

each site were evaluated at the time of the interviews, including how the site employed

virtual or co-located workers, and how they used knowledge management and HRIS

systems. The recorded human resource data, along with the interview data, was

triangulated to help establish the respondent’s perception of the culture after a merger,

and how post-merger culture differences may affect staffing business processes and tool

use. No additional historic data was required to address this triangulation.

Research Questions

This study used theoretic elaboration to simplify the particular set of results in a

broader theory of post-merger and cultural impacts. Since the focus of the case study is

around corporate culture in a post-merger organization, the specific industry is not

evaluated in this study. The rational for selecting a single case study is that this Fortune

500 Company represents a typical case of global organizations that have multiple sites

11

from years of mergers and acquisitions. According to Yin et al. (1982), the most

important step to be taken in a research study is accurately defining the research

questions. The goal is to make sure the research is pointed at the substantively important

issues (Yin et al., 1982).

The following questions were addressed in this study.

(R1) How does the culture of a site within a larger organization intersect with the

staffing system and processes including the use of virtual workers and knowledge

management systems several years after a large merger and acquisition?

(R2) How have changes of the organizational culture several years after a large

merger and acquisition intersected with the HRIS tool usage?

Definitions

Collective Memory

According to Anteby and Molnár (2012), Halbwachs defined a collective memory

as putting the pieces of ancient facts together as images that share beliefs. The collective

memory of an organization is often synonymous with the corporate culture in historic

literature, although the term corporate culture has a significantly larger connotation.

Corporate Culture

The common definition of corporate culture based on recent literature is the

different attributes imbedded in a group of beliefs, values, and behaviors that differentiate

one firm from another (Chich-Jen and Wang, 2010; Mahrokian, 2010; Mellow, 2010;

Shahzad, Luqman, Khan, Shabir, 2012). This study uses the expanded definition applied

by Chich-Jen and Wang (2010), which added that these behaviors become part of long-

12

term management actions, and how those behaviors are recognized and followed by all

employees.

Knowledge Management

The definition of knowledge management is stated as, “In general, KM is largely

regarded as a process consisting of several steps, such as knowledge creation, storage and

retrieval, transfer, and application" (Ananth, Nazareth, & Ramamurthy, 2011).

Merger and Acquisition (M&A)

The use of the term “merger and acquisition” in the literature is often misleading.

After reviewing over a hundred relevant studies, it is clear that the common term of

merger and acquisition is applied to mergers or acquisitions as a generic event where two

organizations were brought together. An acquisition is one organization buying another,

which may result in the merger of skills, product lines, other organizational resources, or

some combination (Bouchikhi & Kimberly, 2012). A true merger would be two

organizations deciding to share resources, leverage product lines, a combined customer

base, and leveraging the names of both organizations such as DaimlerChrysler.

In all research documents reviewed, the terms were used interchangeably and are

actually referring to some form of acquisition where the company merges the new

organization into a new culture (Agrawal et al., 2011; Bouchikhi & Kimberly, 2012;

Norris, 2012; Weber et al., 2012; Yang, Davis, & Robertson, 2012). Only one of the

current studies defined mergers in relationship to the supply chain as vertical, horizontal

or conglomeration, but did not designate how the purchase occurred in regards to an

acquisition, although the words ‘merger and acquisition’ were attributed (Norris, 2012).

This study is reviewing XYZ Company and three previous “mergers”, but each of the

13

three mergers were actually acquisitions of competitive companies and subsequent

merging of the new purchased organization, skills, and resources into the larger XYZ

Company. Therefore, the generic terms merger, acquisition, or merger and acquisition

were used in this study interchangeably as in other relevant studies, but is referencing

previous acquisitions and subsequent merging and integration of the acquired

organization, resources, and skills.

Corporate Culture and Organizational Culture

Once a corporate culture is displayed in the business and work process as an

expression of the beliefs and behaviors of employees and leaders, this becomes the

organizational culture (Crintea et al., 2012). The term organizational culture and

corporate culture are used synonymously in a couple of the leading articles, but this study

maintains the use of corporate culture for consistency. The following definition of

corporate culture was given to respondents: The common definition of corporate culture

based on recent literature is the different attributes imbedded in a group of beliefs, values,

and behaviors that differentiate one firm from another, how these behaviors become part

of long-term management actions, and how those behaviors are recognized and followed

by all employees.

Virtual Team

The definition of virtual in articles includes virtual office, virtual work,

telecommuting, telework, distributed teams, and the consistent selection of the term

“virtual team” defines a dispersed geographic and cultural organization who works

together using communication technologies focused on a distinct project (Ananth et al.,

2011; Berry, 2011; Ebrahim et al., 2009; Hsin Hsin, Shuang-Shii, & Shu Han, 2011).

14

Definition of virtual team includes the description of a group of people with common

goals, purpose, working approach, and holds themselves equally accountable, combined

with separations based on geographic or temporal dispersed members (Ebrahim et al.,

2009). Degree of geographic or temporal separation of a virtual team can vary from one

person in one location to many people in multiple countries (Ebrahim et al., 2009).

Assumptions

The assumptions of this study are as follows:

Leadership methods affect corporate culture in an organization (Trice &

Beyer, 1993).

A corporate culture which values innovation and creativity will strive to

use resources across the organization successfully, such as the use of

virtual teams and knowledge management (Hofstede, 1981).

Global organizations in different fields of business that have experienced

some level of merger or acquisition have had two different corporate

cultures to integrate (Bastien, 1987).

An assumption related to the study specifically is that people in the

organization will give honest answers.

Scope, Limitations, and Delimitations

The main limitation of this study is that data collection is only from a single

Fortune 500 company, fictitiously referred to in this study as XYZ Company. The XYZ

Company had numerous mergers and acquisitions between 1980 and 2013. Although this

is significant for other companies that have similar historic post-merger site

considerations, it limits the scope. Because of the minimal size of the organizations in the

15

XYZ Company industry with numerous mergers in the last thirty years, defining the

industry may allow for company identification. Based on that restriction, the industry is

not evaluated in this study, which limits the scope. Qualitative research cannot be

generalized (Simon, 2010). Limitations of this study include the site selection being

based on the inability to change the post-merger organization.

Additionally, the research was limited to participants who voluntarily chose to

participate based on a selection of available participants in the organization. Geographic

sites that were identified as being with one legacy merged organization were submitted to

the HR division and potential participants were identified who were on the payroll at the

time of the merger, and are still employed by the organization. The case was restricted to

current employees within the XYZ Company selected and voluntarily agreeing to

participate in the study. The industry at large was not selected for participation because

the case is focused on evaluating multiple mergers within one large organization. This

allows for more details discovered with one internal organization comparison, then

relating data from multiple organizations with multiple mergers. Additionally, researcher

bias in a qualitative study will limit the study (Simon, 2010). According to Creswell

(2008), it is the researcher’s responsibility to recognize the potential for preconception

and continue to ask questions and evaluate alternative options at each stage of the study

to help eliminate the researcher bias.

Since the mergers occurred many years ago and it is necessary to interview

leaders who held a role with the pre-merged organization and who were able to comment

on changes since the merger, participants were selected based on the criteria of being

currently employed with the company and who stayed at the same location the entire

16

time. Delimitations include the control of the selection participants still being employed

with the company at the same location they worked during the merger many years ago.

This qualitative case study method offered emergent themes that can be used as a

framework in other studies, and generate knowledge in the area around cultural legacies

in post-merger organizations.

Chapter Summary


geographic sites several years after a significant merger and acquisition, and investigated

how these corporate cultures and staffing processes intersect including possible

influences on the use of HRIS tools, virtual workers, and knowledge management. The

goal was to evaluate the leader’s perceptions of the culture of the organization, the use of

business processes or tools related to staffing decisions, and staffing data of the

geographic site.

Participants were interviewed with a semi-structured process and open-ended

questions. The interview data, along with other data around the previous mergers and

staffing related to the site formed the basis of this case study. Four research questions

helped identify the intersection between post-merger organizations, corporate culture,

system integration, and leadership methodologies. One research question was how

leaders and human resource personnel describe the culture of their geographic site many

years after a merger. The second was how those cultures have changed through the years.

The third question was focused on how these leaders use the staffing and human resource

tools. The fourth question was focused on how the business processes around staffing are

used at the different sites. The generation of previously unknown information resulting

17

from this triangulation of data provides the ability to address the differences between the

sites with integration efforts and training.

The area studied in this case study involved organizational and managerial

processes related to staffing and virtual work, corporate culture in a post-merger

organization, and functional and structural groups within an organization. Chapter 2

evaluates the historic and current literature around virtual and knowledge work, corporate

culture, and mergers and acquisition.

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Chapter 2: The Literature Review

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore the perceived cultural



the use of HRIS tools and skilled resource utilization. Although this topic appears to

broadly cover many aspects of the current organizational trends, the intersection of

corporate culture, merger and acquisition, virtual work, technology integration, and

leadership methodologies in a post-merger environment encompasses several significant

literature gaps in both historic and recent studies.

Chapter 2 begins with a detailed analysis of the literature review process,

documentation, searches, sources, and classifications of the literature. Important concepts

of current leadership methodology trends such as leader-directed engagement and broker

leadership models set the groundwork for the literature review. The review begins with a

history of culture and organizational theories, corporate culture, mergers and acquisitions,

human resource management systems and technologies, virtual teams, and knowledge

management. Current literature is evaluated beginning with the same general

classifications found in the history section, but shifting focus to the findings within the

research aligned with the important concepts from the current trends in leadership

methodologies. This connection highlights the current gaps in literature focused on post-

merger organizations around the concepts of corporate culture, virtual work, technology

integration, and current leadership methodologies.

19

Title Searches, Articles, Research Documents and Journals

The sources for this literature review include (a) University of Phoenix Library;

(b) EBSCOhost; (c) ProQuest; (d) Business Source Complete; (e) online search through

EndNote® X5 Library Catalogs; (f) Google® and Scholar Google® for some germinal

research. Predominate journals referenced include Academy of Management Journal,

Human Resource Management, International Journal of Business and Management,

International Studies of Management & Organization, Journal of Applied Psychology,

Journal of Business Communication, Journal of Management Information Systems,

McKinsey Quarterly, MIS Quarterly, and various others captured in the Reference

section.

Documentation

Searching the various resources for keywords generated hundreds of articles and

research documents to review. Only articles that had an approved level of quality review,

including peer-reviewed articles in acceptably defined publications were selected for the

review. Following the process established by Machi (2009) this literature review used

concepts of mind mapping, complex reasoning, and evaluated data relevance and quality

through the process.

Search Terms

The terms searched included the following terms and common literary versions of

the terms: culture, human resources, information technology, innovation, leadership and

management, mergers & acquisitions, research, and virtual work. Additional leadership

terms such as innovation, engagement, corporate entrepreneurship, leader-directed

collaboration, high-performance cultures, leadership methodologies and research

20

methodologies provided a foundation of the knowledge and understanding necessary to

perform this literature review.

Classifications of Literature

The literature review focused on the following research questions:


staffing system, processes including the use of virtual workers and knowledge

management systems after a merger or acquisition?

(R2) How have changes of the organizational culture after a merger or acquisition

intersected with the HRIS tool usage?

Only eight books were used for this literature review to provide germinal data for

this historic review and construct development. The remaining works were all peer

reviewed journal articles. Due to the nature of the topic and the interrelationship of the

terms corporate culture, human resources, information technology, innovation, leadership

and management, mergers and acquisitions, research, and virtual work, the classifications

of literature number shows duplications where one journal article may be in more than

one classification (See Table 1).

Table 1:

Classification of Literature

Classification of Search Term

1981-

2007 2008-2012 Grand Total

Culture 11 59 70

Human Resources 8 15 23

Information Technology 3 12 15

Innovation 2 8 10

Leadership & Management 27 66 93

Mergers & Acquisitions 10 31 41

Research 3 3

Virtual Work 5 13 18

66 187 253

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Historic Overview

Although the history of business and leadership goes back much further than this

literature research, the focus of this historic overview is in the primary areas of culture

and organizational theories, corporate culture, mergers and acquisitions, human resource

information systems and technologies, virtual teams, knowledge management, skilled

resource utilization, and any research that crosses those topics.

Culture and Organizational Theories

Founding theories in leadership and organization such as Taylor (1856-1915),

Weber (1864-1920), and Fayol (1841-1925), started with the belief of universal

principles, in which any organization using a standard set of processes and leadership

principles will have similar results. As theories progressed, the ideas moved toward open

systems (Hofstede, 1981). In open systems, or contingency theories, the theorists began

to realize that organizations were impacted and responded to outside factors, which

supported the claim that culture is relevant to organizations (Hofstede, 1981).

Wren (1995) describes the changes in leadership models since the mid-1900s to

include transactional leadership, transformational leadership, behavioral theory, trait

theory, contingency theory and others. The author stated an important consideration for

any of the theories must include the corporate culture, and emphasized it is the role of the

leader to evaluate if the organizational culture becomes dysfunctional, and be able to

make appropriate adjustments. Culture affects organizations through the distribution of

power and through influence within goals and objects, decision making processes,

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organizational structures, reward systems, and the values that lead to actions (Hofstede,

1981).

Corporate Culture

Corporate culture was originally defined by Albert & Wheten in 1985 as

organizational identity and has also been termed organizational culture by Crintea et al.

(2012). It is often the background for something being considered “the way things are

done around here” (Mello, 2010). Early research around corporate culture included a

study by Hofstede, who gathered data from IBM and “classified organizational culture

into the four dimensions of power distance, individualism, avoidance of uncertainty, and

masculinity (Shahzad, Luqman, Khan, & Shabbir, 2012)”, and then later added three

dimensions of “affective and intellectual, self enhancement versus self-transcendence,

and life versus work (Shahzad, Luqman, Khan, & Shabbir, 2012).”

Establishment of the dimensions lead researchers to develop the idea of national

culture through individual or collective dimensions and amount of uncertainty avoidance

within a company (Weber, Tarba, and Reichel (2011). According to Adler and Jelinek

(1986) American culture is one of strong individualistic culture, and as such most of the

historic research on the topic in the United States focused on corporate culture as aspects

of process and revenue rather than the national, geographic, or other aspects that would

drive values or beliefs. Since this study looked at the culture differences within an

American organization, the aspects of corporate culture versus nationality was taken into

consideration during the interview process.

Although many of the early corporate culture studies were performed by

Hofstede, Kotter and Heskett (1992) performed a study which supported Hofstede’s

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claims that corporate culture has a direct effect on revenue. The quantitative study of over

200 organizations showed revenue growth of 682% with companies who purposefully

managed their corporate culture, over 166% with companies who did not. Duobienė

(2008), Deal and Kennedy (1996), and Peters and Waterman (1982) also researched the

importance of corporate culture with studies of high-performance cultures resulting in a

significant growth in revenue, employment, stock price and income growth.

Quantification of corporate culture. Although the linkage of corporate culture

to revenue is seen through prior literature, the views of authors have varied significantly

on how to quantify the corporate culture within an organization. Wallach (1983) stated

that there are three types of culture: bureaucratic, innovative and supportive. According

to Deal and Kennedy (1996), corporate culture can be quantified by evaluating the risk an

organization takes and the possible benefit or payout received. The four quadrant

measurement tool allows an organization to be identified by the combination of either

high or low risk taking, such as the difference between very process oriented

organizations, or organizations willing to take much more risk, and conversely measured

by the speed of which feedback to a new product line is measured, such as expecting

slow changes over long program durations or rapid go-to-market innovative

organizations.

The complex nature of the corporate culture along with the organizational

strategies will not allow for growth over time when using the simplistic method of the

Kennedy and Deal model, and will only result in a single time snapshot (Hynes, 2009).

The internal and external environmental changes, including multiple subcultures evolve

simultaneously over time, and as each sub-culture changes it drives change that may

24

conflict with the other sub-cultures. This study asked open ended questions to allow for

the full qualitative responses of the individuals in describing the culture of their site

within the larger organization, and how they feel the culture has changed since the

merger to address the issue of growth over time.

After Deal and Kennedy created the four quadrant measurements, other

researchers created new models for interpreting aspects of corporate culture related to the

employee or group norms. Because the level of detail was not necessary to evaluate the

research questions, these additional models were not used directly for the case study

methodology. Lee, Allen, Meyer, and Rhee (2001) developed an organizational

commitment model with the three aspects of employee commitment that included

affective attachment, perceived continuance commitment, and obligation or normative

commitment. Duobienė (2008) took Russell’s eight cultural dimensions created in 1998

that included the value for innovation, creativity norms, external searching norms,

support norms for entrepreneurial ventures, informative norms between groups, risk

tolerance norms to promote tolerance to failure, consideration norms to enable open-

mindedness, and implementation norms for operationally implementing development,

and revised them to four which included support subsystems of organizational structure,

work environment, rewards, and successful teamwork support the creation of a successful

entrepreneurial organizational culture.

Organizational identity and corporate reputation. Moving from a corporate

culture to how the people behave drives the overall organizational identity (Anteby and

Molnár (2012). Although most of the current literature refers to corporate culture, the

idea of having a real organizational identity is captured within some of the literature.

25

According to Anteby and Molnár (2012), many studies focused on how organizational

identities relate during the initial formation of a merger. Dowling and Moran (2012)

discussed corporate reputation as the exhibited behaviors within the culture, and

discussed how a strong reputation must be strategy-based fitting internal pressures of the

normative logic, objectives, economic logic and supporting arrangements, and

additionally supporting the external fit within the environment.

Merger and Acquisitions

Companies were buying or merging with one another since the inception of

businesses, but the United States went through significant waves of high M&A volumes

in the 1960s and 1980s, which are still impacting businesses today (Marks & Mirvis,

2012). Several studies were focused on large corporate shifts within banking,

telecommunications, aerospace, and other industries (Appelbaum et al., 2009). Literature

primarily focused on the organization and basic leadership, and Homburg and Bucerius

(2006) referenced historical studies by P. H. Mirvis, Ayas, and Roth (2001), and

Tetenbaum (1999) estimated 60-80% of mergers fail. According to Weber et al. (2011),

the primary reasons for merger and acquisition failure and success rates are not clearly

understood, and there was a clear conflict of research opinions resulting in research or

models that are not applicable across organizations. As literature moved from evaluating

mergers and acquisition failures on financial and strategic factors to focusing on how

cultural differences played a part in the failure or the success of the mergers, Stahl and

Voigt (2008) evaluated Hofstede’s 1980 principles of cultural distance hypothesis to

empirical research related to mergers and acquisitions.

26

Merger life-cycle. Germinal literature defined five sequential stages in the

merger life-cycle starting with the announcement of the merger in pre-merger planning,

acquisition identification, valuating and exercising due diligence, planning the integration

and finally integrating the organizations (Cusatis & Blumberg, 2009). Historic studies

focused on the pre-merger through planning integration stages (Miller, 2000).

Failed mergers. Although companies may appear similar, the differences in the

corporate culture can make them hard to integrate during a merger and acquisition, which

accounts for 85% of failed acquisitions (Miller, 2000). Cusatis and Blumberg (2009)

expanded on that historic research in mergers and acquisitions and stated three reasons

for failed mergers are: acquisition activities affecting performance; acquiring firms

under-perform the market after a merger; and the two companies have different

management and cultural styles. Nokia’s failed growth strategy in the late 1990s was due

primarily to the period after the acquisition where the company experienced a

“management vacuum” (Appelbaum et al., 2009).

The historic perspectives that show a high failure rate of mergers and acquisitions

continues in the 2000s. A more recent study showed only 9% of 200 M&As in the years

2004-2007 achieved the objectives as stated (Weber et al., 2012). Schroeder (2012)

performed a case study of one organization in the financial sector, and applied an art-and-

science based approach to help mitigate the risk of cultural incompatibilities in an

upcoming merger. They stated that plans and performance metrics around integration and

understanding corporate culture conflicts are a significant cause for these failures in a

post-merger environment, but defined post-merger as the period of integration twenty

years after the M&A activities were complete. This study has provided insights in a post-

27

merger setting that could be used to evaluate organizations during the entire merger and

acquisition cycle and increase the overall likelihood for success.

Examples of successful mergers. At the time that merger failures were identified

by Miller (2000), research began to identify what made mergers successful, and several

studies indicated culture significantly affects the outcome of mergers and acquisitions

(Mahrokian, 2010). In addition to a strong corporate culture, successful mergers need to

include a plan to help reduce negative customer reactions related to the uncertainty in the

merger process (Homburg & Bucerius, 2006). According to Appelbaum et al. (2009),

Cisco Systems performed over 70 acquisitions from 1993-2000, and this successful

example was made possible through fast integration teams, establishing a buddy system

to try to merge cultures, and constant communication to the employees.

Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) and Technology

Technology is a predominate factor that drives the corporate culture in an

organization (P. Mirvis, Sales, A., Hackett, E., 1991). During early studies of knowledge

management and information technology management practices, organizations started

building repositories and promoting sharing IT teams since the late 1990s (Sue Young,

Heeseok, & Youngjin, 2010). Knowledge sharing is different than just relaying

knowledge through a tool, but the ability to apply the shared knowledge is a different

management practice (Sue Young et al., 2010).

Historic research on technology has shown a link to the corporate culture within

an organization. P. Mirvis, Sales, A., Hackett, E. (1991) study discussed how company

values can, and are being, designed directly in computer technology, and advises that

companies look at “socio-technical” approaches to technical solutions. Information

28

technology integration went from radical intervention, enabling large organizational

operational ships, to streamlined incremental process-based innovation (Watad, 2010).

Managers tend to be conservative in efforts to innovate with technology and to fully

integrate systems because they seek very little change (Watad, 2010). According to P.

Mirvis, Sales, A., Hackett, E. (1991), the factors of successful technology integration

include having a technical strategy and plan, ability to implement the plan, the

experiences and attitudes of the users, and the organizational culture.

Skilled Resource Utilization

The way an organization utilizes the skilled employees within an organization

impacts the success of the corporate goals and objectives (Kahn, 2012). Over the course

of time, there were several models around different functional or organizational

alignments, how to leverage virtual or co-located teams, and addressing ways resources

share and retain knowledge through critical knowledge management efforts (Kahn,

2012). This study was designed to evaluate the skilled resource utilization across multiple

sites in a post-merger organization, and touches on the topics of virtual team or

knowledge management components as a part of the utilization efforts made by a specific

team or site.

Virtual teams. The value of a virtual team is not just the ability to accomplish

tasks with resources working remotely, but to leverage the right skills and talents

available across multiple locations (Ananth et al., 2011; Florea, 2010). As companies rely

on multiple locations, global companies must transition to virtual teams (Florea, 2010).

The literature review indicates multiple researcher findings that virtual teams must

change the management theories currently in place, including those that involve how

29

teams communicate (Saonee et al., 2011), train and develop the business model (Florea,

2010), develop start-up procedures (Berry, 2011), and deal with conflict resolution

(Ananth et al., 2011).

Historic research focused on how virtual offices affect work and life balance and

other challenges in the work environments (Hill, Miller, Weiner, & Colihan, 1998), and

how teams develop power relationships in virtual communities (Nguyen, Torlina,

Peszynski, & Corbitt, 2006). This germinal research by Hill et al. (1998) classified

specific variables of mobility, gender, if the workers had preschool children, a home

office with a door, level of productivity, morale, teamwork, flexibility, work/life balance

and hours worked each week. They selected primary independent variables of virtual

office or traditional office workers from IBM for the analysis. The study showed the

importance of having the correct tools for the virtual workers, no matter the location from

which they are performing the work.

The historic literature review identifies significant growth and need for virtual

teams in the global environment. As of research performed in 2000, virtual teams were

growing in popularity and with the internet have increased rapidly, and most companies

now use some form of virtual teams (Ebrahim et al., 2009). The numbers of companies

which use virtual teams staffed with the best talent regardless of the location are growing

(Ananth et al., 2011). The major advantage to virtual team organizations includes the

ability for an organization to access the most qualified skills and resources for a job from

any geographic site (Ebrahim et al., 2009). Although the virtual team has grown in

prominence, it is still not widely practiced in many locations. This study has explored

30

how those staffing decisions are handled within the multiple corporate cultures existing

after previous mergers and acquisitions.

Knowledge management. The idea of corporate knowledge management is

based on basic leadership and organizational theories. According to Bateman (2007),

knowledge management is a critical management theory with the primary objective of

ensuring inter-organizational collaboration. Knowledge management is a process

including the creation of knowledge, data collection, archival, retrieval, transfer, and use

(Ananth et al., 2011). The purpose of KM is leveraging the value of the information that

individual employees already have which results in knowledge (Watad, 2010). Since this

is a relatively new concept, the historic studies on knowledge management were limited,

and additional information is included within the current findings.

Current Findings

Similar to the historical review, the current articles reviewed started with the

primary areas of corporate culture, mergers and acquisitions, human resource information

systems and technologies, and skilled resource utilization including virtual teams and

knowledge management. Current research has moved from the majority of articles in the

historic review pointing at one topic area, to the majority of articles in current literature

pointing at an average of two topics where researchers are trying to find out or show

relationships between these key aspects affecting leadership and management principles.

Leadership Theories

This case study revolves around a post-merger organization that affect

organizational and managerial processes around staffing including the use of virtual

workers, and the organizational alignments between sites with functional leadership. To

31

fully understand the foundation for this dissertation, it is necessary to understand some

current leadership methodologies, such as the broker relationship and self-leadership.

Appropriate leadership principles must be used to affect change on corporate culture

(Wren, 1995). This study has provided data to evaluate the corporate culture differences

in a post-merger environment and discusses the relevant leadership principles that may

help align those differences. Since Burns (1978) originally described the transactional

and transformational models, several authors have proposed changes to the

transformational model including the additional classifications of leaders into multiple

roles of mediator, kinsman, broker, and patron (Fleming & Waguespack, 2007; Milne,

1978). Bateman (2007) describes the broker relationship as the ability to move from a

traditional command and control role to one of facilitator. The nature of that role is to

simply help broker the work and leadership of the team. According to Bateman (2007),

the ability to move to a broker relationship within a team requires the dynamics that an

effective virtual organization would embrace, including the ability to design the effective

team, process design key processes within the organization, and nurture the team.

Strong organizational cultures align with key management theories such as

transformational leadership (Wren, 1995) and the enhancement of that theory with self-

leadership by Clawson (2006). Self-leadership is not about leading or coaching others,

but about an individual gaining the skills necessary to motivate and influence themselves.

As a leader striving to engrain self-leadership in others, recognizing the level of an

individual’s emotional intelligence is important, and work with them to strengthen those

skills until they can make strong decisions and transition from a follower to a self-leader

(Clawson, 2006; Furtner, Rauthmann, & Sachse, 2010). This form of employee

32

engagement is not designed to turn everyone into a manager or lead, as some individuals

may not be comfortable taking a lead role. Self-leadership is achieved through increasing

an individual’s emotional intelligence until they are comfortable knowing where the roles

and responsibilities reside, and giving individuals an appropriate level of autonomy in the

decision making process to increase employee engagement.

Corporate Culture

Current research on corporate culture has focused on how the culture impacts the

organization through performance, process, daily norms, and retention factors. Although

historic literature in this area tried to identify common characteristics of a successful

corporate culture, literature in the last decade has evaluated how those dimensions

persevere through time in the organization, and how global corporate culture differs from

organizations without the global presence. According to the research, specific

characteristics of successful corporate culture areas have created new dimensions of

corporate entrepreneurship, leader-directed engagement and collaboration, openness

within the culture that supports personal responsibility, and high-performance cultures.

The literature also describes the necessity to continue training managers on

effective coaching techniques to build a culture of innovation (McComb, 2012). It is

necessary to consider that managers may not embrace training to increase their coaching

skills, because they have either had negative experience, they are too busy with other

tasks, or they may have an individual reason for not coaching someone (McComb, 2012).

According to McComb (2012), the way to resolve the reluctance of managers to embrace

coaching is by ensuring that competence and motivational elements are evaluated in the

design of the training.

33

Current literature is narrowing the focus of corporate culture to help identify how

it impacts organizational performance, process and procedures, innovation, and retention

in an organization. Shahzad et al. (2012) literature review pointed out that although

previous research in areas of culture impacting performance were conflicting, over 60

studies between 1990 and 2007 mostly show the positive connection between culture and

improvement of performance. Organizational culture has a direct impact on employees,

the company process, and organizational performance (Shahzad et al., 2012). According

to Mello (2010), corporate culture has a large influence on daily processes and

procedures within an organization, and is often difficult to change when facing historic

values or norms.

Chich-Jen and Wang (2010) focused a study on the relationship between core

competence of the organization, innovation by management, and the corporate cultures

that stressed training is necessary to reform traditional staff to guide employees and

promotes retention. There is an identified relationship between corporate culture and

retention factors such as pay, job features, and employee development and training

(Rashid & Raja, 2011). Corporate culture studies show an impact on external support

staff and their ability to perform work within high or low corporate culture styles (Brady,

2011), how they are related to successful strategic orientations (Ahmadi, Salamzadeh,

Daraei, & Akbari, 2012; Han, 2012), performance (Kotrba et al., 2012), and

organizational commitment (Sawalha, Zaitouni, & ElSharif, 2012), but were not

evaluated in a post-merger setting. According to Dauber (2012) based on an extensive

literature review of 58 papers on the topics of M&A research related to culture,

34

integration, and performance, there is disagreement among researchers on how culture

affects post-merger phases, and identifies the need for additional research in this area.

Cultural dimensions and characteristics are a common theme within the current

literature. The goal of the Mahrokian (2010) literature research was to understand which

characteristics identified successful companies with strong corporate culture. Anteby and

Molnár (2012) conducted an archival analysis to evaluate how specific identity

dimensions endured over a half century. Krasulja and Radojevic (2011) examined the

norms, culture, and beliefs in a society, and related those to the motivational approach

that leaders face in a global environment. Specific characteristics in the current literature

that relate to successful corporate cultures include driving cultures to corporate

entrepreneurship, collaboration through leader-directed engagement, an open culture

identified by individual responsibility, and a high-performance culture.

The idea of a corporation becoming entrepreneurial surfaced in recent literature as

a modification of a corporate culture where the organization is one of innovation and risk

taking. Through new business creation, including breaking and changing established rules

within an organization, an active organization can remain flexible and adaptable to drive

corporate entrepreneurship and allow for a competitive advantage (Duobienė, 2008).

Duobienė (2008) study looked at how to sustain corporate entrepreneurship over the life

of a large organization and how organizational culture impacts the success of the effort.

The focus on leadership in relationship to the culture of the organization also

drives new changes in current literature studies, with the concept of leader-directed

engagement and collaboration in the team. According to Sanchez (2012), with the

advances of technology and the need for both inter- and intra-organizational

35

collaboration, the author points out how longevity promotes collaboration through values

being followed every day, a sense of family, leaders promoting collaboration, and

autonomy. Silo mentalities and rivalry among departments or locations are not likely to

experience recognition of the company interests, trust or commitments necessary to be

successful and highly collaborative (Mello, 2010).

According to current literature studies, in addition to increased leadership and

collaboration, a strong corporate culture must create an atmosphere of personal

responsibility and openness. Jaruzelski (2012) stated that organizations with innovation

and strong trust in a culture, like Google Inc. and P&G combine openness and respect

into the goal of the organization. An effective corporate culture embraces openness and

the ability to trust that employees are secure, that they would not be punished for bringing

out issues or concerns, and high value of individual responsibilities provides the right

foundation (Mello, 2010). According to the study by Krasulja and Radojevic (2011),

countries with high obligation norms, those that represent the individual responsibilities

within a corporate culture, prefer traditional work ethics, where other junior employees in

countries such as the United States are motivated by money in comparison to the

traditional motivators of security and interpersonal relations. The shortage of

accountability of employees in one of the companies after a merger can hamper or

impede post-merger integration (Crintea et al., 2012).

Another aspect of a successful corporate culture, and an additional trend in the

studies on culture, include evaluating high and low performance which ties back to the

leadership and motivation aspects. According to Mahrokian (2010) Berry defined the

primary driver of high-performance cultures to be value-driven leadership that stems

36

eight other drivers: strategy, innovation, power, loyalty, employee success, brand

development, acting like a small organization, and social responsibility. A culture that

attracts, motivates, and works to retain individuals will have a competitive advantage in

quality and cost-efficiency, and Rashid and Raja (2011) cited studies that show the

relationship between the employees in companies with a strong corporate culture and

high employee commitment levels relate directly to the performance of the organization.

One area has surfaced in the literature that focuses on post-merger organizations

where the corporate identity or culture conflicts between the two organizations and an

identity contradiction occurs. According to Sanchez (2012), maintaining an

organizational identity must include handling identity contradictions that occur from

different sites after a merger of different cultures. Sanchez (2012) states that leaders must

first focus on the past as well as the future to help craft a rhetorical history with the

collective memories and sustain identity. Strategies to help with an identity or cultural

mismatch for a longer term post-merger includes being able to identify and accurately

monitor the procedures that are performed differently across the organization in the life

of the organization, rather than just once after the merger process is complete (Crintea et

al., 2012).

Mergers and Acquisitions

Current literature on mergers and acquisitions is focused primarily on the post-

merger process that often results in a “culture clash” between two organizations where

the clash is strongest in the higher levels of integration, and approaches wer presented to

deal with the tradeoff (Marks & Mirvis, 2012; Weber et al., 2011). Current research and

proposed frameworks for dealing with this culture clash include an approach where the

37

acquirer chooses the right level of integration, but the results of those decisions on how

the corporate culture changes is not discussed (Weber et al., 2012; Weber et al., 2011).

Integrating corporate culture in a merger and acquisition is not easy, and requires a

company to understand the values of both organizations must be assessed, understood,

and communicated, and that managers act in alignment with the corporate culture the

combined organization wants to retain or create (Bouchikhi & Kimberly, 2012; Miller,

2000).

Crintea et al. (2012) concentrated on the effect and consequences of post-merger

integration and corporate culture, and how that process plays a key role in a successful

merger leading to competitive advantages. A strong post-merger corporate culture will

allow for a climate of harmony, provide a basis for the ability to motivation for the goals,

and translation to objectives that can be controlled and evaluated (Crintea et al., 2012). In

order to align corporate cultures post-merger, leaders must evaluate management

subsystems, the way management tools are used, and the process for managing global

resources in an organization (Crintea et al., 2012; Foster, 2012). Homburg and Bucerius

(2006) performed an extensive literature review and then performed a quantitative study

based on the survey methodology. The study evaluated the market and market positions

as external relatedness, and internal relatedness was based on the two firm’s relatedness

with respect to strategic orientation, management style, and performance. The authors

believe there is a large disagreement between other researchers on the speed of

integration and how that impacts the integration of functions within mergers and

acquisitions in manufacturing firms.

38

Cusatis and Blumberg (2009) evaluated hundreds of studies in a detailed literature

review, and noted that most of them tried to identify critical success factors to predict

post-merger performance. They used historic data over a 12 month period in a

quantitative study and looked at average market adjusted returns, and merger frequencies

to come up the sample of NASDAQ or ASE firms from 1974-2005 that fit the required

profile. They stated that the historical limitations of the previous studies were based on

trying to control a dependent variable in quantitative models, without adequate ability to

control real world variables as constant or randomized. The author’s isolated performance

attributable to the merger process from performance attributed to other factors to archived

consistent procedures, and to help overcome the limitations they selected a performance

period just prior and following the effective date of the merger. They did not assess years

after the merger, but stated that future studies should focus on organizations with longer

post-merger states.

Agrawal et al. (2011) performed a case study based on 197 merger and

acquisitions between 2000 and 2009 where the deal exceeded 50% of the value of the

acquirer. The study focused on how post-merger assessment and establishment of best

practices achieve higher integration levels resulting in 75% more successful mergers and

acquisitions. Many studies in the area of mergers and acquisition integration has focused

on the merged culture working itself out with the best of both corporate cultures, but

Agrawal et al. (2011) determined it is necessary to integrate using a post-merger process

including finding the delta between cultures, training what culture is and why it needs to

change, and aggressively managing the integration.

39

Applebaum et al. (2009) analyzed 10 case studies and looked at the contrasts with

the cultural fits, potential, communication, direction, leadership and both the successes

and failures for the merger and acquisition. According to Appelbaum et al. (2009), it is

not just the ability to have a strong cultural potential, but trust, innovation, dependence,

and integrative potential were a driver for success or failure in a merger or acquisition.

The cross-case analysis method was chosen to help determine the variables that

influenced failure or achievement of an M&A. The election of using the case-study

method was based upon the inability to control the environments within an M&A, and the

authors cited the difficulty with performing a study of an M&A because confidentiality is

of the utmost importance with these types of transactions.

Bhaskar (2012) described the role of HR and the importance to prepare for

integration of M&A to include structures, rules, policies, pay and employee designations,

but does not address culture. Weber et al. (2012) then enhanced that evaluation of the

need to address culture, and performed a quantitative study with samples of 70-136

companies in each of five countries. The study looked at those M&As that occurred in the

last three years and used the independent variables of communication, autonomy and

training methods related the dependent variables of performance. Because the study was

quantitative using regression analysis techniques in a predominately qualitative research

environment of mergers and acquisitions, it has become the basis of many articles and

other research. The results led the authors to believe the failure to address the culture in

the early stages as the most significant cause for the failures. Weber et al. (2012) then

went on to describe how to look at all stages including immediately post-merger but fail

to discuss many years after the M&A. The literature clearly indicates a gap in studies

40

evaluating post-merger organizations and the intersection of corporate culture, staffing

processes, and systems integration that this study attempts to fill.

Information Technology, HRMS, and HRIS tools

Although technology and human resource systems are not new, the approach to

how systems are implemented and used was a paradigm shift in organizational leadership

research in the last decade. Iivari, Hirschheim, and Klein (2000) reviewed over 1,000

information system development methodologies, and as a result they proposed a

structured approach for integrating rather than the common “accidental features” that is

found with most of the other methods. According to Watad (2010), the benefits of

moving to IT enabled systems with outcome-based measurements over mission-based

organization is a paradigm shift allowing management culture to promote quality,

innovation and openness. This new approach is one that promotes new technologies

which focus on enhancing leadership effectiveness or addressing performance gaps

within the organization.

One way to send a message to employees and drive organizational change into the

character of the company culture is through introduction of new technology (P. Mirvis,

Sales, A., Hackett, E., 1991). According to Sue Young et al. (2010) recent studies have

found team performance is directly tied to the capacity to leverage the knowledge within

the team in a socio-cognitive structure called transactive memory systems (TMS). New

technologies will continue to be evaluated, and current literature is starting to look at the

link between the methods for implementing technologies and those that directly impact

performance areas within the organization. Technology is often not changed within a

company unless there is a perception of a performance gap, because leaders will often

41

discount signs that the gap exists, engage in finger-pointing and blame, and delay looking

into fixing the issue (P. Mirvis, Sales, A., Hackett, E., 1991).


Paul and Berry (2013) defined a success oriented organization with eight factors.

One of the factors stated the organization should align the functional and structural

organization needs to conform to the needs of the organization. If the organization is too

centralized, it often loses sight of the individual team (Ebrahim et al., 2009), and if it is

aligned to a specific geographic site, then the company may not have the ability to

leverage corporate strategies and utilize resources across a global organization effectively

(Watad, 2010).

Virtual teams and knowledge management. The concept or purpose of virtual

teams are not new, but current studies have developed new ideas impacting team

communication, conflict resolution, collaboration tools, learning principles and

leadership methodologies. More complex skills are necessary for effective virtual team

leadership than successful face-to-face teams (Ebrahim et al., 2009). Rather than

separating knowledge management in the literature, it has integrated in the current

research as aligned to virtual teams. Knowledge management, the process and

organizational learning are critical to innovation and creativity (Watad, 2010). Although

the ideas of virtual teams and knowledge management are two different principles, the

alignment in the research suggests that the largest issue within the concept of knowledge

management is capturing the knowledge in a global workforce, virtual, or co-located

team.

42

The environment of a virtual team, including absence of face-to-face

communication can lead to poor coordination and diluted team cohesion, which can result

in a higher level of conflict and reduced team performance (Ananth et al., 2011). Ananth

et al. (2011) performed a comparison study on how conflicts and consensus generation

occur during the knowledge capture process, and found that using specialized tools to

enhance the cognitive technique of conflict resolution leads to more effective teamwork.

The study methodologies used by Ananth et al. (2011) included examining real-world

experts within a virtual knowledge management setting to evaluate cognitive conflict.

The authors showed that managers must understand some cognitive conflict is required

for optimal solutions, but must be controlled to prevent paralyzing the knowledge

management process. Berry (2011) focused on how traditional team skills are inefficient

in a virtual team and is more complex than face-to-face teams and includes conflict and

miscommunication resolution, developing clearly defined roles and responsibilities

within the team, and effective communication among members.

