Change in Organizational Culture

Abstract

This exploratory study employs research methods and concepts from linguistics to gain deeper insight into the organizational integration phase of a corporate acquisition. Individual communicative behavior, organizational culture, and communication functions are explored in depth. Most important, this study explores the linkages between social identity, language use, and retention in organizational mergers and acquisitions (M/As). The study demonstrates the usefulness of organizations as a site for linguistic research and provides insight into the processes of organizational change. Among the findings are that change in culture does not happen gradually or incrementally across the whole organization, but either quickly or not at all, and that change happens by subgroups. It also found that conflict in M/As, which had been thought of as between organizations, was instead between individuals who chose to accommodate culturally to the acquirer and those who did not.