Literature Review on Organizational Change and Mergers

Organizational culture and change is at the heart of the issue surrounding the merger of the DFD and MFD. In this research project, organizational culture is defined as the shared assumption among members about how to react to external and internal factors (Schein, 1992). Organizational change is defined by the degree of change to the organization’s core elements (Cornelissen, 2008; Hannon, Polos, & Carroll, 2004; Griffin, Rafferty, & Mason, 2004). It is one of the purposes of this project to examine the effects of the merger on the culture of both departments. However, despite previous research on the impact of mergers on organizational culture (Stahl & Voight, 2007; Weber & Camerer, 2003), no such studies exist in the context of a fire department merger. This review of current literature provides a detailed summary of research conducted on organizational change, culture, and mergers.

Organizational change tends to occur in organizations that deal predominantly with the public or rely heavily on interactions to complete tasks and projects (Rooney et al., 2010). To keep up with an ever-changing world, organizations must be flexible and change with it (Griffin, Rafferty, & Mason, 2004). The business environment changes rapidly and unpredictably with increased competition, technological developments, higher customer demand, and market globalization. In response to these pressures, organizations are structuring themselves for change so that they are flexible and ready to shift in response to threats to their effectiveness and survival (Zorn, Page, & Cheney, 2000; Kraatz & Zajac, 2001). More (1998) argues that, “successful organizations are those that initiate change, respond to change, plan change and implement change as an ongoing...

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... argue that organizational identity is also important in understanding organizational culture since employees often construct their identity based on the culture of the organization. A common approach to understanding organizational culture and identity is through the sociocultural tradition.

There is no lack of research on organizational culture, communication, and even in the area of mergers and acquisitions. Prior research has been performed in all of these areas separately and in combination, but never in such a unique setting as the one cultivated in a fire department merger. This project will examine the organizational cultures of a newly merged fire department. It also lends the opportunity to see how the cultures have adapted after the merger and how the firefighters view their current status/situation in regards to workplace satisfaction and daily workload.