ABSTRACT
The systems psychodynamics of corporate mergers and structures is a relatively small field of study. Even the influence of organizational structure upon the emotional connections people experience at work has received little attention to date. Ideas about the psychodynamics of organizational structure have their basis in the early work on social systems enunciated in the theories about open systems, primary task, and socio-technical systems. Understanding the non-rational reasons is informed by understanding the links between intrapsychic structure of individuals and design of an organization's structure. From a psychodynamic point of view, bureaucracy and its regulation of managerial and employee activities represents the institutionalization of interpersonal defence mechanisms. More recently, organizational structures have been described as needing to be redesigned to take account of changes in technology, social, and economic boundaries. The view of merger as an experience of migration considers the transitional period between the old organization and establishment of the new as an individual's journey.