Resolve communication gaps through increased trust. Berry (2011) developed a

case study centered on the issue of communication gaps in a virtual team environment,

and specifically how those gaps may hinder inclusion and diversity. The author stated

that virtual teams skip the storming stage defined by the management philosophy of

Tuckman in 1977, and have more of a task based focus instead of personality based. The

nature of virtual work easily develops communication gaps from the shortage of face-to-

face communication. Berry concluded virtual teams must develop and use common start-

up procedures to eliminate those gaps.

43

The case study by Saonee et al. (2011) evaluated the structural approach and need

to compare individual productivity measures in a virtual environment related to the effect

of trust and communication. Although communication and trust are agendas for several

important management theories, virtual work has specific issues that must be considered.

Bateman (2007) specifically described the importance of trust in a virtual environment

and listed trust within the collaborators as one of the four most important aspects of the

virtual organization. The authors took the networked individualism philosophy from

Mehra as the structural approach of this study. They concluded that individuals who

communicate more frequently are often viewed most positively. Communication and

trust are linked based on frequency to directly contribute to performance of an individual,

and in a virtual team environment individualized trust is necessary (Saonee et al., 2011).

Cultural diversity, inclusion, and human resources. Hsin Hsin et al. (2011)

focused a study on the effects of cultural diversity, quality and trust on a virtual team’s

performance. Cultural diversity within a virtual team, in addition to the deficiency of

face-to-face communication can lead to reduced cohesion, obstacles around

communication, and conflicts within the knowledge management process (Ananth et al.,

2011). Ebrahim et al. (2009) developed a comprehensive literature review on the topics

of virtual teams that confirmed the gap in literature related to how using geographically

remote individuals impacts corporate culture or the human resource systems.

The case study by Florea (2010) is based on Rosenberg’s theory on knowledge

management that stated virtual learning is necessary in human resources development.

According to Florea (2010), virtual learning must focus on developing a learning culture,

creating true leadership champions, and developing a strong business model that will help

44

maintain change. The authors concluded that an organization needs to change the strategy

of traditional learning to deal with the difficulties of virtual learning environments.

Human resources development must include enhancement of skills, abilities and

knowledge that needs to encompass virtual work (Florea, 2010).

Leadership changes. Failing to effectively manage virtual team conflict leaves

unsatisfied team members, reduced organizational commitment, and poor teamwork

(Ananth et al., 2011). Porter, Donthu, MacElroy, and Wydra (2011) developed a three-

stage process to help leaders motivate cooperation, promote participation, and focus on

customer needs. Processes for securing, maintaining, and sharing knowledge may

unknowingly differ in virtual teams (Ananth et al., 2011). The four dimensions of virtual

leadership effectiveness includes providing prompt effective communication,

understanding the individuals on the team, clearly defines roles and responsibilities, and

has an assertive but not too aggressive leadership attitude (Ebrahim et al., 2009).

A successful leadership paradigm change for virtual teams is the ability to

delegate managerial functions to the individuals on the team, and engaging through

broker leadership coaching roles (Ebrahim et al., 2009). Additional or modified usage of

technologies by virtual team leaders impacts team effectiveness (Ananth et al., 2011).

Ebrahim et al. (2009) stated that infrastructure development is a significant effort for

engineers, which creates a difficulty for the revised paradigm. Virtual team leaders

should adapt technology to reduce conflict and allow teams to stay effective (Ananth et

al., 2011).

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Gaps in the Research Literature

The literature review focused on the areas of culture and organizational theories,

corporate culture, mergers and acquisitions, human resource management systems and

technologies, virtual teams, and knowledge management, and leadership or management

topics. It is evident from this review that there has not been prior research that addresses

corporate cultures, how HRIS tools are used, and how an organization identifies with

virtual teams or knowledge management in a large post-merger organization.

Several areas of future research were defined by Sanchez (2012) for future

research needs collecting perspectives in past activities within the area of corporate

culture. According to Xiaoming and Junchen (2012), although there are studies related to

culture and performance, researchers need to include the additional variables of strategy,

leadership, and Human Resource Management (HRM) styles. This study evaluates the

behaviors tied to corporate culture, focused in the area of post-merger, leadership styles,

and HRIS integration.

Norris (2012) stated that more research was needed that linked people-related

issues to the organizational cultures in mergers and acquisitions. Historic literature

stopped with the planning integration stages and did not focus on the post-merger era.

Current literature focuses on the post-merger step but not in connection with corporate

culture differences residing within the organization many years later, which is the focus

of this research. There are gaps in current and historical literature around mergers and

acquisitions focusing on strategy, structure, and performance which may lead to

ineffective study results (Cusatis & Blumberg, 2009). This study explored the perceived

cultural legacies at different geographic sites in a post-merger organization and

46

investigates to what extent the leaders distinguish the HRIS efforts in system integration

use or the business processes around staffing, including the extent of virtual workers and

knowledge management, as site specific based on cultural legacy and leadership styles.

Although they were around for decades, virtual teams include many areas that

have not been researched including methods for enhancing the virtual team performance

(Ebrahim et al., 2009). According to Ebrahim et al. (2009), current literature is

ambiguous and increased studies should include evaluation of what factors or methods

impact the knowledge capture process in virtual teams. Research suggests that leaders

can leverage technology systems, including virtual collaboration tools, to motivate

customers in a way that allows for value to the firm (Porter et al., 2011). Ebrahim et al.

(2009) outlined several areas of additional research necessary for virtual team

development, including the necessity to focus on different size organizations and the

benefits or problems that arise in the corporation resulting from the creation of virtual

teams. This study explored the perceived cultural legacies at different geographic sites in

a post-merger organization and investigates how these corporate cultures and HRIS usage

intersect, which effects staffing processes, virtual workers, and knowledge management.

Chapter Summary

This literature review evaluated the history of corporate culture, mergers and

acquisitions, virtual teams and knowledge management. The history showed gaps in

literature within the perceived connections in these areas. Current literature studies

moved from studies in areas of culture, mergers, and virtual teams to leadership methods

which cross these research topics.

47

The current literature points out that changes in corporate cultures drive

significant impacts in organizational performance (Shahzad et al., 2012), employee

commitment and job retention (Chich-Jen & Wang, 2010; Mello, 2010; Rashid & Raja,

2011), and daily processes and procedures (Chich-Jen & Wang, 2010; Mello, 2010).

These significant issues have caused researchers to explore specific characteristics

common among successful organizations including corporate entrepreneurship

(Duobienė, 2008), collaboration and leader-directed engagement (Sanchez, 2012),

openness and personal responsibility (Krasulja & Radojevic, 2011), and high

performance cultures (Mahrokian, 2010).

As historic literature addressed the fact that up to 80% of mergers and

acquisitions failed (Homburg & Bucerius, 2006; P. H. Mirvis et al., 2001), it is clear that

the authors realized the significance of leadership in organizations. Through the years,

studies around mergers and acquisitions have moved from identifying ways to impact a

merger before it occurs, to studies on ways to look at post-merger organizations (Weber

et al., 2011). Agrawal et al. (2011) determined that the post-merger process should

include understanding the delta between the cultures, training both organizations of the

desired culture, and a way to aggressively manage the cultural integration.

Since virtual teams are relatively new in the topic of leadership methods, historic

literature was focused on educating leaders on the value of virtual teams in a future

global environment (Ebrahim et al., 2009), including areas such as developing work and

life balance, how teams develop power relationships and trust, and variables of mobility

(Hill et al., 1998). In current literature, the focus has changed to leadership aspects for

successful virtual teams including conflict resolution (Ananth et al., 2011; Berry, 2011),

48

fixing communication gaps through increased trust (Berry, 2011), cultural diversity and

inclusion (Hsin Hsin et al., 2011), human resource and education changes (Florea, 2010),

collaboration tools (Ananth et al., 2011), and new ways to lead through broker leadership

roles (Ebrahim et al., 2009).

The current literature identified that successful organizations must challenge

historic leadership paradigms. Although leadership changes are consistent through each

of the areas of corporate culture, mergers and acquisitions and virtual teams, there is a

gap in how leaders perceive these areas may be different in a post-merger organization.

This research explored those perceptions in relationship to current leadership models.

49

Chapter 3: Methodology




the use of HRIS tools and skilled resource utilization. This study explored the topics and

perceived links between corporate culture, staffing processes, and use of HRIS tools in a

post-merger organization. Specific data from multiple sites including time since the

merger, how long participants were with the organization and the size of the site were

triangulated with the interview results of those leaders.

Research Method and Design Appropriateness

This qualitative study investigated sites with a large global company that has

grown significantly because of previous mergers, and ask the participants to: (1) describe

the culture of their site within a larger organization after a merger or acquisition; (2)

perceive if organizational culture has changed within their site and within the larger

organization; (3) describe the use of human resource information systems of their site

within a larger organization; and (4) consider the business processes around staffing used

within their site and within the larger organization. Qualitative studies focus on non-

numeric data, such as views or beliefs (Simon, 2010). The primary focus of a qualitative

case study is to address the research question of how or why (Yin et al., 1982) and this

study focused on how these corporate culture and HRIS usage intersecting a case study

format.

Quantitative studies generally test theories, using objective tests, surveys and

predictive relationships, although qualitative studies focus on theory development,

50

observations, interviews with philosophical roots in subjective formats (Simon, 2010).

Since models exist to measure corporate culture, and staffing numbers could help provide

relationships, the closest quantitative method of experimentation that would help address

the issues was evaluated for this study, but the behaviors to be evaluated could not be

manipulated.

The case study adds direct observations and personal interviews of the people

included in the event, to the techniques used with a historical context used for this study

(Yin et al., 1982). Because the study is evaluating historic cultures evolving since the

mergers, the qualitative history method would be appropriate but would fail to integrate

the contemporary situation of the site specific cultures. Another closely aligned

qualitative method of phenomenology was considered to describe the structures of the

experience without recourse to the assumptions, deductions or theory of the discipline

based in the past (Simon, 2010). This was not selected for this study because it evaluates

the phenomenon across time focused on present perspectives, which aligns better with the

case study method. Since many organizations consist of previous mergers and

acquisitions (Schleifer & Vishny, 1991; Schroeder, 2012), this study creates a single

representative case related to the areas of corporate culture differences, staffing

processes, and virtual work in a post-merger organization.

Population

The XYZ Company has multiple locations; most of them emerging from various

mergers over the last thirty years. This Fortune 500 global organization employs over

100,000 individuals in many states and countries. The organization was selected for this

case study because of the number of sites involved in previous mergers, the large number

51

of previous hostile takeovers within those mergers, and the willingness and welcomed

support of the organization leadership.

Three key facilities from three different merged legacy organizations within a

large global organization were identified, based on the years since the merger or

acquisition. A number of employees, leaders, and human resource personnel at each site

were interviewed. Respondents from each site were asked questions based on the original

culture of the legacy organization, changes to the staffing processes and tools since the

merger, and current perception of the culture. The volunteering participants were asked a

series of open-ended questions that relate to the culture of their site, how they

demonstrate knowledge of the human resource management systems and staffing

processes, and their perceptions on the organizational culture since the merger (Appendix

D).

Sampling

According to Yin et al. (1982), a case study does not use sampling, but the

creation of the case study and its methods define the parameters of the study. The

participants selected were primarily those working in a functional management, assigned

management, or human resource role at XYZ Company. The identified sites were

submitted to the HR division, and potential participants who were on the payroll at the

time of the merger, and are still employed by the organization, created a basis of the

possible participant pool. Additional data about the employees was received from HR,

including the employee hire date, historic role at the time of the merger, current role, and

current work location. This list of potential participants was filtered to determine the

52

individuals requested to voluntarily participate. These volunteers were provided an

informed consent form which was maintained through the study (Appendix A).

The case study method does not require samples or use sampling units (Yin et al.,

1982), but this study is based on three previous mergers that occurred within the last 20

years at XYZ Company within five years of each other. The participants vary in age,

gender, and industry experience, yet perform work from a unique site within the

organization. Each one of these previous mergers had one or more primary sites at the

time the merger occurred, sites that are still part of the combined company.

The three primary geographic sites of previous mergers create the cases for

selection. Human Resources has pulled data based on human resource records about all

employees who were in a functional management, assigned management, or human

resource role within the company at the time of the merger, and crossed that data against

current human resource records. The results showed the individuals who were in a

leadership role at the time of the merger, and who are still at the same site in a current

leadership role. Those individuals were approached through an email introducing the

study along with the informed consent agreement (Appendix A).

The participants were limited to those who were with the company in a leadership

or HR role prior to the merger over 20 years ago, and who are still with the organization

and located at the primary site of the merger from many years ago. This case study talk to

four or more volunteering participants for each site, resulting in twenty volunteers, who

held a leadership or HR role at the time of the merger, and were still active in a

leadership or HR role at the time of the interviews.

53

Informed Consent

According to Yin et al. (1982), quality case study research is performed with full

informed consent of the participants. All of the participants that meet the potential sample

requirements were emailed with an introductory email letter which outlined the study and

purpose for participation and a request to participate and a written consent form

(Appendix A) for their review. Each potential participant was called to see if they were

interested in participating and if they expressed interest they were asked to print, sign,

scan, and return the consent form by email prior to the interview. They were reminded of

that signed consent at the time of the interview. The consent identified that there are not

any foreseeable risks to the participants. The form asks the participants to acknowledge

that they can decide not to be part of the study and withdraw at any time, and provides

information on how to decline that participation before, during or after the interview

process. It states that individual identities would be kept confidential, and that the

material would be kept in a secure and locked area for three years, and further detail is

provided in the confidentiality section below.

Confidentiality

To increase the likelihood of honesty in participant responses, confidentiality was

guaranteed to the participants. This guarantee of confidentiality was covered in the

consent form (Appendix A) that was signed prior to participation. All participant data is

confidential, and electronic files including scans of handwritten notes were maintained in

a secured form through electronic encryption on a USB drive, kept in a locked location

for a period of three years, and then destroyed by removing data from the encrypted

device and physical destruction of the device. Individual names were coded securely by

54

the researcher, and the code was maintained on a separate encrypted USB drive with file

password protection. To prevent someone from the company from recognizing an

individual’s response, the responses will not be shared with the XYZ Company. Any

individual responses used within the published findings are not personally identifiable.

Data Collection

One of the strengths of the case study method involves the iterative nature during

a data collection process (Creswell, 2008). If the researcher is open to continually looking

for alternative reasons for and evaluating emerging themes as they are being uncovered,

interviews and observations often lead to additional need for data (Creswell, 2008;

Simon, 2010). This case study started by gathering data through informal interviews with

volunteer participants previously identified as having worked at a specific location within

the previous merged legacy organization, and are still working for the company at that

same site. These interviews asked open ended questions to explore the perceived cultural

legacies at different geographic sites in a post-merger organization, and investigated how

these corporate cultures and HRIS usage intersect, and how these affect staffing

processes, virtual workers, and knowledge management.

In an open ended interview process, the individual tone and assumptions of both

the participant and the interviewee can lead to different qualitative responses and

interpretation (Creswell, 2008). It is necessary to help establish consistency in the

interview methods, questions asked, and the way the qualitative data is interpreted. Based

on this, an initial sample set of interview questions were developed to make sure the

applicants were reminded of the consent form, and guide the researcher to ask the same

set of questions to each participant (Appendix D). As stated in the Appendix sample, the

55

researcher had the right to determine to slightly modify the questions as part of the

iterative process offered by the case study method. The questions were not modified

during the interview, but additional probing questions were asked to help the researcher

view various aspects of the response.

In addition to the interviews, observations of human resource use at each site were

gathered at the time of the interviews, such as how the site employs virtual workers and

uses knowledge management systems. The recorded human resource data, along with the

interview data, was triangulated to help evaluate the perception of the culture after a

merger, and how post-merger culture differences may affect staffing business processes

and tool use. No additional historic data was required to address this triangulation.

Data Analysis

NVivo is a data analysis software designed for qualitative data, supporting seven

types of analysis (Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2011). A manifest analysis is an analysis of the

specific words stated or written, although a latency analysis looks at the meaning of the

words that were intended (Krippendorff, 2004). This study used the software assisted

manifest and latency analysis features within NVivo to create the ability to identify

patterns of category development and construct aggregation. NVivo does not perform the

analysis, but supports the ability to collect emergent themes from both the specific

written words in the manifest analysis, and intended words in the latency analysis. Once

those themes were identified, they were evaluated across all of the responses in the case.

Through the use and blending of both manifest and latency analyses, a qualitative study

will have more richness of detail which would not be available with just one method

(Gray & Densten, 1998).

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Reliability and Validity

According to Simon (2010), the researcher must address reliability and validity

through different processes including data triangulation using several sources as well as

effectively analyzing the events and offering unique possibilities for the responses.

According to Yin et al. (1982), the instrument in a case study is the researcher. The

development of the protocol selected and the way data is maintained will create the

measurements of reliability.

Validation in a qualitative case study is completed through the process of asking

questions and proposing theories at each stage of the process (Denzin, 2002). Denzin

stated, “The complexities of validating qualitative research need not be because of an

inherent weakness of qualitative methods, but may on the contrary, rest upon their

extraordinary power to picture and to question the complexity of the social reality

investigated” (2002, pg. 313). According to Denzin (2002), each of the seven stages of

research involves validity, including the initial theory development, how the research is

designed, the process of interviewing, how data is translated and transcribed, how it is

verifiable, and the final reporting must accurately describe the findings.

This researcher has addressed validity in the previous stages of this research

process by a valid theoretical investigation based on development of specific research

questions, and through accurately designing the study by applying appropriate methods

and research of the topic proposed. This case evaluated multiple sites and the researcher

has prevented bias by maintaining consistency in the format of the interview process.

Validity is directly related to establishing credibility in a qualitative study, and was

accomplished through evaluating the similarities among the individual responses by use

57

of reflexivity, participant checking, interviewing, and examining peer theories (Koch,

2006; Thomas & Magilvy, 2011). Another way to establish credibility is by providing

detailed examples in a case study to gain the reader’s understanding and establish

legitimacy (Creswell, 2008). Qualitative questions such as those around corporate culture

may lend to different answers based on a person’s individual understanding and

experience which would impact the validity of data received during the interview. To

help with setting the same understanding, the definition of corporate culture used in this

study was related to the participants at the beginning of the interview process.

Accuracy in a case study can be questioned based on researcher bias (Yin et al.,

1982). Although the opportunity for bias may be increased in a case study where the

researcher is the instrument, similar bias may be introduced by other methods including

the construction of questionnaires used in surveys or the conduct of experiments (Yin et

al., 1982). Through the development of this study, the continued focus on accuracy

during the process required the continual questioning and assessment of how the case

study was being presented, and how it impacted the knowledge related to post-merger

organizations. Since the interviews were not recorded, the notes from the meeting were

read back to the participants so they had a chance to make sure the notes were captured

accurately and reflected the intent of the answer. This helped to provide accuracy and

eliminate researcher bias from the lack of a full transcription by an outside participant.

Dependability in a study is about one researcher being able to follow the steps of

another researcher and expect to achieve the same results (Miles & Huberman, 1994).

Qualitative studies depend upon the researcher to interpret the observations and two

researchers could possibly receive different answers from open ended questions from the

58

same individual. Because of the possibility for a case study to receive different results

from two different researchers, dependability with a case study can be established

through detailed documentation of the procedures, the use of an interview template, and

development of a case study database like NVivo (Merriam, 1988; Yin et al., 1982).

Chapter Summary of Methodology


geographic sites in a post-merger organization and investigated how these corporate

cultures and staffing processes intersect, which may influence the way HRIS tools, virtual

workers, and knowledge management are used. The population selected included a cross

section of leaders and human resource professionals from different locations and multiple

years of experience with the organization in both a pre and post-merger role. After each

participant agreed to volunteer for the study based on acceptance of the consent form

(Appendix A), interviews were performed using either face-to-face, unless this was not a

possibility in which case telephone interviews were used. The interviews followed the

same format for all participants based on the initial interview design (Appendix D);

however, these interviews were based on open ended questions which allow for richer

content and meanings from a qualitative study.

Through the process, observed data about the site, including what the organization

structure looked like, the number of years since the merger and integration of that site,

and information about the use of virtual work or other staffing trends, was used to

triangulate the findings. Methods of data collection, including the use of NVivo to

process manifest and latency analysis, provided richer analysis of data over just

evaluating them manually. Finally, validity of data is critical to a successful study, and

59

this study was structured carefully during the drafting process, and continued through

data collection, analysis, and final reporting.

Chapter Four introduces the case study process and sources of evidence, including

the limitations based on the interview methods, transcription and coding anonymity,

respondent pre-merged organization and site selection, and respondent demographics.

The chapter then includes the theme generation, and finally details the findings by legacy

and current timeframes in the three areas identified by the three purpose statement

sections of corporate culture, skilled resource utilization, and HRIS tools and processes.

