Merging Organization Culture

Merging Organization Culture

The change management challenges

For one, organization culture can become challenging to merge, especially for employees joining the mother organization. During such a change, the employees may find it challenging to adapt to the new culture or simply resist (Managing Change, 2009). Another concern is about retaining employees. A new organization may downsize the operation of the acquired firm to optimize performance. The organization will find it hard to retain the remaining workforce. The second challenge is that the quality of customer service and the competitive edge of the brand may vanish during such a change. This is because the new organization may become too big and lose touch with its customers.

Customer’s concerns about the merger

However, for customers of Canada Trust, an acquisition causes a change in the organization’s culture as they have to adapt to TD’s culture. The level of customer service may be affected because TD’s strength is not in customer service but enhancing sales and having a robust banking presence (Jackson, 2018). For one, Canada Trust’s branches have been reduced, which further reduced customer’s access to quality service. A reduction in the number of employees means the organization will be more distant to consumer needs. During acquisitions, the company may be more robust and have more resources but forget to look out for customer needs.

Why it is difficult to blend organization culture

Organizational culture refers to a set of shared beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviors in an organization. It is difficult to combine organizational culture because every culture is unique, and it makes each brand unique and to occupy a unique market niche. When two organizations come together, there is a clash of culture, which creates conflict and loss of productivity (Jackson, 2018). Also, selecting a winning team becomes a challenge since there are two cultures that are supposed to be merged into one.

References

Jackson, N. (2018). Organization Culture. Organizational Justice in Mergers and Acquisitions, 121-140. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92636-0_5

Managing Change. (2009). Harvard Business Press.