Post M&A ill-health: Main, moderating and mediating effects of job stressors and perceived organizational support

Abstract

Purpose

The current financial crisis in Greece has redefined the way organizations operate resulting in a dramatic increase in mergers and acquisitions (M&As). The purpose of this paper is twofold: first to explore, within the M&A context, the main effects of job-related stressors and perceived organizational support (POS) on merger survivors’ ill-health and second to examine the indirect links between these and commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were obtained from 140 employees of two merged financial institutions in Greece post-combination.

Findings

The results indicated significant direct relationships between work-related stressors and POS and ill-health. As regards the indirect relationships, only the mediation link between organizational support, ill-health and commitment was supported.

Practical implications

Implications, limitations and further research issues are discussed in light of the M&A context.

Originality/value

The intention is to extend current stress and M&A literature findings (e.g. Cartwright and Cooper, 1993; Cartwright et al., 2007), and further investigate the relationship between stressors and ill-health within a turbulent context, since little is known about the behavioral reactions arising as an outcome of M&As in a Greek setting. Thus, the unique contribution of this study is to examine this relationship in a double crisis context: the organizational crisis following the M&A and the financial crisis currently facing Greece, since the area of M&As in Greece has so far received little scholarly attention (Bellou, 2007, 2008).

Citation

Makri, E. and Ntalianis, F. (2015), "Post M&A ill-health: Main, moderating and mediating effects of job stressors and perceived organizational support", Employee Relations, Vol. 37 No. 2, pp. 176-191. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-07-2014-0084