60

Chapter 4: Results




the use of HRIS tools and skilled resource utilization. Qualitative case study

methodology was used to study leaders from three merged organizations. Through this

research, the researcher has sought to better understand the cultural differences that may

remain in a post-merger organization, and to identify the challenges around staffing tools

and processes as perceived by the leaders. The result was the development of a case study

process that will be useful in allowing other post-merger organizations to evaluate if

cultural differences between the legacy companies play a role in how those organizations

interpret staffing processes differently, resulting in differences of skilled resource

utilization across the organization.

Various respondents included employees, leaders, and HR professionals,

primarily within four distinct merger sites within a large Fortune 500 Company. The sites

were based on significant mergers to the organization taking place from 1980 to 2005.

This study provides a view of different organizational alignments, and identifies ways to

potentially evaluate various corporate legacy culture differences several years after a

merger and/or acquisition. The process used in this case study could be applied as a

research tool for other large organizations with multiple sites based on previous mergers

and acquisitions.

The interview questions were designed to help answer two primary research

questions: (R1) How the culture of a site within a larger organization intersect with the

61


management systems several years after a large merger and acquisition; and (R2) How

have changes of the organizational culture several years after a large merger and

acquisition intersected with the HRIS tool usage. A series of 20 interviews were

completed to obtain experiences and perceptions from current leaders who had a

leadership positions with one of three merged organizations being evaluated as cases.

Through the use of semi-structured interviews, leaders were asked to describe the

corporate culture of the organization they were a part of prior to the merger, their

perceptions of the culture at the present time, and to describe the usage of staffing tools

and skilled resource utilization at their site.

The interview questions emphasized the cultural aspects to help develop common

themes from the leaders that could be analyzed across the case study based on the site or

previous legacy company they belonged to. Although results may be biased, case study

research allows the researcher to activity participate in the interviews and be an

integrated part of the research (Creswell, 2008; Simon, 2010; Yin et al., 1982). Having

spent five years in a functional leadership role within XYZ Company, the researcher was

able to understand the corporate strategies, product alignment, staffing tools and

processes related to this case study. This understanding afforded the researcher the ability

to evaluate the stories told during the interviews, and compare and contrast them for

themed analysis.

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Sources of Evidence

Limits to Research Participants and Interview Method

The XYZ Company Vice President of Human Resources granted permission to

perform the study and asked his staff to pull data from the HRIS systems. A

comprehensive list of technical leaders, managers, and human resource individuals in

three primary geographic sites were provided. Site 1 was previously Company A, Site 2

was heritage Company B, and Site 3 individuals were part of the original Company C

organization. Although data was pulled from the HRIS system at the time of approval to

perform the study, they were not provided until beginning the study almost a year later.

Upon starting the study, the researcher began trying to contact eligible

participants, and it was noted that a significant number of the employees were no longer

with XYZ Company. When checking with Human Resources, it was determined that

many of those eligible participants had retired, and in addition one of the sites currently a

currently open request to allow self-selected layoff opportunities to retirement eligible

employees. This significant reduction in eligible participants within one year and the

estimated continued reduction caused the researcher to decide to contact the remaining

eligible participants and complete the study interviews in a slightly expedited manner. All

eligible participants still working for XYZ Company were emailed a letter of

introduction, and sent the Informed Consent document. Once eligible participants

responded and returned the electronically signed Informed Consent, the researcher

scheduled the interview. Since many of the respondents were in Executive level

positions, accommodating working schedules to facilitate in-person interviews would

63

have significantly delayed the ability to interview the participants in a timely manner. All

of the interviews were scheduled and held over the telephone.

Transcription and Coding Anonymity

There were 83 pages of transcriptions coded into NVivo. Since real company

names, site locations, project and customer names were used and transcribed during the

interview, the researcher later went through each transcription and changed details that

would allow someone to recognize the organization, the type of industry, a specific

location, or a specific respondent. Several comments that did not have significance in the

study could not be converted without losing the meaning. Those sentences were stricken

from the transcription, and noted by the researcher.

NVivo allowed the transcribed interview responses to be coded and attributed to a

specific respondent based on questions one through seven (Q1-Q7) into a respondent type

as attributes. After those questions were extracted into the attributes of the respondent

type, the questions were removed from the individual transcriptions to ensure personally

identifiable information could not be attributed to one specific respondent and enabled

anonymity.

It was determined by XYZ Company Human Resources that due to the size of

these large historic mergers, the combination of sites and specific merger dates could be

used to identify the organizations. That created a need to remove the actual date of the

merger, and a few specific organizational facts that might be pertinent to the case study to

which the researcher had access or knowledge, which another researcher trying to create

a similar study would not have. The researcher recognizes that could result in different

interpretation of data, but the ability to evaluate a large post-merger organization

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consisting of multiple large mergers over just a couple of years would create such site

and legacy organization specifics that each case study results would result in different

specific details. The themes brought forward were general enough to be found in any

large post-merger organization, and can be used as a guideline for creating a similar study

to help identify if there are cultural differences remaining in the legacy organizations, and

to help formulate the analysis and recommendations.

Respondent Pre-Merger Organization and Site Selection

When the respondents for Site 1 were contacted, an anomaly was found in the

information provided by Human Resources. The individuals defined in Site 1 were

actually a combination of Site 1 and Site 4 leaders. After a couple of individuals from

both Sites 1 and 4 agreed to participate, it was necessary to extend the selection process

to Site 4 to have a full panel of participants from that geographic area. As additional Site

4 participants were located and interviews held, the researcher discovered that two of the

Site 4 participants were actually XYZ Company heritage employees rather than Company

A employees. Both organizations had offices in the same regional area prior to the

merger, and the filter that the Human Resources organization used did not accurately

display that differentiation. Because this information was discovered during the

interviews, the two XYZ Company respondent interviews were completed and added to

the results.

The XYZ Company participant comments were interesting since both had the

experience of being from the organization with primary responsibility for the merger and

integration efforts of all three mergers. Their comments are included in the study results

as part of the Site 4 results, but their information is extracted as a subset for analysis.

65

Adding more XYZ Company leaders was considered, but there were no additional XYZ

Company legacy employees from Site 4 on the Human Resource list. In order to align the

study results to the method defined with the limits previously established, the researcher

chose not to extend the study to a fifth site of only XYZ leaders.

A total of 20 respondents agreed to be interviewed for the study. Due to the

multiple site issue with Company A, four sites instead of three were included as part of

this study. Site 1 had five participants, Site 2 contained six respondents, Site 3 had four

respondents, and Site 4 contained five respondents. Of the twenty respondents, the

organization breakdown was eight from Company A, six from Company B, four from

Company C, and two from XYZ Company (See Table 2).

Table 2:

Respondent Organization and Site Breakdown

Organization Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Total

Company A 5 0 0 3 8

Company B 0 6 0 0 6

Company C 0 0 4 0 4

XYZ Company 0 0 0 2 2

Total 5 6 4 5 20

Respondent Demographics

Although there were not equal representations of minorities, the respondents were

based on available participants who were with the legacy organization before and after

the merger, and who are still in a leadership position with XYZ Company. In addition to

the limited respondent list, the minority size in XYZ Company is fairly close to this

representation within the general employment population. Demographics of all

respondents were captured and analyzed against the coded themes and appear in Table 3

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(See Table 3). All sites had at least one female respondent, with Company C/Site 3 being

predominantly female. Through the analysis, there did not appear to be any significant

correlation between gender, sex, ethnicity, or age in relationship to a specific theme or set

of themes. The correlations the researcher made in the areas of corporate culture,

resource utilization, and staffing tools and processes appeared to be more generalized

within the respondent set pertaining to legacy company or legacy site location.

Table 3:

Respondent Demographics

Resp.

Num Sex

Age Group

Legacy Org

Site

Years with Org

Current Title

Total Titles Held

Titles Held Involving Staffing Ethnicity

1 M 50-60 A 4 28 Exec 7 2 Caucasian

2 M 50-60 B 2 23 Exec 2 2 Hispanic

3 F 50-60 C 3 33 Exec 15 9 Caucasian

4 F 50-60 A 4 30 Exec 10 5 Caucasian

5 F 40-50 A 1 24 Mgr 8 8 Caucasian

6 M 50-60 C 3 30 Mgr 9 5 Caucasian

7 M 50-60 B 2 30 Mgr 5 1 Black

8 F 50-60 A 1 29 Mgr 6 2 Caucasian

9 M 60-70 A 1 29 Exec 3 1 Caucasian

10 M 50-60 A 1 33 Mgr 8 2 Caucasian

11 F 50-60 C 3 29 Mgr 15 10 Caucasian

12 M 40-50 B 2 25 Exec 10 5 Caucasian

13 F 40-50 C 3 24 Lead 7 4 Caucasian

14 M 50-60 A 1 29 Mgr 4 1 Caucasian

15 M 60-70 XYZ 4 33 Mgr 4 2 Asian

16 M 50-60 B 2 34 Exec 6 3 Hispanic

17 M 40-50 B 2 27 Mgr 7 6 Caucasian

18 F 50-60 B 2 34 Exec 11 3 Caucasian

19 F 50-60 XYZ 4 21 Exec 5 5 Caucasian

20 M 60-70 A 4 17 Lead 6 1 Asian

Collection Procedures

At the beginning of the interview, the respondents were asked seven questions to

establish what company, role, and site they were located prior to the merger, what role

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and site they currently hold with XYZ Company, and specific demographics such as

gender and race. Prior to asking the open-ended interview questions it was necessary to

establish a consistent understanding of what corporate culture is based on recent literature

(Chich-Jen and Wang, 2010; Mahrokian, 2010; Mellow, 2010; Shahzad, Luqman, Khan,

Shabir, 2012).


different attributes imbedded in a group of beliefs, values, and behaviors that

differentiate one firm from another, how these behaviors become part of long-term

management actions, and how those behaviors are recognized and followed by all

employees.

After reading the corporate culture definition to the respondent, respondents were

instructed to consider their position with the legacy organization to which they belonged

prior to the merger for the next three questions. Question eight (Q8) asked about the

legacy culture specific to the site they were in at that time, question nine (Q9) focused on

the legacy culture of the overall organization to which they belonged, and question ten

(Q10) dealt with the culture during the transition period. During those three structured

questions additional probing questions were asked to assist the respondent in recalling

details or specific examples of how the site or organization would use systems or

processes related to staffing, and to help describe how skilled resources were utilized

during that timeframe. These probing questions created a comprehensive sense of the

respondent’s perceptions during the pre-merged site and organization related to corporate

culture and strategic direction, HRIS tool and staffing processes, and overall resource

utilization.

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Prior to asking the final four structured interview questions, the researcher stated

that the remaining questions would focus on the respondent’s current role within the

XYZ organization. Question 11 (Q11) was related the corporate culture at the current

site, (Q12) related to the perception of the corporate culture of the overall XYZ

organization, (Q13) focused on HRIS tools and their usage within the site and

organization, and (Q14) addressed the perceptions of the staffing processes and skilled

resource utilization of the site and organization. Again, additional probing questions were

used as necessary to help establish the respondent’s perceptions of the post-merger site

and organization.

Detailed Positive and Negative Theme Generation

The comments were all evaluated and as themes were noted, they were coded in

NVivo and grouped by the three areas of Corporate Culture and Strategy, HRIS Tools

and Processes, and Skilled Resource Utilization for both the pre-merger (Legacy) and

post-merger (Current) timeframes. Each comment was rated as a positive or negative

statement on the part of the respondent based on the language used, as well as the

language cues and perceived emotional state of the respondent. For example, the

respondent could have stated “The culture of the organization was highly structured,” and

if the context of the sentence and the language cues supported the researcher to feel that

the respondent perceived “highly structured” as “rigid” in a negative context, it was put

in a negative grouping, or conversely if it were perceived by the researcher to have a

positive view by the respondent it was put in the positive grouping.

Due to limitations on the language cues being captured over the telephone, some

slight misinterpretation of the positive or negative groupings could were made by the

69

researcher. The researcher typed at over 100 words per minute, and responses were typed

as stated and read back to the participants. Added perception of the meaning was used to

help both elaborate in areas not previously clarified by the respondent, and to gain

accurate positive and negative groupings which was added to the transcription in real-

time. This helped to eliminate researcher bias from entering the interpretation, and

prevented later transcription issues from occurring that may happen trying to transcribe

from audio taped interviews. While remaining researcher bias may still be present, given

all of information evaluated the slight variance would not significantly change perception

of the study findings through analysis.

Legacy Timeframe Study Findings

Corporate Culture and Strategy

Although XYZ Company acquired many other organizations during the same

period, the three legacy organizations evaluated during this case study were the three

largest acquisitions in the corporate history. Company A, Company B, and Company C

were all competitive organizations to XYZ Company, and the mergers were actually

acquisitions that resulted in all four organizations maintaining the XYZ Company

identity. All three mergers occurred within a six year period. XYZ Company was not

fully integrated with the first acquisition when XYZ Company leaders made decisions to

buy the next.

Each respondent was asked three questions related to their perceptions of culture

of the legacy site, legacy organization, and merger transition timeframes. Common

themes were coded in NVivo, and grouped into positive and negative comment categories

to allow for an overall impression of the respondent’s feeling of the legacy culture.

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Specific number of respondents to these key theme details were collected and evaluated

(See Table 4). The key positive and negative Corporate Culture and Strategy themes were

then documented with a sample representation (See Table 5).

Table 4:

Legacy Corporate Culture and Strategy Reference Details

Legacy Period Theme Details Co. A

Co. B

Co. C

XYZ Co. Total

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4 Total

Number of Respondents 8 6 4 2 20 5 6 4 5 20

1 : 1a CP - Culture changed in a positive manner during this timeframe 1 2 0 0 3 1 2 0 0 3 2 : 1a CP - Culture consistent from site to org as respondent felt needed 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 : 1a CP - Culture was or is driving to centralization as respondent felt needed 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 5 : 1a CP - Culture was or is site specific as respondent felt was needed 1 1 2 0 4 1 1 2 0 4 7 : 1a CP - Leadership was or is people oriented 2 5 1 0 8 2 5 1 0 8 8 : 1a CP - Organization tried to be fair during merger process 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 Corporate Culture and Strategy - Positive Total 4 9 4 1 18 4 9 4 1 18 12 : 1b CN - Cultural resentment of employees during this timeframe 4 4 1 3 12 1 4 1 6 12 14 : 1b CN - Culture seems exclusionary to minorities 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 16 : 1b CN - Culture seems to prevent innovation 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 17 : 1b CN - Culture seems to resent a perceived inequality in benefits based on merger decisions 1 1 1 0 3 0 1 1 1 3 18 : 1b CN - Culture was or is site specific but the respondent felt it was at the cost of the organizational culture 2 0 2 0 4 1 0 2 1 4

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Legacy Period Theme Details Co. A

Co. B

Co. C

XYZ Co. Total

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4 Total

Number of Respondents 8 6 4 2 20 5 6 4 5 20 19 : 1b CN - Funding issues seem to be causing cultural resentment 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 20 : 1b CN - Leadership aligned but did not flow down strategic direction 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 21 : 1b CN - Leadership did not communicate alignment or strategy 5 1 4 0 10 3 1 4 2 10 23 : 1b CN - Leadership was or is hierarchical and military like in principles 7 3 1 1 12 4 3 1 4 12 24 : 1b CN - Previous mergers were never integrated and that has had a remaining impact 4 4 3 1 12 0 4 3 5 12 26 : 1b CN - Strategy not clear or too many ineffective strategies rolled out 2 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 2 27 : 1b CN - Strategy of affordability or program allocations appear to be causing resentment between sites 4 1 0 0 5 1 1 0 3 5 Corporate Culture and Strategy - Negative Total 23 12 10 6 51 11 12 10 18 51 Corporate Culture and Strategy - Total 27 21 14 7 69 15 21 14 19 69

Table 5:

Legacy Corporate Culture and Strategy Themes and Representative Comments

Corporate Culture and

Strategy Themes Representative Comments

Culture changed in a

positive manner during

this timeframe

"The other thing was trust. Company C was more invested

with their people and wanting them to improve their skills

without having to go through tons of authorization to take

a class and encourage their people to improve themselves.

Company A and Company C if you weren’t considered

one of the stars, then for you to go somewhere and take a

class it was like pulling teeth. I didn’t want to put myself

through that."

Culture consistent from

site to org as respondent

felt needed

"I also went to the [other locations] and the culture was

consistent across different locations."

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Culture was or is driving

to centralization as

respondent felt needed

"We had a series of different teams with our assignments

to standardize our process and meetings with Company A

[other sites]."

Culture was or is site

specific as respondent felt

was needed

"[Aligning to the overall organization] would be kind of

hard. They weren’t in Site 3 with us. Even the information

we had on the financials was proprietary to people outside

of our site."

Leadership had a strategy

to combine cultures,

although actions weren't

taken to drive that

strategy

"Senior leadership was in alignment that we needed to

combine culture, but that didn’t all roll down to all of the

levels of the organization. It took some years for others to

make the switch."

Leadership was or is

people oriented

"The culture at Site 2 was very people oriented.

Management interacted with the people doing the work.

Sensed they were listening to people and people more

empowered to do their jobs and bring ideas. They were

rewarded and part of the solutions. In general, I felt I was

valued and the people around me were valued. Flexibility

was there and a good working environment. Hardly saw

anyone unhappy and were satisfied working there."

Organization tried to be

fair during merger

process

"We tried to choose, after the mergers, the people who had

the best level of expertise to lead each of the individual

IPT’s, but were trying to preserve a feeling of fairness, but

it presented a challenge with Company A."

Cultural resentment of

employees during this

timeframe

"In terms of moral and corporate level was probably

negative. Early through mid-90’s Company A had been

through austerity, then programs reduced and cut people

with huge layoffs, stripped out retiree healthcare as a

benefit. What the corporation had gone through left a

negative moral."

Culture seems

exclusionary to

minorities

"One of the things I noticed prior to the merger was there

were very few women executives, and although there was

a transition going on, I thought leadership were quite

strong dominating personalities in leadership."

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Culture seems to prevent

innovation

"Observation was more positive to XYZ Company, but

Company C was stodgy stick in the mud people. I

remember them very well. They were 'this is the box we

check, this is the way we walk, we never deviate, and it’s

how we do it.' So rigid in how they operated and wondered

how they could ever be innovative."

Culture seems to resent a

perceived inequality in

benefits based on merger

decisions

"There were the comments from people that they were

losing benefits. Company B had a good benefit package.

As soon as XYZ Company took over some benefits were

lost or reduced. I was a Company B Exec taking a job with

XYZ Company and had to take a lower position but kept

many of my benefits."


specific but the

respondent felt it was at

the cost of the

organizational culture

"We were in control of our destiny before and needed a

way to figure out how to stay in control and that created

some friction."

Funding issues seem to

be causing cultural

resentment

"Project Big was a good example. The culture differences

exist today and always will between customers which is

really how we are contracting and selling our products that

drive the difference."

Leadership aligned but

did not flow down

strategic direction

"Senior leadership was in alignment that we needed to

combine culture, but that didn’t all roll down to all of the

levels of the organization. It took some years for others to

make the switch."

Leadership did not

communicate alignment

or strategy

"Immediately after, I am not sure there was a culture

change. In fact that was part of the dynamic that impacted

the merger. There was one other merger not quite finished

and during the merger the teams were trying to keep their

culture and not get integrated into the XYZ Company

culture."


hierarchical and military

like in principles

"Military driven way of operating a company. Very

structured and high expectations, with 90% contract work

that and ebbed and flowed with the customer. My first act

as manager was having to lay off a bunch of people which

was no fun. Difficult environment."

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Previous mergers were

never integrated and has

had a remaining impact

"There were pencils with Company A printed on them and

people in Site 4 would scratch off half of the name and

people in Site 1 would scratch off the other side."

Strategy not clear or too

many ineffective

strategies rolled out

"Going to classes in leadership and trying to push it down

into organizations. The joke was that it was the flavor of

the month. Some new thing that the “powers” would come

up, PQMS, 5 keys to self-renewal, white product renewal,

whoever [Company A Owner 1] sat next was what would

flow down that month. View of the org overall was much

more jaded."

Strategy of affordability

or program allocations

appear to be causing

resentment between sites

"The only difference noticed was Site 1 we had Site 4 and

there was a bit of strife with that site and the Site 1 side.

Driven by affordability and contracts, and was based on

what the market would bare. You didn’t have the scrutiny

in the non-customer world, and that drove cultural

differences as well on the financial side."

