ABSTRACT
The recent academic literature reveals that constructing a shared identity is crucial to the success of mergers and acquisitions (Lupina-Wegener, Schneider, and van Dick, 2011; Marks and Mirvis, 2011). Shared identity has been typically conceptualized as both content (Gaertner et al., 1993)—that is, the perception of a common ingroup identity-and process (van Dick, Ullrich, and Tissington, 2006)— that is, the degree of identification with the new organization (see Haslam, 2001, and Haslam, Postmes, and Ellemers, 2003, for conceptualization of shared identity in terms of content and process). While past research has focused on M&As of freestanding organizations, cross-border deals remain underexplored. In crossborder M&As, one organization becomes nested in a new, larger organizational and cultural context. In such conditions, shared identity might need to account for both internal and external foci. This is in line with a qualitative study conducted by Lupina-Wegener, Schneider, and van Dick (2015), who show that in cross-border M&As, shared identity moves beyond a post-merger organization in efforts to differentiate the new organization from reference others, such as the head office or other subsidiaries as new “outgroups.” Thus, it might not be enough to operationalize shared identity on the level of the post-merger organization only, as the concept of shared identity may account for the multiple memberships of organizational members, such as function, division, holding, head office, or country.
