TY - JOUR AB - Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the factor “Staff's beliefs, attitudes and social representations” vis‐à‐vis the part it plays during the negotiation process in the effort of the two leaders of the Greek banking branch to merge.Design/methodology/approach– The codification is attempted by means of software, so as to clarify the trends for negotiations in win‐win conditions. Data were collected by the negotiation process of two large banking companies.Findings– The paper concludes that the private or public character of each banking organization involved in the negotiation process of aiming at a merger will affect its strategic choices in relation to the role played by human beliefs and professional attitudes during the negotiations. Additionally, the research has pointed out some elements that are explained and justified by the existing circumstances in the particular banking area. The fear of change, the stress, the insecurity and the loss of morale are also pointed out as being significant factors.Originality/value– The paper is based on research of two different sectors – private and public – and how the employees of two organizations belonging to these sectors react and affect the result of the merger. VL - 47 IS - 8 SN - 0025-1747 DO - 10.1108/00251740910984550 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/00251740910984550 AU - Konstantopoulos Nikolaos AU - Sakas Damianos AU - Triantafyllopoulos Yiannis PY - 2009 Y1 - 2009/01/01 TI - Lessons from a case study for Greek banking M&A negotiations T2 - Management Decision PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited SP - 1300 EP - 1312 Y2 - 2024/04/25 ER -