Company A legacy culture findings (Sites 1 and 4). Of the eight respondents

with Company A, five of them described the leadership styles of the legacy organization

as militaristic and too rigid, with no distinction between the genders or roles within the

organization. Three of the respondents, all from Site 1, were happy with the legacy site

culture stating that it was a diverse, familiar, and engineering driven environment. When

talking about the cultural legacy of the overall Company A organization, even the three

positive respondents from Site 1 talked about the constant strife and competition between

Site 1 and Site 4. The differences in the cultural feeling appear to point to a previously

unblended merger before the XYZ Company merger.

One of the Company A respondents described the animosity between Site 1 and

Site 4 with a good example. Shortly after the two entities joined to create Company A,

pencils were given out in both sites with the newly combined name. When this

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respondent walked around the two offices, it was noticed that Site 1 had scratched off

Site 4’s name and employees in Site 4 had scratched off Site 1’s name. It wasn’t long

after that when XYZ Company came in to purchase Company A, and the dysfunction

between the employees at different sites were not resolved. According to the Company A

respondents, disharmony between the previously merged organizations appeared to feed

animosity with the new XYZ Company sites and employees.

Company B legacy culture findings (Site 2). Five of the six Company B

employees described their leadership as people-oriented, innovative, exciting, fun, and

respected the leadership methods displayed by those in charge. Only one respondent from

Company B felt that the corporate culture was not hospitable, calling it rigid and military

in nature. Employees with Company B seemed to love the familial culture that they had

within Site 2. They believed their program centric site was strategic and aligned to the

customer needs, and they felt empowered to do their jobs. The lack of strategic direction

when XYZ Company came in caused chaos at Company B and concern for their jobs.

One respondent stated that “It no longer felt like we had a home.” Although Company B

also consisted of previous mergers never integrated, the employees felt like they had

separate skills and were not in competition with each other.

Company C legacy culture findings (Site 3). All four of the Company C

respondents stated the legacy organizational styles were militaristic. One respondent felt

knowledgeable leadership in the organization used that knowledge as power to control

others. All respondents with Company C stated that they felt passed around during the

transition, and could not see the strategic direction of the XYZ Company before or after

the merger. Company C also consisted of a previous merger, and the respondents felt

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there was poor legacy integration as well, but the researcher did not get the sense that

there was open animosity between Site 3 and any other site within Company C.

Overall legacy culture findings. The transition to XYZ Company created a

strong feeling of site unfairness when XYZ Company employees retained medical retiree

benefits, and equivalent Managers in other companies did not get to keep the same

benefits. The researcher was unaware of this legacy concern among the different

organizations, and was surprised when a majority of all individuals from all three legacy

companies causally brought up their personal belief that this caused resentment and bias

between the organizations right from the start. The benefit differences appeared to create

a hostile environment where individuals felt they had to fight for power positions, or take

lower paying positions on the XYZ Company side in order to retain some of their

benefits.


The research problem was discovered as a result of the researcher’s knowledge

that the XYZ Company is trying to drive to one corporate culture through initiatives that

will align and utilize all of the skilled resources the same way throughout the company.

There is an “Employee First” initiative, as well as a “Single XYZ Company” goal from

the highest levels of the organization in an attempt to solve this corporate issue, and to

diffuse the apparent differences between the sites and legacy cultures of multiple

mergers. The organization has a history of laying off skilled resources in one location,

and simultaneously hiring the same skilled resources in another location. In some

divisions within the company, given the difference in product types and customer sets,

this staffing issue is expected. The portion of XYZ Company that was evaluated was

77

within a division of the company that has a larger footprint of skilled resources that can

be easily shared across multiple sites.

During the legacy questions around corporate culture, the researcher probed the

respondents with added questions such as “How did your site reach out to other sites

when you needed added resources”, or “What other methods did your site use to find

resources when you had staffing needs?” Some of the probing questions were around

how the site or program used functional skill teams, homerooms, or other staffing

measures to help with staffing issues. The same types of probing questions were used in

the questions about the legacy site corporate culture (Q8), legacy overall corporate

culture (Q9), and the transitional culture at the time of the merger (Q10). Similar to the

corporate culture topics found during these questions, general positive or negative themes

were coded in NVivo around skilled staffing resource utilization, and the specific number

of respondents to these key theme details were collected and evaluated (See Table 6). The

key positive and negative Skilled Resource Utilization themes were then noted with a

sample representation (See Table 7).

Table 6:

Legacy Skilled Resource Utilization Reference Details

Legacy Period Theme Details

Co. A

Co. B

Co. C

XYZ Co. Total

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4 Total


45 : 3a SP - Cultural differences based on skill alignment 0 1 3 0 4 0 1 3 0 4 47 : 3a SP - Functional Skill Teams Good 2 0 0 1 3 2 0 0 1 3 Skilled Resource Utilization - Positive Total 2 1 3 1 7 2 1 3 1 7 50 : 3b SN - Environment of other sites not centralized 3 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 1 3 51 : 3b SN - Functional alignment not effective 2 1 0 0 3 2 1 0 0 3

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Co. A

Co. B

Co. C

XYZ Co. Total

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4 Total

Number of Respondents 8 6 4 2 20 5 6 4 5 20 52 : 3b SN - Skill changes at site level removed employee job flexibility 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 53 : 3b SN - Was site specific but starting to branch out 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 Skilled Resource Utilization - Negative Total 6 1 0 0 7 5 1 0 1 7 Skilled Resource Utilization - Total 8 2 3 1 14 7 2 3 2 14

Table 7:

Legacy Skilled Resource Utilization Themes and Representative Comments

Skilled Resource

Utilization Themes Representative Comments

Cultural differences

based on skill

alignment

"The two main things that I remember that stood out for most of

us at the time was the staffing. The staffing seemed very

different. Had people classified as Sr. Engineers with no

engineering background, and not senior. They were not capable

of the work we wanted them to do. That was surprising because

we didn’t run into that with Company C. They had a different

ethic when dealing with the customer. We had to do contract

negotiations with Company C, Company A, and XYZ Company,

and didn’t come away with a sense that Company A was as

above board in their negotiations."

Functional Skill

Teams Good

"In my first exposure to what we call today the Single XYZ

approach, got some really great exposure to functional teams and

creates networks across the sites. Leaders of similar kind of

organizations. When you did have a skill you were looking for

and had some network to discuss based on candidates or growth

opportunities. It did open up that door."

Environment of

other sites not

centralized

"I traveled frequently with the [leadership] there and had a team

there and could see the difference. Site 4 was more of a rule

following team, but Site 3 would say “we might follow them.”

Site 3 was a bit different. "

79

Skilled Resource


Functional

alignment not

effective

"The first thing that happened was XYZ Company put together a

team of executives to go across the company and evaluate

strength and weaknesses and call them centers of excellence in

specific capabilities. We did a lot at this site, but we were kind

of self-contained. We were deemed center of excellence for

[specific skill], which we did some, but it wasn’t our real

strength. Our real strength was to [other skills for] large

projects."

Skill changes at site

level removed

employee job

flexibility

"When we merged we had 30+ different programs, and lots of

places you could go if the job you had dried up. When we

became part focused and not program focused then we didn’t

have the ability to move around inside the company as we did

before."

Was site specific

but starting to

branch out

"At the time there were x distinct sites of Company A sites or

divisions. The Divisions didn’t talk much to each other. Towards

those last years the organization had begun to realize that we had

these other divisions over here and we may be able to get benefit

of making contact with the other groups."

Company A legacy skilled resource utilization findings (Sites 1 and 4). The

fundamental skill teams diverged among different sites with subtle differences in staffing

processes and practices. Within Company A, both Sites 1 and 4 used very centralized

functional teams, where one functional manager might represent hundreds of skilled

employees across different locations. Three of the eight Company A respondents felt that

even though they were willing to reach out to other parts of the company, no one in

Company B would cooperate with them. This appeared to drive divisions within these

legacy sites, and increased feelings that the employee had less flexibility to move around

the organization to enhance their skills. The feelings of functional skills within Site 1

were split. Two of the respondents felt the functional skill teams were positive changes,

while two felt they were not effective. One thought the site was still only drawing staff

internal to the site, but that they were starting to reach out.

80

Company B legacy skilled resource utilization findings (Site 2). Company B

used the functional skill teams as a homeroom for all the skilled employees within Site 2,

which means their skill team did not cross multiple sites. Only two of the six respondents

had positive or negative comments around resource utilization in the legacy environment.

The respondents discussed the staffing process changes as a result of the technical skills

within the site, and for that reason they felt that if the functional team crossed sites it

would not be effective for the organization.

Company C legacy skilled resource utilization findings (Site 3). Three of the

four Company C respondents were very happy with the strategic changes in functional

skill teams and felt that XYZ Company did an effective job of early skill identification

and strategic alignment with programs to the skill needs. Those respondents felt Site 3

contained specialized skilled workers, and this led to the highest percentage of positive

comments in comparison to number of respondents. The respondents did not have either

positive or negative comments around the functional alignment.

Overall legacy skilled resource utilization findings. The respondent view of

functional skill teams depended upon how much control the site had in relationship to the

format of the functional skill teams. Site 1 adamantly disliked the functional alignment

that crossed site boundaries, and Site 3 respondents appeared to like the functional

alignment of site central functional teams. This seems to indicate that if functional

alignment is created within an organization, that it should be centralized only to the

extent that the site feels is effective for the type of skilled staff residing in the location.

None of the respondents discussed knowledge management or virtual work

between sites in the legacy organizations. These aspects of resource utilization were not

81

part of the culture of the heritage companies. The sites did not generally reach outside of

their programs or locations prior to the transition to XYZ Company.

HRIS Tools and Processes

Around the time of the mergers, XYZ Company had litigation that resulted in

changes to the staffing processes. Human Resource and Compliance teams determined it

was necessary to add steps to promote fair hiring practices rather than teams calling who

they know to do the work. These changes included structured interviewing processes, and

panel interviews where each applicant is asked the same questions and scored by three or

more individuals. Before the merger, each legacy organization had its own tools and

processes for staffing. XYZ Company established a set of best practices around staffing

and hiring practices at the time of the mergers, and leaders in the organization feel that

the processes are all followed the same way.

During the legacy questions around corporate culture, the researcher probed the

respondents with added questions such as “How did your site use staffing tools when you

needed added resources”, or “What tools were available to find resources when you had

staffing needs?” Some of the probing questions were around how the site or program

interpreted the staffing processes. The same types of probing questions were used in the

questions about the legacy site corporate culture (Q8), legacy overall corporate culture

(Q9), and the transitional culture at the time of the merger (Q10). Similar to the corporate

culture topics found during these questions, general positive or negative themes were

coded in NVivo around skilled staffing resource utilization, and the specific number of

respondents to these key theme details were collected and evaluated (See Table 8). The

82

key positive and negative HRIS Tools and Processes themes were then documented with

a sample representation (See Table 9).

Table 8:

Legacy HRIS Tools and Processes Reference Details


Co. A

Co. B

Co. C

XYZ Co. Total

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4 Total


33 : 2a HP - Staffing and Interviewing Changed Positive 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 1 2 34 : 2a HP - Technology Driven Changes 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 HRIS Tools and Processes - Positive Total 1 1 0 1 3 1 1 0 1 3 37 : 2b HN - Processes are strictly site specific 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 38 : 2b HN - Processes change too rigid 1 2 0 0 3 1 2 0 0 3 41 : 2b HN - Staffing and Interviewing Changed Negative 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 2 42 : 2b HN - Too much centralization not enough site 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 2 HRIS Tools and Processes - Negative Total 3 3 0 0 6 3 3 0 0 6 HRIS Tools and Process - Total 4 4 0 1 9 4 4 0 1 9

Table 9:

Legacy HRIS Tools and Processes Themes and Representative Comments

HRIS Tools and

Processes

Themes

Representative Comments

Cultural

differences based

on skill alignment

"I thought it was a great improvement in making hiring decisions

and staffing as it relates to competencies as it relates to being a

contributor."

Technology

driven changes

"You don’t see that as much today [limiting staffing to one

location], but the world has changed with technology a little bit."

83

HRIS Tools and

Processes

Themes

Representative Comments

Processes are

strictly site

specific

"In Company C outer bigger organization, the skills didn’t match

[what we needed for the site]."

Processes change

too rigid

"First new folks to get hired at that time, [in] 5 months’ time. I got

involved in the hiring process which a heck of a lot easier then

rather than now. We could call people, take resumes, etc. There

wasn’t a lot of reaching outside of Site 3 then. All of the work was

here or down the road. There was more insourcing of work."

Staffing and

Interviewing

Changed Negative

"You were picked for positions. It wasn’t as formal. In salaried

position, it wasn’t formal. You didn’t have a tool and was

informal and more up to the manager to pick who went where."

Too much

centralization not

enough site

"I was free to use tools that I felt were the best tools to do my job.

That’s not the case now. In terms of the processes, the local way

of how we do things is really no different."

Company A legacy HRIS tools and process findings (Sites 1 and 4). Three of

the 5 of the respondents from Company A felt the level of control that the change in

staffing processes took away the flexibility in how they hired individuals. Respondents

within Company A preferred to call individuals they knew from previous projects in

order to get a task accomplished. They disliked the changes because it forced process

control away from the Manager responsible for staffing, and started the establishment of

functional skill teams. These functional team members took on that role and increased the

complexity of hiring the individuals the Managers knew from previous projects.

Company B legacy HRIS tools and process findings (Site 2). Four of the six

Company B respondents also disliked the transition of hiring practices. They stated that

they understood the necessity for the changes, but they led them to hiring less skilled

individuals because of false limitations imposed by XYX Company. Prior to the mergers

84

there were differences in how employees were classified, the descriptions of the tasks

they were expected to perform, and the salary levels between the merging organizations.

Several of the participants discussed the “chaos” and difficulty aligning the systems in

terms of those fundamental differences. Due to those differences, many of the changes

necessary to fully integrate the systems were delayed by years, and the normalization

between the organizations caused many employees discomfort. Leaders from Company B

were frustrated by this delay, and they perceived their staffing practices as better defined.

They felt this delay was harmful to the successful execution of the projects.

Company C legacy HRIS tools and process findings (Site 3). Although the

respondents of Company C replied to the questions, there were no considerable themes

present in the responses around positive or negative aspects to the legacy HRIS tools and

process around staffing. The individuals within Site 3 felt fairly autonomous and stated

that their site within the legacy culture was so specialized in skills that they didn’t reach

out to the large Company C sites. Because of that, they didn’t have much use staffing

tools at that point in time or a need to leverage processes across the whole organization.

Overall legacy HRIS tools and process findings. Overall, the legacy

organizations tools did not help drive the staffing, and the significant process differences

between the organizations were in the area of the differences in how the skilled workers

were classified and aligned differently. Even in the HRIS tool and process areas, the topic

of staff resource utilization and hiring practices related to the changes in the structured

interview processes and the general dislike of the changes of these processes reducing the

ability of local Managers to perform their work.

85

Current Timeframe Study Findings

Corporate Culture and Strategy

In the last five years, XYZ Company has initiated several strategies that are

impacting the corporate culture of the organization. The history of mergers and site

animosity has led to sites competing over the same contracts and work. The division

between the different parts of the organization drove leadership to establish the Single

XYZ Company initiative. Another XYZ Company strategy is Skilled Resource

Differentiation. According to XYZ Company, over the years since the mergers, the

skilled population has received higher marks every year on merit raises, and this has

resulted in an issue with affordability on new contracts. In the three years, Managers were

told to reset the employee expectations around what effective ratings were. They

educated the general population that the organization was raising the bar, and told

employees that previously high scores would be the new meeting expectation. XYZ

Company leadership established a guideline for all Managers to rate their subordinate

managers with a mandated rating curve, and a suggested rating curve profile for other

employees. A third XYZ Company strategic initiative is “Employee First”. According to

XYZ Company human resources, the goal of this initiative is to help drive fairness and

employee engagement across the organization. Every other year the XYZ Company

performs an employee survey to measure the employee engagement factors, and drives

Management action plans to help address concerns in this area.

Each respondent was asked two questions related to their perceptions of culture of

the current site (Q11), and current organization (Q12). They were then asked a question

about the HRIS tools at the current site (Q13), and finally their perceptions of the staffing

86

processes at the current site (Q14). Common themes were coded in NVivo, and grouped

into positive and negative comment categories to allow for an overall impression of the

respondent’s feeling of the legacy culture. Specific number of respondents to these key

theme details were collected and evaluated (See Table 10). The key positive and negative

current culture themes were then noted with a sample representation (See Table 11).

Table 10:

Current Corporate Culture and Strategy Reference Details

Current Period Theme Details

Co. A

Co. B

Co. C

XYZ Co. Total

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4 Total


1 : 1a CP - Culture changed in a positive manner during this timeframe 4 4 2 1 11 3 4 2 2 11 2 : 1a CP - Culture consistent from site to org as respondent felt needed 1 0 1 1 3 0 0 1 2 3 3 : 1a CP - Culture embraces safety as an important principle 2 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 2 4 : 1a CP - Culture was or is driving to centralization as respondent felt needed 3 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 2 3 5 : 1a CP - Culture was or is site specific as respondent felt was needed 2 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 2 6 : 1a CP - Leadership offered clear direction 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 2 7 : 1a CP - Leadership was or is people oriented 2 1 2 0 5 2 1 2 0 5 9 : 1a CP - Organizational culture aligning to market and causing sites to work together 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 10 : 1a CP - Organizational Strategy of Single XYZ appears to be progressing 1 1 1 0 3 0 1 1 1 3 Corporate Culture and Strategy - Positive Total 12 5 6 2 25 8 5 6 6 25 12 : 1b CN - Cultural resentment of employees during this timeframe 1 1 1 0 3 1 1 1 0 3

87


Co. A

Co. B

Co. C

XYZ Co. Total

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4 Total

Number of Respondents 8 6 4 2 20 5 6 4 5 20 13 : 1b CN - Culture excludes safety and drives employee concerns 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 14 : 1b CN - Culture seems exclusionary to minorities 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 15 : 1b CN - Culture seems to be driving age differences among staff 1 4 0 0 5 1 4 0 0 5 16 : 1b CN - Culture seems to prevent innovation 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 17 : 1b CN - Culture seems to resent a perceived inequality in benefits based on merger decisions 3 1 0 0 4 2 1 0 1 4 18 : 1b CN - Culture was or is site specific but the respondent felt it was at the cost of the organizational culture 3 2 2 0 7 0 2 2 3 7 19 : 1b CN - Funding issues seem to be causing cultural resentment 1 4 0 0 5 1 4 0 0 5 20 : 1b CN - Leadership aligned but did not flow down strategic direction 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 1 2 21 : 1b CN - Leadership did not communicate alignment or strategy 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 23 : 1b CN - Leadership was or is hierarchical and military like in principles 1 0 1 0 2 1 0 1 0 2 25 : 1b CN - Sites given different projects due to Legacy Org 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 26 : 1b CN - Strategy not clear or too many ineffective strategies rolled out 2 1 0 0 3 1 1 0 1 3 27 : 1b CN - Strategy of affordability or program allocations appear to be causing resentment between sites 5 8 1 0 14 5 8 1 0 14

88


Co. A

Co. B

Co. C

XYZ Co. Total

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4 Total

Number of Respondents 8 6 4 2 20 5 6 4 5 20 28 : 1b CN - Strategy of performance differentiation drives moral issues 2 3 1 0 6 2 3 1 0 6 29 : 1b CN - Strategy of Single XYZ has not occurred or is not progressing 2 4 0 0 6 1 4 0 1 6 30 : 1b CN - XYZ Company is not as diversified as the legacy organization 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 Corporate Culture and Strategy - Negative Total 16 16 4 3 39 11 16 4 8 39 Corporate Culture and Strategy - Total 26 20 10 5 61 18 20 10 13 61

Table 11:

Current Corporate Culture and Strategy Reference Details



Culture changed in a

positive manner during

this timeframe

"We used the assigned/enrolled approach at this site.

Everyone that is enrolled to a job captain. Use job codes

and job level. I declare a reduction and am going to send

guys back to you, and the enrolled manager is linked in

and has juggled things around. My enrolled manager has

been very successful and has ability to move people

around. I have been networked into it as well, and can

work directly with them once you get that relationship. I

have a good feel for where the needs are."

Culture consistent from

site to org as respondent

felt needed

"I think XYZ Company in general has made it fairly clear

that we are supposed to be the same no matter what site

you are in. For the most part, Site 4 is trying to be that way

and participating with other sites. I think the difference

with Company A has gone away. All sites are created

equal now."

(NEW) Culture embraces

safety as an important

principle

"I think the company is interested in the health, safety,

welfare of their employees. They are warmer, softer, and

fuzzier than they have been. I don’t see that changing

much over the last 10 or 12 years. I think they have made

efforts to be more user friendly to their employees."

