 Talent management during mergers and acquisitions in emerging economies Authors: Retief, Lance Andre Date: 0000 Subjects: Consolidation and merger of corporations , Employee retention , Corporate culture , Business communication , Organizational change - Management Language: English Type: Masters (Thesis) Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/00000/000000 , uj:00000 Description: Abstract: Ninety percent of high tech mergers and acquisitions fail to deliver the expected increases. Talent retention, communication and integration of corporate cultures are of the major people challenges experienced in mergers and acquisitions. The failure to retain key talented staff and the successful integration of corporate cultures often cause productivity levels to drop to as low as 00 percent, employee satisfaction levels drop by 00 percent and 00 percent of employees feel that leaders were concerned with the financial benefits at the expense of people. Research on mergers and acquisitions over the last 00 years were predominantly conducted using quantitative research methods with a focus on finance, accounting and economics. The need to conduct more qualitative research methodologies have been expressed with a focus on people as oppose to financials and economic data. This study followed a qualitative, realism, interpretivist approach in order to understand and seek rich descriptions from various participants on their diverse acquisition experiences which tells a story of why talent may decide to stay or leave post an acquisition. Data was collected using predominantly semi-structured open ended interviews. Nine acquired employees from different acquisitions were interviewed, some of which resigned post their acquisition. A thematic analysis process was used to analyse the data. Conclusions were drawn from the themes and the relationships between them. The study confirmed what the literature says on mergers and acquisitions and people integration challenges. Corporate culture differences, HR due diligence, HR integration plans and the management of change are key drivers impacting employees' decision to leave or stay post an acquisition. Corporate culture differences include, structural, process and procedure difference. HR due diligence include effective communication before and during an acquisition and HR integration plans refer to the initiatives acquirer firms implement to manage the integration process. The management of change include the acquirer firms' ability to put robust change management plans in place and the personal coping mechanisms acquired employees adopt to manage the change. The study concluded that the factors that impacted employees' decision to stay or leave after an acquisition varied. Of the main factors included the inability to cope with... , M.Phil. (Management) Full Text: 