My Brand? Your Brand? Or Our Brand? Integrating Front-Line Employees Post an Acquisition

Organisations are continually searching for their next source of growth. One potential option is growth by acquisition. Acquisitions are not risk free, many fail to achieve their potential. One reason for failure is employees from the acquired firm not developing sufficiently strong bonds with the acquiring organisation, leading to poor integration and subsequent negative effects upon firm performance. This chapter presents an empirical study of UK front-line employees, 3 years post acquisition, finding a role for the acquiring organisation’s corporate brand to positively influence this integration. Establishing that aspects of the acquiring organisation’s corporate brand equally influences the organisational identification of both acquired and non-acquired employees, integrating both groups into the acquiring organisation. In addition the study establishes that employees from the acquired organisation use the corporate brand to integrate further by more strongly participating in the new organisation’s brand community to deploy their identification with the acquiring organisation and integrate. Determining corporate branding as a means of positively integrating all front-line employees post an acquisition and consequently reducing the attendant acquisition risks associated with poor employee integration.