Culture was or is driving

to centralization as

respondent felt needed

"I don’t see a whole lot of relocation, but I do see a fair

amount of work/load sharing where you don’t see then

you farm it out at another location. People stay where they

are and do whatever to get stuff done."

89




specific as respondent felt

was needed

"We are the experts left that didn’t want to move. The

grey-beards, experts that [other site] uses. There is not a

unifying sense of Site 1 anymore. I don’t know what goes

on with Site 1 but what goes on outside of my floor and

the 40 or 50 people I work with."

(NEW) Leadership

offered clear direction

"People are freer to ask for help across organizations and

sites, and the culture has been moving that way. I

contribute this to clear direction from senior leadership."


people oriented

"Very proud culture of what has been accomplished at the

site. Technical based culture and related to emphasis on

single XYZ goal and divisions, sites, programs,

businesses. Big difference is that culture is now more open

to people coming in from outside the program."

(NEW) Organizational

culture aligning to market

and causing sites to work

together

"Same things happened in the Other Market as well. When

we looked at those together, we said if we are going to

survive we have to work together."

(NEW) Organizational

Strategy of Single XYZ

appears to be progressing

"The Single XYZ Company goal and I believe it and think

I’ve seen it. It still fills like a small place because we have

integrated across many different areas and learn together

in Site 4 and getting people to know each other at a

different level at a different way."

Cultural resentment of

employees during this

timeframe

"XYZ Company heritage folks felt that was a way to get

Company A people in leadership roles.”

(NEW) Culture excludes

safety and drives

employee concerns

"There has been a change in leadership and they are

moving someone new in, there has been a real concern

around safety and some days it feels like it’s about

cowboys and aliens."

Culture seems

exclusionary to minorities

"'Did you notice that all the professional staff is all

Caucasian?' I didn’t notice it, but that person noticed when

they were going and doing work through the site.

Whenever they pass in the hall of a racial minority, the

person usually smiled or greeted them, but not the

Caucasian employees. It was like there were so few

minorities there with professional positions that other

minorities would recognize them and I would think… I

don’t see that at other sites, but at least one person did.

Maybe some sites are not as integrated to the level and

quality of integration."

90



(NEW) Culture seems to

be driving age differences

among staff

"The workforce is getting older, and it seems like they are

trying to push the old guys out and bring in lower levels to

do the same job, which I fully understand because I would

do the same thing."

Culture seems to prevent

innovation

"I think I heard someone say XYZ Company has over 13K

PRO’s written, because of that structure, and I understand

it’s a large company and need those constraints, we lose

the entrepreneurial ideas we would get with Microsoft or

other inventive sites."

Culture seems to resent a

perceived inequality in

benefits based on merger

decisions

"Some people get health benefits and some don’t.

Company A people retire without health benefits, but

Company C and XYZ Company heritage folks have it. It’s

like the elephant in the room. People put it on the survey

every year. How can you say we are Single XYZ when a

1/3 of the people are treated differently? Very strange."


specific but the

respondent felt it was at

the cost of the

organizational culture

"Site 2 has too many agenda’s and conflicting with each

other. Single XYZ goal is not there at all and is probably

fed by the way we fund different groups. It feels like small

companies fighting each other for small contracts and

funds."

Funding issues seem to be

causing cultural

resentment

"Now, OJT went out the window, you put the best and

brightest and put the skills in there. For people like

ourselves where we have built ourselves up all the way

through hard work, perseverance, and sweat they don’t

want that anymore. The message it’s sending to younger

kids is that they don’t want long term growth. We are

seeing it now every day. Old people are leaving because

they are done and there is nothing for us. I hope at some

point XYZ Company needs to take a good strong look at

what’s happing because it will be damaging if they don’t."

Leadership aligned but

did not flow down

strategic direction

"A lot of the decisions being made at exec level, with all

of the good intentions behind them, have negative impacts

at the lower levels. Would categorize it right now as too

centralized, or controlled at the corporate level."

Leadership did not

communicate alignment

or strategy

"I will never tell you that I am pleased with the way XYZ

Company has handled the merger.”

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hierarchical and military

like in principles

"Applaud the corporation on trying to turn the titanic with

all of the different groups. Along the way we encountered

the bigger problem that the execs want to admit or know.

They don’t realize the depth of what the issues are."

(NEW) Sites given

different projects due to

Legacy Org

"I think there is a slight bit of favoritism given to the older

more established XYZ Company sites than the Company

A sites in terms of work in resources. The XYZ Company

would be more eager to put resources into XYZ Company

facility than old Company A site. I think heritage sites

might suffer more than other sites in XYZ Company."

Strategy not clear or too

many ineffective

strategies rolled out

"I’m thinking that now maybe XYZ Company has gone

too far the other direction. Management constantly

changes, brings people in from outside and upper

management is from outside of the company."

Strategy of affordability

or program allocations

appear to be causing

resentment between sites

"It isn’t fair to require of us to do free work or overhead

for going after new interest. XYZ Company wants us to do

more with a lot less or nothing. It brings awareness of

whose doing what, and expertise. It could give you a

chance to find areas to participate. One of the main

concerns is around small groups like, and Execs are [far]

away from us, we are forgotten. Programs, funding, etc.,

that are making us successful we are out of sight and out

of mind."

(NEW) Strategy of

performance

differentiation drives

moral issues

"A lot of the decisions to reduce staff in centralization are

based on the ranking and I pretty much know where we all

stand in Site 3. Because of that, I think a lot of people are

focused more on “I have two years to go and then I’m out

of here” has a negative impact on production."

(NEW) Strategy of Single

XYZ has not occurred or

is not progressing

"They think it’s bad to share the funds with someone

outside the area, but they still find them as an outsider and

will use junior or less experienced folks rather than just

finding the right talent. They don’t have incentive or

motivation to share against the single XYZ concept they

preach. That could be related to how the executives get

rewarded or credit for the business. That formula drives

the problem. "

92



(NEW) XYZ Company is

not as diversified as the

legacy organization

"Another observation during Company A merger, I recall

looking at their Sr. leader org roster, they had a number of

women and ethnic minorities than legacy XYZ Company

or Company C did. That merger with Company A might

have accelerated the rise of minorities and women across

the XYZ Company. One of the things that happened was

Sr. leadership was moved around across the company."

Company A current culture findings (Sites 1 and 4). The largest positive

number of comments for any question was from the Site 1 respondents when asked to

describe the current culture. Four of the 8 respondents thought the culture had changed in

an overall positive manner, with comments such as “It’s getting better.” They talked

about the culture in terms of “just right” with regards to being what was needed for

centralization or site specific practices. The leadership of Site 1 is definitely doing

something well, as 4 of the 5 respondents cited effective leadership skills, people oriented

leadership, and clearly communicating strategic alignment. The respondents felt the

culture embraced safety as an important principle.

Even though the Company A employees seem to like the current site culture, the

organizational culture was different. Only one of the respondents felt that the Single XYZ

initiative was effective, while two said they were not. All 5 of the Site 1 respondents

believe that the Skilled Resource Differentiation strategy related to affordability is

driving cultural resentment. Three of the respondents were still extremely upset about the

difference in benefits given from the merger timeframe. This concern affects the trust of

the leaders in the ability of XYZ Company to do the right thing in regards to the

employees. One respondent stated, “I want to know what employee is part of ‘Employee

First’ initiative, because it’s not me or one of my employees.”

93

Company B current culture findings (Site 2). Four of the 6 respondents felt the

culture change was positive. One of the respondents felt the Single XYZ initiative was

positive and progressing well, while 4 stated that they didn’t believe it was effective. Just

like the Company A respondents, all 6 of the Company B respondents felt the Skilled

Resource Differentiation was driving a wedge within the site as well as the organization.

One respondent stated that the moral of the team is bad, and that this is actually driving

the company to push the older employees out of the company. He stated that not only is

that costing the organization the skilled staff, but that the younger employees are seeing

this and deciding it’s not a place they want to stay. He said that they are having

significant issues with employee retention within Site 2. Another respondent stated they

are a very skilled employee team, and that they work autonomously. The strategies being

leveraged down to the site and the organization were clearly concerned with each leader.

They felt they were being forced to give unfair ratings to people in a tight team, and

stated that it was frustrating and unfair.

Company C legacy culture findings (Site 3). Three of the 4 Company C

representatives felt the changes had been successful and that leadership was effective at

communicating strategic direction. One respondent felt that leadership has become

hierarchal and controlling. Unlike Company A and B, only 2 of the 4 respondents brought

up the current affordability and differentiation strategies as an area of concern. Of the two

individuals that did not, one of them is not currently in a Management role and would not

have the same visibility to the strategic direction given to Management, and the other had

stated earlier that he had to take a lesser role at the time of the merger to keep benefits

and was just happy to have a job. It was the researcher’s perception, given that previous

94

statement, that he didn’t want to bring up something that might be less then positive for

fear it would somehow be related to him as an individual.

Overall current culture findings. In general, the respondents for all Companies

felt the organizational culture for their individual sites had improved. Each Company had

the majority of respondents stating leadership driven changes have moved the legacy site

cultures in a positive manner. However, when talking about the current overall

organizational culture, the message was quite different. With exception of the two

Company C employees that did not bring up the topic of Skilled Resource Differentiation

strategy aligned to affordability goals, every other respondent addressed this topic in

some manner. Some of the respondents, specifically those in Company A, were very

vocal about their belief that the XYX Company is making the wrong cultural moves for

the best of the organization. The individuals that addressed the differences to the legacy

companies in terms of benefits also state that this new strategy is driving further site

differences, and making individuals not trust the XYZ Company to do the right thing.


Since the time of the mergers, XYZ Company has tried numerous things to look

at how they effectively utilize resources. There were some gaps in the funding processes

that would allow individuals from one site to support another site internally, and those

processes and tools were fixed to allow for more collaboration. Additionally, functional

skill teams were put in place at different levels of the organization to try to help carry the

major messages when skilled groups of people were available for other projects. Large

site closures or consolidations have occurred to focus skilled teams into fewer sites, and

the functional skill teams helped through those major transitions. Those are examples of

95

the activities that have occurred within XYZ Company to try to impact the ability to

know what resources they have and leaders have used those changes to a direct advantage

to the product and marketing goals of the organization.

The respondents were asked questions related to the current culture of the site, as

well as the overall organization, HRIS tools, and staffing process interpretations relative

to their site (Q11-14) and the results were all grouped by key themes around Skilled

Resource Utilization aspects. Specific number of respondents to these key theme details

were collected and evaluated (See Table 12). The key positive and negative Skilled

Resource Utilization themes, along with a sample representation are located in Table 13

(See Table 13).

Table 12:

Current Skilled Resource Utilization Reference Details


Co. A

Co. B

Co. C

XYZ Co. Total

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4 Total


45 : 3a SP - Cultural differences based on skill alignment 0 2 2 1 5 0 2 2 1 5 46 : 3a SP - Driving to increase diversity based on skills 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 47 : 3a SP - Functional Skill Teams Good 4 1 2 1 8 1 1 2 4 8 48 : 3a SP - Perfect mix of site and greater good 2 0 3 1 6 1 0 3 2 6 Skilled Resource Utilization - Positive Total 6 3 7 4 20 2 3 7 8 20 50 : 3b SN - Environment of other sites not centralized 0 1 1 0 2 0 1 1 0 2 51 : 3b SN - Functional alignment not effective 2 1 1 0 4 2 1 1 0 4 52 : 3b SN - Skill changes at site level removed employee job flexibility 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 1 2 54 : 3b SN - We call who we know but do reach out 1 1 2 0 4 1 1 2 0 4

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Co. A

Co. B

Co. C

XYZ Co. Total

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4 Total

Number of Respondents 8 6 4 2 20 5 6 4 5 20 Skilled Resource Utilization - Negative Total 3 3 3 1 10 3 3 3 1 10 Skilled Resource Utilization - Total 9 6 10 5 30 5 6 10 9 30

Table 13:

Current Skilled Resource Utilization Themes and Representative Comments

Skilled Resource


Cultural differences

based on skill

alignment

"We had changed all of the job codes and job descriptions and

XYZ Company was always very picky about the Engineering

codes and new job coded skill codes that many of the Heritage

XYZ Company folks didn’t consider to be engineers."

(NEW) Driving to

increase diversity

based on skills

"Now the organization looks at not only who understands org

and processes, but they really look at who can lead,

communicate and inspire people. I wouldn’t lay that on the

merger. I think they were going that anyway."

Functional Skill

Teams Good

"Where the company wide functions own the skills we are

seeing a better integration. Where we don’t have functional

alignment at a corporate level then we still see site based

differences happening. "

(NEW) Perfect mix

of site and greater

good

"Every site has its own personality still, but we spent a lot of

time developing a single XYZ culture and really emphasizes

greater good, not just programmatic and help needed outside the

program.”

Environment of

other sites not

centralized

"[It is a] good working environment where she promotes

sharing, at a working and personal level. It allows people to

cooperate with others in not only Site 2, but other sites as well

and see the work environment where they work together because

they have to, but it’s not the same in those other areas."

Functional

alignment not

effective

"The functional approach didn’t work, and it was on your own

and people I knew on the program it was easy to find the jobs

that matched me and not through functional. I help on projects

because I know someone, not because functionals are not

involved in that process."

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Skilled Resource


Skill changes at site

level removed

employee job

flexibility

"I think there is a slight bit of favoritism given to the older more

established XYZ Company sites than the Company A sites in

terms of work in resources.”

We call who we

know but do reach

out

"I don’t rely on tools to do that. We don’t have tools, but we

have attempts like the online tool, to allow us to find the folks.

We don’t use them. The fact we don’t use them speak to

ourselves. The programs tend to be the general melting pots of

people from across the organization. We call those we know.

The chief engineer knows someone who knows someone. You

tend to trust the people you know and people who know you

rather than a database where Joe Schmoe who may or may not

be true. "

Company A current skilled resource usage findings (Sites 1 and 4). Company

A respondents in Site 4 were the only group to express they felt the skill teams were

effective and the respondents valued the use of those teams. Site 1 respondents were less

satisfied with the functional skill teams, as 4 of the 5 respondents stated things like they

felt they were left to their own devices, or that the teams were so large and crossed too

many sites that the flexibility they had in the past was removed. Overall Company A

respondents were split in the general feelings of how they reach out across the

organization, but it seemed to be aligned very closely to the respondents within a given

site.

Company B current skilled resource usage findings (Site 2). Company B

respondents also had an equal mix of 3 positive respondents and 3 negative respondents.

The 3 positive comments were around skills and functional skill team effectiveness, and

the other 3 had almost opposing views. One of the negative respondents said that they

didn’t believe the functional alignments mattered to the organization, because they felt

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that other sites will not reach out to use their skilled resources, and that the respondent

expressed frustration over this issue within Site 2 Management.

Company C legacy skilled resource usage findings (Site 3). Three of the 4

respondents felt that there was a perfect mix now of site and organizational alignment.

Two of those 3 individuals responded that they feel that where differences still exist, they

are based on the fact that Site 3 has unique skills and products. The other two individuals

stated that when they need resources they would just call who they know from previous

programs, rather than reach out to the functional skill teams for help.

Overall current skilled resource usage findings. Skilled resource utilization in

the current XYZ Company is still fragmented with differences that appear evident

between the sites in this study. Company A respondents in Site 1 believe the functional

alignments are not effective, where Site 4 respondents expressed that they were very

satisfied with the functional skill team model. Site 2 and Site 3 are both split with almost

half of each respondent group either negative or positive on the topic, but the difference

between the responses with Site 3 indicate that the functional team effectiveness wouldn’t

change the fact that they still prefer to call who they know over reaching out to other

sites.

HRIS Tools and Processes

Since the mergers, major tool implementations have occurred. The largest

implementation was in the area of how skilled resources were classified, and combining

the sites into larger budget and cost structures. As late as last year, several of the sites

were previously under their own cost structure which prevented the ability to leverage

resources outside of that cost structure easily. These tool changes were driving toward a

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central repository for skilled teams as well as organizational understanding of staff

planning and coordination between sites. Although the tools were created, they are not all

used by different sites in the same manner, and data is only as good as what is being put

into the systems. An additional review of the gaps within the HRIS tools that display the

information is presented in Chapter 5 as a portion of the case study data triangulation.

The respondents were asked questions related to the current culture of the site, as

well as the overall organization, HRIS tools, and staffing process interpretations relative

to their site (Q11-14) and the results were all grouped by key themes around HRIS Tools

and Process aspects. Specific number of respondents to these key theme details were

collected and evaluated (See Table 14). The key positive and negative HRIS Tools and

Processes themes and documented with a sample representation (See Table 15).

Table 14:

Current HRIS Tools and Processes Reference Details


Co. A

Co. B

Co. C

XYZ Co. Total

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4 Total


33 : 2a HP - Staffing and Interviewing Changed Positive 1 0 2 0 3 1 0 2 0 3 34 : 2a HP - Technology Driven Changes 2 2 1 0 5 1 2 1 1 5 HRIS Tools and Processes - Positive Total 3 2 3 0 8 2 2 3 1 8 36 : 2b HN - HRIS tools not used for integrating culture 5 6 4 3 18 3 6 4 5 18 37 : 2b HN - Processes are strictly site specific 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 38 : 2b HN - Processes change too rigid 3 1 0 1 5 3 1 0 1 5 39 : 2b HN - Processes not allowing integration 1 2 1 2 6 1 2 1 2 6 40 : 2b HN - Sites call who they know and do not use technology 0 1 3 0 4 0 1 3 0 4

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Co. A

Co. B

Co. C

XYZ Co. Total

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Site 4 Total

Number of Respondents 8 6 4 2 20 5 6 4 5 20 41 : 2b HN - Staffing and Interviewing Changed Negative 4 1 1 0 6 3 1 1 1 6 42 : 2b HN - Too much centralization not enough site 1 3 0 0 4 1 3 0 0 4 HRIS Tools and Processes - Negative Total 13 11 8 4 36 9 11 8 8 36 HRIS Tools and Process - Total 15 12 11 4 42 10 12 11 9 42

Table 15:

Current HRIS Tools and Processes Themes and Representative Comments

HRIS Tools and

Processes Themes Representative Comments

Staffing and

Interviewing

Changed Positive

"Hiring practices were different because we put in place the

structured interview process and other tweaks to make

competition for open positions to make it fair."

Technology Driven

Changes

"I think the staffing tool is fine and does it reach everybody.

Sometimes you need to contact people personally so they apply.

Overall it’s a good tool for hiring. The other tool creates a lot of

groups and networking to the other sites."

(NEW) HRIS tools

not used for

integrating culture

"I’m told that there are tools out there that can really help make

that connection, and there are methods to do that. My

experience is that it happens based on who you know at a

personal level and it’s what I see versus what I hear. "

Processes are

strictly site specific

"We are not doing things the same, we are doing them

differently. How people select individuals for a job are different.

The skill team process is different. Although we have the same

tools, the processes vary greatly on who makes the selection."

Processes change

too rigid

"It’s much more difficult to handle staffing. It’s become more

bureaucratic than it ever was in the past. We are so adverse to

any lawsuits we are made to do ridiculous hoops. Now they let

us post a level 3/4 or 4/5 so you realize you could fill your job

and let us start posting. No latitude but rigidly controlled

because of fairness thing. Someone sends you a resume and you

can’t get them in."

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HRIS Tools and

Processes Themes Representative Comments

(NEW) Processes

not allowing

integration

"I worked for a guy they brought in from XYZ Company, He

was between me and the director of Company C and came in

with an attitude of you are broken, and screwed up, and brought

in XYZ Company folks to come in and see what they could do.

Many of the changes have been changed back."

(NEW) Sites call

who they know and

do not use

technology

"We called legacy program people from Company C and so we

pick up the phone and call them. The only way that I would

know to go pull resources across the area for the need would be

through the larger XYZ organization, but they are not part of

our group. If you either knew the program was there and knew

someone in that organization, or the executive went to another

executive to get them."

Staffing and

interviewing

changed negative

"End of 2000’s there were changes like the structured interview

process. I didn’t think it was a particularly valuable process, but

still made hiring decisions the way you always did."

Too much

centralization not

enough site

"We are limited by the centralization, I think right now as a

team we are merging with Site 1 and we probably have more

people than we have right now so there is not a crunch kind of

thing where we need to go ask for additional resources."

