The brightest shining stars in the darkest sky - A qualitative case study of identification in the post-stage of a merger

Abstract: Title: The brightest shining stars in the darkest sky - A qualitative case study of identification in the post-stage of a merger. Submission Date: 18th of May 2018. Course: BUSN49: Degree Project in Managing People, Knowledge and Change. Authors: Nicoline Emnell and Sofia Gripwall. Supervisor: Nadja Sörgärde. Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions, Nostalgia, Identity, Identification, Post-merger. Thesis purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to get a deeper understanding of how nostalgia matters when it comes to identifying with a new organization after M&A activities, as well as contributing with increased knowledge within the intersection of the theoretical fields. Methodology: A constructionist, interpretivist epistemological approach has been used to get a deeper understanding about how individuals perceive M&A. Through a qualitative case study where we have conducted semi structured in depth interviews, we found interesting patterns that served as starting point for our research. In line with the abductive oriented ap-proach we later related the empirical material to theory. Theoretical framework: In our theoretical framework we combine research of nostalgia and identity in relation to M&A theory. Contributions: In this study we have reached four conclusions regarding how nostalgia can affect individuals’ identification with a new organization after M&A activities. First, we found that nostalgia can function as a restriction when identifying with an organization after M&A. Second, we found that nostalgia can be considered to strengthen the employees alterity towards the rest of the bigger organization after M&A. Third, we found that nostalgic memo-ries of the past could work as comfort in rough times, which made employees stay within the new organization even though they could not identify with it. Finally, nostalgia can contribute to forming a glorified identity as different nostalgic perspectives are enhancing the self-view.