Micromanagement in Merger : The case of Sunderby Hospital Merger

Abstract: Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate and analyze the reasons as given by the Norrbotten County Council behind the Sunderby hospital merger. Background Mergers and Acquisitions have grown to become very popular as a way for achieving organizational development. This has been seen in both public and corporate sectors. Mergers did not become popular in the Swedish health care sector until the end of the 21th century, when the first merger took place many followed. In this case the authors investigate one of these hospital mergers. Method The authors have made a qualitative research. To gather data they contacted the authorities and interview politicians. The authorities provided them with public documents from their archive. The interviews were semi-structured with open-ended questions. Conclusion The authors of this thesis have found that the Sunderby hospital merger was supported by academic literature. The reasons stated by the Norbotten County Council (NCC) for doing the merger, were consistent with theories about mergers found in academic research. The authors have also provided their non-supported beliefs under the Discussion section, as well as recommendations for further studies.