Company A current HRIS tools and process findings (Sites 1 and 4). Two

respondents felt that technology has helped drive changes to how the tools are used

within the current site, but seven of the eight Company A respondents said the changes

were too rigid for Managers in the their site to do their job. They stated the formal

staffing processes drove negative challenges in the area of finding the right skilled

employees. Five of those respondents said that the tools were also not effective at helping

to find skilled workers from other parts of the organization.

Company B current HRIS tools and process findings (Site 2). Two of the six

respondents felt that technology has helped drive some changes within the ability of XYZ

Company. In contrast, all six of the respondents unanimously felt the HRIS tools are not

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effective for their site. They each stated they felt they are too centralized to support the

specific needs of the skilled resources within Site 2.

Company C legacy HRIS tools and process findings (Site 3). All four of the

respondents stated similar responses to those from Company B. The one difference with

this site was the HRIS tools didn’t seem to matter much. Three of the four Site 4

respondents said that they reached out to get help from people who have worked on their

programs in the past. The examples given were programs that were part of the original

Company C products. One respondent stated that not only did he not know if a tool

existed to help him with that selection, but even if it did he would not have used the tool

to help him find what he needed.

Overall current HRIS tools and process findings. The consensus among

respondents, with 18 comments being coded to the negative theme that the HRIS tools

are not useful to help find or share resources across the XYZ Company sites, appears to

be a significant finding across all sites. Company A felt the processes are too rigid and

prevent their ability to manage, while Company C stated they wouldn’t reach out to

others based on a tool recommendation anyway, but would prefer to call someone they

know from the legacy Company C programs regardless of tools or functional processes.

Chapter Summary of Results

This chapter described the additional limits placed on the researcher based on the

number of available research participants due to significant reductions within the XYZ

Company at various sites, and the resulting need to expedite the research through

telephone interviews. The transcriptions were typed and reread to the participants during

each of the twenty interviews, and then were coded into NVivo. Once in NVivo, the

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questions, comments, and researcher notes created respondent type to include

demographic data for each participant, and nodes for common themes. Respondent

demographics were captured and analyzed for each respondent. The researcher could not

find a distinct difference between the responses of a given demographic such as gender,

age, role, or ethnicity. All researcher correlations made were related to the legacy

company or legacy site locations.

In order to address the primary research question of (R1) how the culture of a site

within a larger organization intersects with the staffing system and processes, including

the use of virtual workers and knowledge management systems, several years after a

large merger and acquisition, respondents needed to discuss the legacy site and

organization cultures, and were asked similar questions related to the current site and

organizational cultures. Concurrently, to address the second research question of (R2)

how have changes of the organizational culture several years after a large merger and

acquisition intersected with the HRIS tool usage, the research questions needed to focus

specific questions around the usage of the HRIS tools and the staffing processes of the

current site and organization.

After the definition of corporate culture was read, the interviewer asked the

respondent to describe (Q8) the legacy culture of the site prior to the merger, (Q9) the

legacy culture of the overall organization they belonged to at the time, and (Q10) the

transition period culture. The researcher probed for additional responses around HRIS

tool usage and staffing resource utilization. Those respondent comments were later

grouped for the pre-merger timeframe as the Legacy timeframe results. After the

respondents discussed the legacy timeframe, the researcher switched the focus of the

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respondent to consider the current timeframe, and asked the respondent to describe (Q11)

the current culture of the site, (Q12) the culture of the overall XYZ Company, (Q13) the

use of HRIS systems at the site, and (Q14) how the staffing processes are utilized at the

site. During questions 11 through 14, the researcher also probed for responses around

staffing resource utilization, and the respondent results from all four questions were later

grouped as the Current timeframe results.

The comments were evaluated and the themes were noted and grouped by the

legacy and current timeframes, and then within each timeframe group by three areas of

Corporate Culture and Strategy, HRIS Tools and Processes, and Skilled Resource

Utilization. Chapter 4 was organized by the same grouping structure. Each section begins

with the table outlining the number of comments related a positive or negative theme area

within that timeframe and topic by both legacy company and legacy site location. Then

each section contains a table with representative samples from each theme area, and ends

with providing the appropriate Company and Site detailed findings as well as comparing

and contrasting the overall responses by company or site.

Chapter 5 offers the researcher's interpretation of the findings, including emergent

leadership themes that further group and detail the Chapter 4 themed findings into six

leadership areas: Effective Change, Employee Success, Fairness (Create Trust),

Organizational Alignment, Strategy, and Power. The researcher then offers recommended

actions including who the audience should be, and how the results might be disseminated.

Chapter 5 then ends with recommendations for further study and the creation of the

researcher's Doctoral voice during the process.

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Chapter 5: Conclusions

Through qualitative case study analysis, this research explored post-merger

organizations to better understand the predominant factors that intersect with

interpretations of staffing processes, HRIS tool usage, and how sites utilize skilled

resources. The objective of this research was to develop a theory in the form of a post-

merger leadership model that is based in the real-life experiences of leaders in a Fortune

500 Company who have shared their experiences in such a post-merger environment.

Chapter 4 described added limits placed on the researcher due to significant reductions at

various geographic sites, which resulted in interviewing the available participants over

the telephone. To help prevent impacts from this limitation, transcriptions were typed

during the interviews, and reread to the participants to help clarify the meaning.

Each respondent interview transcription including the comments, researcher

notes, demographic data, and responses were coded into NVivo and common themes

were created as nodes for evaluation. No distinct differences in responses were found to

exist between demographic groups including gender, age, role, or ethnicity, and

correlations seemed to appear when evaluated by legacy company or legacy site locations

in the areas of Corporate Culture and Strategy, HRIS Tools and Processes, and Skilled

Resource Utilization.

Interpretation of Findings

Legacy Company A was split between Site 4 feeling the legacy culture was

militaristic, while Site 1 was happy with the legacy culture. Both sites described constant

strife between the different locations, and this disharmony created animosity that seemed

to only grow when XYZ Company acquired them and didn't give the legacy managers

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medical retirement benefits. The skill team alignment is different among the two sites,

and the respondents felt even if they reached out to other locations then other sites,

specifically Company B, would not cooperate with them. Company A respondents

preferred to call individuals they knew from previous projects in order to get a task

accomplished, and they disliked the complexity of the staffing process changes. HRIS

tool usage does not seem to make a difference, because they preferred managers to be

able to hire individuals they wanted for projects. Current Company A results were also

split on the culture of the site, with Site 1 respondents loving the current culture and

feeling it is moving in the right direction over Site 4. Both Sites agreed unanimously on

the dislike for the Skilled Resource Differentiation strategy. The sites did not agree on the

use of functional teams, since Site 1 does not like the alignment, and Site 4 respondents

did. Seven of the eight respondents felt the process change for staffing was too rigid for

Managers to effectively perform their job.

Legacy Company B had five of six describe the corporate culture of the site and

Company B as people-oriented, innovative, exciting and fun. They believed their site was

program centric and aligned to customer needs, and they were empowered to do their

jobs. They felt the homeroom of Site 2 was effective alignment, but not necessary for the

functional teams to reach outside of the local site. The majority of the respondents felt

their site had specific technical skills, and disliked the hiring practice changes due to the

limitations it imposed. Several of the respondents discussed the changes with the skilled

resource classifications during the merger timeframe, and felt the chaos and delays of this

process change affected the projects. On the current topics, four of the six Company B

respondents felt the culture change was positive, but they didn't believe the Single XYZ

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initiative was effective. Every respondent felt the Skilled Resource Differentiation was

driving a wedge within the site. Company B was split equally positive and negative

around functional skill team effectiveness. All of the six respondents felt the HRIS tools

are not effective, and the tools are too centralized for the unique site needs.

All of the legacy Company C respondents felt the legacy culture was militaristic

and used knowledge as power to control others. While the legacy culture was never

integrated well, there was not a sign of open animosity between Site 3 and other

companies. Company C respondents were very happy with the functional skill teams and

satisfied with the skill identification and strategic alignment with the skilled needs of the

program. The current culture area had three of the four respondents feeling the changes

were successful and effective at communicating strategic direction. Half of the

respondents brought up Skilled Resource Differentiation as an area of concern. The same

three respondents felt there is a perfect mix now of site and organizational alignment.

HRIS tools were not used for skilled staffing, but all four said it didn't matter because

they only reach out to original Company C resources.

Findings Related to Research Questions

This study answered two primary questions.



management systems several years after a large merger and acquisition?

(R2) How have changes of the organizational culture several years after a large

merger and acquisition intersected with the HRIS tool usage?

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XYZ Company was established over 100 years and in the last century, the

company has expanded to 160,000 employees and many divisions. The company was

created through numerous mergers and acquisitions of former competitors including three

significant purchases of Company A, Company B, and Company C around 15 to 20 years

ago. The staffing systems were evaluated as a part of this study, and several gaps were

discovered. In talking to the Human Resource organization, the researcher discovered

that XYZ Company has separate systems for staffing, resource forecasting, Human

Resource Information Systems, skill utilization, and resumes for employees (See Figure

1). These systems do not integrate and that concern was addressed by all four sites. They

all stated they need to know what skills they have for Managers to leverage across Sites.

Additionally, this study indicates the previous mergers allowed a divergence on skilled

resource utilization based on staffing process interpretation within the multiple sites.

XYZ Company is trying to implement an enterprise solution, but this divergence is

resulting in people getting laid off in one site, while other sites are trying to add staff.

Figure 1:

Gaps in XYZ Company HRIS Tools

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The results of this study indicate that this post-merger corporate culture differs

between the sites, and appears to play a role with effectively utilizing skilled resources in

the organization. Perception exists with all of the sites that they need to protect people

from organizational affordability issues, and results in protecting individual people “that

we know” over finding the skills available within the entire organization. The results

indicate that business processes, the way the finance system is organized, and strategic

goals are driving in favor of geographic desires over the Single XYZ Company strategic

initiative.

Emergent Leadership Themes

As the coded positive and negative themes were evaluated, several common

leadership themes started to emerge. The researcher noticed these common leadership

themes crossed positive and negative comments, and crossed the three primary grouping

designations of Corporate Culture and Strategy, Skilled Resource Utilization, and HRIS

Tools and Process. The consolidation from the detailed themes to the emergent

leadership teams is depicted in Table 16 (See Table 16).

Table 16:

Emergent Leadership Themes from Positive and Negative Theme Details

Theme Details Derived Emergent Leadership Themes

1 : 1a CP - Culture changed in a positive manner during this timeframe Effective Change - Promote Success Goals

2 : 1a CP - Culture consistent from site to org as respondent felt needed

Organizational Alignment - Right size org to the site/central alignment desired

3 : 1a CP - Culture embraces safety as an important principle

Fairness (Create Trust) - Represent important individual interests such as safety

4 : 1a CP - Culture was or is driving to centralization as respondent felt needed


5 : 1a CP - Culture was or is site specific as respondent felt was needed


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7 : 1a CP - Leadership was or is people oriented

Power - Use leadership methodologies to establish positive power

8 : 1a CP - Organization tried to be fair during merger process

Fairness (Create Trust) - Evaluate decisions during merger

9 : 1a CP - Organizational culture aligning to market and causing sites to work together

Organizational Alignment - Right size based on market needs

10 : 1a CP - Organizational Strategy of Single XYZ appears to be progressing Strategy - Communicate Strategic Outcomes

12 : 1b CN - Cultural resentment of employees during this timeframe

Fairness (Create Trust) - Evaluate decisions during merger

13 : 1b CN - Culture excludes safety and drives employee concerns

Fairness (Create Trust) - Represent important individual interests such as safety

14 : 1b CN - Culture seems exclusionary to minorities

Employee Success - Promote Diversity/Inclusion

15 : 1b CN - Culture seems to be driving age differences among staff


16 : 1b CN - Culture seems to prevent innovation Employee Success - Promote Innovation 17 : 1b CN - Culture seems to resent a perceived inequality in benefits based on merger decisions

Fairness (Create trust) - Benefit alignment during Mergers

18 : 1b CN - Culture was or is site specific but the respondent felt it was at the cost of the organizational culture


19 : 1b CN - Funding issues seem to be causing cultural resentment

Fairness (Create trust) - Evaluate strategies driving feeling of unfairness between people and cost/affordability

20 : 1b CN - Leadership aligned but did not flow down strategic direction Strategy - Communicate Strategy

21 : 1b CN - Leadership did not communicate alignment or strategy Strategy - Communicate Strategy

23 : 1b CN - Leadership was or is hierarchical and military like in principles

Power - Use leadership methodologies to establish positive power

24 : 1b CN - Previous mergers were never integrated and that has had a remaining impact Strategy - Evaluate Prior Pre-Merged Cultures

25 : 1b CN - Sites given different projects due to Legacy Org

Fairness (Create trust) - Communicate decisions effecting employees

26 : 1b CN - Strategy not clear or too many ineffective strategies rolled out Strategy - Communicate Strategic Goals

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27 : 1b CN - Strategy of affordability or program allocations appear to be causing resentment between sites

Fairness (Create trust) - Communicate decisions effecting employees

28 : 1b CN - Strategy of performance differentiation drives moral issues

Fairness (Create trust) - Evaluate strategies driving feeling of unfairness between people and cost/affordability

29 : 1b CN - Strategy of Single XYZ has not occurred or is not progressing Strategy - Communicate Strategic Outcomes

30 : 1b CN - XYZ Company is not as diversified as the legacy organization


33 : 2a HP - Staffing and Interviewing Changed Positive Effective Change - Promote Success Goals

34 : 2a HP - Technology Driven Changes Effective Change - Leverage technology 36 : 2b HN - HRIS tools not used for integrating culture Effective Change - Leverage technology

37 : 2b HN - Processes are strictly site specific

Effective Change - Evaluate Processes Preventing Strategic Direction

38 : 2b HN - Processes change too rigid Effective Change - Evaluate Processes Preventing Strategic Direction

39 : 2b HN - Processes not allowing integration

Effective Change - Evaluate Processes Preventing Strategic Direction

40 : 2b HN - Sites call who they know and do not use technology Effective Change - Leverage technology 41 : 2b HN - Staffing and Interviewing Changed Negative Effective Change - Promote Success Goals

42 : 2b HN - Too much centralization not enough site


45 : 3a SP - Cultural differences based on skill alignment

Organizational Alignment - based on skilled resources

46 : 3a SP - Driving to increase diversity based on skills


47 : 3a SP - Functional Skill Teams Good Functional Alignment - Establish effective skill teams

48 : 3a SP - Perfect mix of site and greater good


50 : 3b SN - Environment of other sites not centralized


51 : 3b SN - Functional alignment not effective

Functional Alignment - Establish effective skill teams

52 : 3b SN - Skill changes at site level removed employee job flexibility

Organizational Alignment - based on skilled resources

53 : 3b SN - Was site specific but starting to branch out


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Theme Details Derived Emergent Leadership Themes 54 : 3b SN - We call who we know but do reach out

Fairness (Create Trust) - Create trust between divisions or new organizations

Recommendation for Action

Based on the divergent leadership theme findings, the following recommendations

are made for action to XYZ Company. These recommendations are appropriate for other

organizations consisting of previous large mergers that did not perform cultural

alignment prior to the merger. Leadership is the driver for successful organizations, and

leaders should begin with evaluating the post-merger organizational culture, working to

address effective changes, and establishing organizational alignment in a manner that will

help organizational strategies.

Establish Post-Merger Culture Evaluation Criteria

Many organizations still consist of previous mergers that were never integrated

correctly (Marks & Mirvis, 2012). In order to address these questions, this study created a

list of leadership themes based on the outcome of the respondents’ comments in the areas

of Corporate Culture and Strategy, HRIS tools and processes, and Skilled Resource

Utilization that aligned to both the legacy and the current timeframes. Paul and Berry

(2013) performed an empirical study of executives, line managers, human resource

practitioners, and other employees, evaluating the establishment of effective performance

management in a post-merger organizational culture. Paul and Berry’s participants,

similar to those of Companies A, B, and C, felt expected to traverse the process of culture

integration without the understanding of the process and its effects.

The process described in the recent study by Paul and Berry (2013) stated the

requirement for due diligence on the organizational culture prior to the merger, which

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was not established in this case. Step 1 of the pre-merger assessment is to create an

assessment of the culture, Step 2 is to assess skilled resource proficiency, and Step 3 is to

assess readiness for change to develop the culture alignment and integration plan. Since

the culture assessment was not conducted prior to the merger, this study develops a

model for cultural assessment based in part on Paul and Berry’s method, and is modified

based on the findings presented in Chapter 4 to fit a post-merger cultural assessment.

As discussed in the literature review in Chapter 2, Berry defined the primary

drivers of high-performance cultures to be based on value-driven leadership that includes

innovation, strategy, power, loyalty, employee success, brand development, acting like a

small organization, and social responsibility (Berry, 2011). These eight drivers were not

followed to create the themes, but after developing the themes it was interesting to see a

close alignment, and compare the differences to the findings of this study.

There were notable differences including the establishment of a driver for

effective change, which had a significant number of current timeframe comments and

aligns to the Broker Leader and Self-leadership models. Instead of Berry’s acting small,

the researcher believes the outcomes of this study show that the organizational alignment

of the site should be based on the desired culture, and not limited to dictating the

organization to act small. There were several indications from the study participants that

the site and organization need to act small, or centralized, depending on the strategic

direction of the organization. While Berry defined loyalty, the study results indicate that a

better measure would be fairness that creates trust, or lack of trust, in employees. These

emergent leadership themes form the basis for the Leadership: Post-Merger Cultural

Evaluation Criteria (See Table 17). This list of criteria can be used by established

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organizations consisting of previous mergers to help evaluate different sites and activities

they should consider to help identify differences between the legacy and current

organizations across multiple locations.

Table 17:

Leadership: Post-Merger Cultural Evaluation Criteria

Leadership: Post-Merger Cultural Evaluation Criteria

Effective Change

Evaluate Processes Preventing Strategic Direction

Leverage technology

Promote Success Goals

Organizational Alignment

Based on skilled resources

Establish effective skill teams

Right size org to the site/central alignment desired

Fairness (Create Trust)

Benefit alignment during Mergers

Communicate decisions effecting employees

Create trust between divisions or new organizations

Evaluate decisions during merger

Evaluate strategies driving feeling of unfairness between

people and cost/affordability

Represent important individual interests such as safety

Strategy

Communicate Strategic Goals

Communicate Strategic Outcomes

Communicate Strategy

Evaluate Prior Pre-Merged Cultures

Power

Use leadership methodologies to establish positive power

Employee Success

Promote Diversity/Inclusion

Promote Innovation

Effective Change

Several of the respondents were frustrated that change was not managed

effectively during and after the merger. This study suggests a model to help with

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effective skilled resource utilization that will help staffing in a global post-merger

organization. The Staffing Tool for Resource Allocation (STAR) can be applied as a

technical change for XYZ Company HRIS systems to combine the knowledge

management systems’ latest technologies with persistent and real-time data look-ups

(Reid, 2013). This staffing tool model applied as an umbrella software tool could link all

of the separate systems within a large post-merger organization together seamlessly.

Beginning with the company knowledge base, the business logic layer would help

leaders determine the real need against the available skills across the organization. The

tool would allow a Manager with resource needs to perform a single search based on

customizable queries, and should be populated with prioritization based on several

selections. Some selections could include overall skill scores provided in the most recent

employee reviews to enable effective skill matching based on overall skill scores

provided in the most recent review periods. Since most of the organizations stated they

would call who they know, the tool needs to provide feedback in an easy format for

managers to find out more about the individuals they could access for help.

The STAR system design should allow the organization to effectively utilize

skills from across different geographic sites across the company through the effective

creation of virtual or co-located teams. This tool model has significant issues within the

corporate culture, and can help align the separate site centric locations. Co-located or

virtual teams resulting from this new system model may face different leadership

challenges then the face-to-face teams currently experience (Ebrahim, Ahmed, & Taha,

2009; Florea, 2010). Because a staffing system that is based on technology is only as

good as the leaders implementing the tool, the system model must incorporate methods

116

for increased training of leaders. Leaders need to learn virtual and co-located leadership

tools to help increase collaboration and trust across multiple sites (Ebrahim et al., 2009),

help train managers in leadership models such as broker leadership or self-leadership to

augment leadership skills (Milne, 1978).

Respondents, who stated they do not reach out to other locations to find resources,

also stated they did not use the staffing tools or could not use the tools to help find

resources. The STAR system will help solve the current gap with non-integrating systems

to allow a corporate strategy for staffing based on the XYZ Company strategic goals (See

Figure 2). Unlike a simple search tool, STAR can leverage real-time inputs to the

knowledge management system and get data from the user to modify the business logic.

