ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the case material that comes from the merger of two charities working with elderly and disabled people, but the issues discussed—especially the need to attend to the human factors—apply to other forms of organisational change. Assurances about a “no redundancy” policy were given to allay fears and to maintain the commitment of senior management, once it was known that the merger was going ahead. Pre-merger assurances are binding in honour only. The theme of merger has within it many elements of omnipotence, because often they are mergers on paper, not properly worked through and accepted by staff. The new, merged organisation was searching for a single idealisable figure who could do everything, including effecting the constructive merger of two very different organisations. Consulting to organisations contains the hidden hope for the consultant to maintain the status quo, to enable the psychic equilibrium of the organisations and the individuals in them to be maintained.
