Understanding the Emotional Experience of Organizational Change: Evidence from a Merger

Abstract

The problem and the solution. Organizational changes, especially mergers,are very emotive events.Still,in change models, the role of emotion is rarely discussed. Most of the change literature focuses on rational and cognitive aspects and views emotions merely as human frailty or cause for interference with implementing change.This literature portrays a very limited and superficial understanding of emotions. By drawing on psychological literature on emotion theories,more helpful notions can be developed, such as viewing emotions as an essential part of the working experience. These theoretical developments are exemplified and taken a step further by the results of an explorative study, investigating the emotional experiences of a merger.A framework is developed,which allows researchers to map out the emotional experience more comprehensively.