Once a potential skilled resource match is found, the system facilitates the

communication between the managers, establishes training requests, and updates the

employee information in the HRIS to allow the changes to be viewed real-time. It would

reduce the time managers spend searching and manipulating data from multiple systems

to try to make the few virtual or co-located matches the organization has seen resulting

from the current functional system.

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Figure 2:

Overlaying the STAR Management System Model

Note: STAR Management System Model copyright © 2014 by Candi S Reid, Doctoral

Learner at University of Phoenix School of Advanced Studies.

This tool should be an easy-to-use web based leadership tool that leverages the current

knowledge management system combined with a business intelligence process. The

recommendation is not just to put a tool in place, but for XYZ Company to evaluate

processes that are being utilized by the different locations, and try to define the system in

a way that it enables the proper resource utilization that the company is trying to achieve.

As the respondents indicated in this study, one of the primary challenges faced by

leadership is effective change management. In order to effect change within the staffing

processes and effective resource utilization, it is necessary to communicate and educate

every level of the organization. Prior to implementing the changes, the process should

include success measurements and tracking plans (Marks & Mirvis, 2012). By effectively

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tracking change and the successful implementation of the STAR model, an organization

can tie the results directly to performance improvement.

Implementing the STAR model in a post-merger organization would help drive

changes in current staffing and management processes, management tools, and leadership

skills to align to the needs of the organization. The current staffing process for XYZ

Company limits placing skilled talent to a program based on a manager’s or functional

manager’s ability to know the people, where they are, and the ability to match those skills

manually. In such a large organization, many individuals finish work on one program and

have to start applying for jobs to keep employed with the company. This tool should

support and mandate leaders first select internal employees to perform the work when

they have the right skills, train the leaders in how to work with a virtual team, link the

staff to tools for collaboration in a virtual or co-located environment, and help drive

change in an effectively tracked process. The staffing changes brought about by the

STAR model would help provide the necessary corporate cultural changes for the legacy

sites to help align the organization the way XYZ Company would like to be organized.

Organizational alignment. Study respondents discussed the need for the XYZ

Company to effectively handle organizational alignment, and that alignment appeared to

have a relationship with the skilled resource utilization among the different sites. An

effective organizational structure in a post-merger organization is critical to align the

corporate cultures and integrate the individuals (Doz & Kozonen, 2008). A rigid or

military structure will not allow for innovation and fails to engage employees, and one

that is more risk tolerant may fail to satisfy the customer needs (Doz & Kozonen, 2008).

The XYZ Company is around 100 years old, and the structure consisted of other very

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rigid organizations. Some respondents from Company A expressed how much better

XYZ Company treats their employees and it was all due to the proper alignment being

established. The functional structure drives many of the processes related to staffing

within the organization.

Due to the numerous mergers and acquisitions over the last 20 years, the

accounting systems forced each organization to maintain their own billing codes which

were primarily aligned to a geographical site. The structure of direct billing to customers

from a site causes a cost and accountability issue that was clearly heard from each of the

legacy respondents. This has divided and segmented each site. Even if the STAR model

is put in place to allow virtual and co-located workers through the organization, the

accounting system would prevent the ability to leverage those skilled resources.

In spite of the limitations based on the accounting system, the organization has

tried to implement a functional alignment to cross geographic boundaries. This helps with

the ability to leverage skilled resources effectively across the organization, but the

functional versus structural alignments are not consistent across the organization, and

have created confusion and site discontent. Instead of the functional resource being an

added resource to carry strategy messages and processes from the XYZ corporate level to

the different sites from the senior leadership, the dysfunctional alignments create

differences in process interpretation and HRIS implementation. Even though the goal is

to drive to a single XYZ Company, the functional alignment is still focused on a

geographic site. Harrison & Shirom (1999) stated that a centralized functional structure

allows enhancement for an organization’s global strategies.

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Strategy. The XYZ Company in the post-merger timeframe consists of multiple

legacy cultures that are being reshaped into the overall corporate image. Even years after

the mergers, many of the respondents fell it is possible to walk into one site and after

observing meetings, evaluate the decision making, look at the staffing processes, and see

the culture is different from the culture from another site. This disparity among the sites

is augmented by the fact that these previous mergers and acquisitions were between

competitive companies. The differences in corporate cultures between post-merger

organizations is the cause for over 60% of all mergers and acquisitions to fail (Miller,

2000). While the previous mergers within XYZ Company have not been marked as

failures, the integration of these organization has not been seamless and did not

integrating the competitive cultures into one organizational perspective.

If the strategy of XYZ Company is to have a Single XYX, then one way to

change the culture is to increase training through the organization based on that strategic

desire. The organization must allow for individual opportunities to bring forward new

ideas, and leverage the skills and resources across the organization. The STAR model

will overcome the site cultural differences by integrating and applying the values and

cultures consistently across one platform, and establishing a layer dedicated for

leadership communication and training into a daily working user interface. An effective

tool should not be just one more piece of technology the leaders must add into an over-

burdened set of activities, but become the only interface leaders need to review all

information necessary to make real-time leadership decisions that are in the best interest

of the organization. If individual leaders do not trust the tool, or the resources coming

from other areas, the tool needs to help increase trust through education.

121

Power. According to Crews and Richard (2013), one of the most frequent

mistakes in trying to change the culture of an organization is the coercion or overuse of

power tools, and the underuse of leadership tools that drive change through leadership.

Additionally, they state that organizational leadership must begin with a vision or a story,

and then put management tools in place that cement those tools to win the hearts and

minds of those the leaders are working with. Respondents in this case study commented

consistently on the failure of the tools to support the processes, and more importantly

they brought up the lack of communication of strategic plans as a hindrance to the

successful integration of the sites.

Fairness (Create Trust). According to a current study by Crews and Richard

(2013), Human Resources must consider equal benefits during a merger. It appeared by

the researcher that all of the respondents felt this was yet another indication that XYZ

Company does not value the employees and has caused major concerns with loyalty.

More than one respondent stated they know many of the legacy individuals are just

waiting until they can retire because it has left such a negative feeling. Since these

decisions were made years ago, it would be difficult for the organization to change a

legacy decision, and could the cost was probably considered at the time and was decided

that it outweighed doing the right thing for the employees. If XYZ Company wants to

change the culture to one of trust, then following through with what is perceived as a

non-ethical decision could outweigh the cost in the long-run. XYZ Company senior

leadership should consider options to address this inequality and take a stance that they

will do the right thing.

122

Staffing changes were very effective in some areas, and yet there is still a

difference in how sites interpret the processes and how they will reach out to other teams

for assistance. Other initiatives such as virtual worker efforts came through the

organization, and were disbanded as a futile effort. Leaders were not trained to work in

such an environment, and the trust between the sites played a role in not using virtual

workers.

Employee success. The XYZ Company needs to start by changing from a process

centric rigid environment to one of ideas and innovation. In order to create an innovative

culture, the leaders must be trained on what innovation is and ways to allow employees

opportunities to leverage new ideas and products (Jaruzelski & Katzenbach, 2012).

Through change the company can capitalize on the opportunities to leverage the customer

needs in the products and services that align with the organizational strategies. The new

system should be evaluated on established performance metrics based on individual, team

site and organizational goals (Shahzad, Luqman, Khan, & Shabbir, 2012). Reduction in

overhead costs, decreased contract support for the sites, and decreased layoffs across the

organization could be measurable success criteria for effective skilled resource

utilization. A qualitative measure of staffing and cultural changes could include increased

employee satisfaction showing perceived increased opportunities available across the

global organization rather than limited to one geographic location.

Another way to track the effectiveness of the STAR model is through creation of

a balanced score card (Figure 3). O’Sullivan (2009) stated a balanced scorecard should be

used to evaluate different aspects of the outcomes to strategies, rather than just looking at

a single metric. This balanced scorecard would evaluate the financial aspects of how this

123

improved management and operational efficiencies, how the changes relate to the

business processes, customers, and how training is being accomplished by the leaders in

the organization.

Figure 3:

Balanced Scorecard

Figure 3. A study of formal and informal learning related to time. Adapted from Kaplan

and Norton (1996), Harvard Business School Press, Retrieved from

http://www.smartdraw.com/specials/images/examples/balanced-scorecard-example-

strategy.png

Recommendation for Further Study

The specific problem this study was designed to address was to identify remaining

corporate cultural differences that exist several years later in a post-merger organization

and how these cultural differences may intersect staffing decisions or the way human

resource tools are used. A limit of this study was only addressing one post-merger

organization with multiple mergers several years ago. Additional studies looking at

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=balanced+scorecard+examples&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=j9Qu_Oavs2n17M&tbnid=c8iBSst61vzuBM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.smartdraw.com/specials/balanced-scorecard-examples.htm&ei=JVX3UYC7NaXiyAHDy4CQDw&bvm=bv.49967636,d.aWc&psig=AFQjCNGDtf4UZzdzIUm6gndhbCI8Ik44ZA&ust=1375250079093423

124

specific industries or more post-merger organizations within one specific timeframe may

allow for more specific generalization to a company.

This study looked at skilled resource utilization, but did not focus specifically on

virtual, co-located, or other types of resource utilization to help determine a relationship

between the success of a site and the way the resources are utilized. Additional studies

around the differences in organizational structure, such as functional or hierarchical

alignment, and how to change those alignments in a post-merger organization could

provide essential knowledge in the area of corporate culture and mergers and

acquisitions.

This study was focused on finding differences in the corporate cultures of the

post-merger sites. Once those differences were found, the study did not attempt to apply a

solution based on a specific site. Based on the findings from the literature review, the

organization needs to create a culture that supports the overall organizational strategy.

Additional studies could be accomplished by XYZ Company to determine which site best

support the organizational strategies desired, and then specific findings could be applied

to the sites to help address the changes necessary.

As this case study formed, the researcher evaluated possible bias with working for

XYZ Company, and tried to prevent this bias from entering the research findings. If

someone outside of the organization performed the study, the findings could be different

because the individuals would lack some of the foundational knowledge of the

organization, tools, processes, and the history that helped shape the findings and

recommendations. Through this process, the researcher found a Doctoral voice by

125

realizing that this study will help other organizations struggling with a similar post-

merger issue.

Conclusion

The XYZ Company structure is rigid and the organization needs to focus on

making changes that will guide organizational alignment across the different sites. There

are issues with the accounting systems and the legacy structure of the multiple sites

dividing differently with aligned and functional leadership. These tool issues, the lack of

training for managers, and the failure to evaluate fairness into the strategic direction have

caused each geographic site to try to preserve their own employee headcount. This site

specific driver has often been at the cost of the organizational strategies, and can be seen

in the study respondent answers where site leaders say they will call people they know

rather than trust people from other locations.

The leadership of XYZ Company can drive effective change across these different

sites based on applying a STAR tool model that would allow the current skills to be

clearly identified, integrate the systems after the mergers, and focus on proper training

and buy-ins from each level of leadership in the organization. This would align with the

Single XYZ Company initiative, and help drive that standard across the sites. The results

of this study can be used to help see what type of changes should be considered for this

organization, and for other organizations with similar post-merger issues.

An organization like XYZ Company that is made up of multiple previous mergers

or acquisitions should not just assume that years later everyone is functioning the same

way. This study showed that there was a distinct difference perceived by the different

geographic sites, and the division has created issues with trust between sites and the

126

leadership of XYZ Company. More than half of all respondents stated that they would

not reach out to skilled resources outside of who they know, and it seemed that the trust

issues played a role in those comments.

Based on the results of the study, recommendations were made in key leadership

areas based on the emergent themes from the interviews. The organization needs to

manage effective change including evaluating processes to align to strategic direction,

leveraging technology, and promoting success goals. They should structure

organizational alignment based on skilled resources and effective skill teams that matches

the type of strategic alignment they want to meet. They should create trust through

effective communication, and driving strategic changes fairly including evaluating

previous decisions around affordability and benefit differences between the sites. The

leaders need to communicate strategic goals and outcomes both pre and post-merger.

Recommendations were made around the use of appropriate power to create a strong

organization, and the organization needs to increase employee engagement by promoting

diversity and inclusion. Just because a merger took place many years ago, it doesn’t mean

that the merger was successful. The results of this study indicate that leadership in an

organization like XYZ Company need to continue to address the mergers, and make

changes to the different sites that will help align the organization toward the strategic

alignment that is desired.

127

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Appendix A: Informed Consent

University of Phoenix

Informed Consent: Participants 18 years or Older

Dear Potential Participant,

My name is Candi Reid and I am a student at the University of Phoenix working on a Doctor of Management degree. I am doing a

research study entitled A Case Study on the Post-Merger Intersection between Cultural Legacy Differences and Staffing Processes.

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore the perceived cultural legacies at different geographic sites several years after a

significant merger and acquisition, and investigate how these corporate cultures and staffing processes intersect the use of HRIS tools

and skilled resource utilization. This study is being provided within the organization with approval from the VP of Human Resources

for this division. The study will not contain the name of the organization, but will use the name XYZ Company for publication.

Your participation will involve participating in a personal interview which should not take more than 1 hour of your time to complete.

You can decide to be a part of this study or not. Once you start, you can withdraw from the study at any time without any penalty or

loss of benefits. The results of the research study may be published but your identity will remain confidential and your name will not

be made known to any outside party.

In this research, there are no foreseeable risks to you.

Although there may be no direct benefit to you, a possible benefit from your being part of this study is the creation of knowledge that

may help organizations to understand cultural legacies based on post-merger organizations.

If you have any questions about the research study, please call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx or email me at xxx..For questions about your

rights as a study participant, or any concerns or complaints, please contact the University of Phoenix Institutional Review Board via

email at [email protected].

As a participant in this study, you should understand the following:

1. You may decide not to be part of this study or you may want to withdraw from the study at any time. If you want to

withdraw, you can do so without any problems.

2. Your identity will be kept confidential.

3. Candi Reid, the researcher, has fully explained the nature of the research study and has answered all of your questions and

concerns.

4. Interviews will not be recorded, but notes will be transcribed during the session. The researcher will develop a way to

code data to assure that your name is protected.

5. Participant data will be confidential, and electronic files including scans of handwritten notes will be maintained in a secured form through electronic encryption on a USB drive, kept in a locked location for a period of three years, and then

destroyed by removing data from the encrypted device and physical destruction of the device. Individual names will be

coded securely by the researcher, and the code will be maintained on a separate encrypted USB drive with file password protection. To prevent someone from the company from recognizing an individual’s response, the responses will not be

shared with company.

6. The results of this study may be published, but the name of the organization as well as individual names will be withheld.

“By signing this form, you agree that you understand the nature of the study, the possible risks to you as a participant, and how your

identity will be kept confidential. When you sign this form, this means that you are 18 years old or older and that you give your

permission to volunteer as a participant in the study that is described here.”

( ) I accept the above terms. ( ) I do not accept the above terms.

Signature of the interviewee _______________________________ Date _____________

Signature of the researcher ________________________________ Date _____________

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Appendix B: Confidentiality Statement

A Case Study on the Post-Merger Intersection between Cultural Legacy Differences and Staffing

Processes

Candi Reid

CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT

As a researcher working on the above research study at the University of Phoenix, I understand

that I must maintain the confidentiality of all information concerning all research participants as

required by law. Only the University of Phoenix Institutional Review Board may have access to this

information. “Confidential Information” of participants includes but is not limited to: names,

characteristics, or other identifying information, questionnaire scores, ratings, incidental comments,

other information accrued either directly or indirectly through contact with any participant, and/or

any other information that by its nature would be considered confidential. In order to maintain the

confidentiality of the information, I hereby agree to refrain from discussing or disclosing any

Confidential Information regarding research participants, to any individual who is not part of the

above research study or in need of the information for the expressed purposes on the research

program. This includes having a conversation regarding the research project or its participants in a

place where such a discussion might be overheard; or discussing any Confidential Information in a

way that would allow an unauthorized person to associate (either correctly or incorrectly) an identity

with such information. I further agree to store research records whether paper, electronic or

otherwise in a secure locked location under my direct control or with appropriate safe guards. I

hereby further agree that if I have to use the services of a third party to assist in the research study,

who will potentially have access to any Confidential Information of participants, that I will enter into

an agreement with said third party prior to using any of the services, which shall provide at a

minimum the confidential obligations set forth herein. I agree that I will immediately report any

known or suspected breach of this confidentiality statement regarding the above research project

to the University of Phoenix, Institutional Review Board.

/s/ Candi S. Reid Candi S. Reid 10/28/14

Signature of Researcher Printed Name Date

/s/ Steven D. Mohan D.CS. Steven D. Mohan D.CS 10/28/14

Signature of Witness Printed Name Date

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Appendix C: Participant Interview Template & Questions

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me. My name is Candi Reid, and I

was granted permission from XYZ Company to perform interviews for my Doctorate of

Management in Organizational Leadership with the University of Phoenix.

The purpose of my study titled A Case Study on the Post-Merger Intersection

between Cultural Legacy Differences and Staffing Processes is to explore the different

geographic sites in a post-merger organization and get your perceptions to questions

before and after the merger. The questions related to this site and your lived experience at

this site revolve around the integration and use of the Human Resource Information

System (HRIS), the business processes around staffing including the extent of virtual

workers and knowledge management activities, the corporate culture of the site, and your

personal leadership style.

You were selected as a possible participant based on one qualification of being

with the organization at the same site before and after the merger. Prior to agreeing to this

interview, you were given a written consent form that outlines the potential risks,

purpose, and that this is confidential, voluntary, and that you may withdraw from this

study at any time. Do you still agree with the terms and conditions as signed on that

form?

This interview should take about 60 minutes, and will be recorded by my personal

notes. These notes, as described in the consent form, will be coded for your personal

anonymity, and no individual responses will be given directly to XYZ Company for any

reason. Do you wish to proceed?

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Thank you. HR provided me with some basic information about all possible

participants and I would like you to validate some basic HR personnel information. The

basic information provided by HR includes your previous title and designated work

location at the time of the merger, your current position and work location with the

organization, and your contact information.

Q1. Can you validate the information provided by HR, and let me know if there are any

inaccuracies?

In order to establish some demographic data please answer the following:

Q2: How long have you been with the organization?

Q3: How many roles have you held with the company?

Q4: How many of those roles were directly connected with staffing decisions, staffing

processes, or utilization of staffing tools? (Specific tool names were used but withheld on

this study as XYZ Company proprietary data)

Q5: How would you classify your ethnicity?

Q6: How would you classify your gender? (Male; Female; Transgendered; Prefer not to

disclose)

Q7: How would you classify your age? (20-30; 30-40; 40-50; 50-60; Over 60; Prefer not

to disclose)

The following questions are related to your lived experiences prior to the merger.

Please think about your time with the legacy company of XXX (names withheld from this

form) that was purchased in YYYY (years withheld from this form) by XYZ Company.

At that point in time you worked at AAA site with the position of BBB. The following

definition should be considered for any questions related to “corporate culture”:

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different attributes imbedded in a group of beliefs, values, and behaviors that

differentiate one firm from another, how these behaviors become part of long-

term management actions, and how those behaviors are recognized and followed

by all employees.

Q8. How would you describe the corporate culture of the site prior to the merger?

Q9. How would you describe the corporate culture of the overall organization prior to the

merger?

Q10. How would you describe the change in the corporate culture of the site immediately

after the merger?

The following questions are related to your perceptions of the present

organization. Please think about your current position XYZ Company. At this point in

time you work at AAA site with the position of CCC.

Q11. How would you describe the corporate culture of the site now?

Q12. How would you describe the corporate culture of the overall organization now?

Q13. How would you describe the use of human resources information systems at your

site?

Q14. How do you feel that the business processes around staffing are used within their

site and within the larger organization?

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Appendix D: Researcher Biography

Candi Reid is a Program Manager for a large engineering firm. She is responsible

for ensuring processes, best practices and standard engineering models are used within

her site. She teaches and monitors earned value, and enjoys leading others. She teaches

several courses for an online institution, and has enjoyed the academic life believing in

the scholar, practitioner, and leader model. She has a passion for helping others to find

their leadership voice and promoting engagement, and a few years ago she created a

Women in Leadership organization for her company that now has over a hundred active

participants.

Early in her career, Ms. Reid was a medic in the U.S. Air Force Reserves and later

moved into technology sales then into technology. She went to school as an adult student,

and completed her Bachelors of Science in Information Technology from University of

Phoenix simultaneously as a Master’s of Science in Computer Information Systems from

University of Denver. She was inducted into Delta Mu Delta international honor society

for Business Management for this Doctorate of Management in Organizational

Leadership with the University of Phoenix.

Candi Reid is married to her best friend, Garth Reid, and has three adult children,

Christian, Taylor, and Justin. She enjoys spending time with the boys and her husband.

She also enjoys drawing, painting, and pottery.