Managing the Human Factor of Mergers and Acquisitions

The fundamental question at the heart of the discussion as to counteracting the negative effect on human resources usually brought about by mergers and acquisitions is "what can be done to facilitate the integration of two previously autonomous organisations?" (Buono, A. (1989)). By considering this question, it is possible to establish a framework for why certain mergers and acquisitions were successful, why others were not and, at the end of it all, develop a program for implementing the unavoidable changes resulting from mergers and acquisitions in order to best integrate the two entities into a single productive unit.